State auditor Anand Goolsarran has rubbished the claims made by Kaieteur News on Sunday that the Queens Atlantic Investment Inc (QAII) had acquired Sanata Complex after the Government had spent US$5 million to clean it up.
Contacted for a comment on Monday, Goolsarran told Guyana Times International that the report was utterly false, adding “you need to find out from Kaieteur News where they got that from”.
The Glenn Lall-owned Kaieteur News on Sunday published a litany of libellous accusations under a front-page banner headline “Govt spent US$5M to rehab Sanata, then sold it to Ramroop for US$3.4M – Audit report reveals”.
In the body of the story, however, the Kaieteur News could not point to any statement in the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) audit report by Goolsarran which even implied that the Government had paid any sum much less “US$5M to rehab Sanata”.
The report could not so state for the simple fact that it is a matter of public record that the cleanup of the Sanata Textiles Complex, inclusive of asbestos removal, was done during the lease and after the purchase when QAII took possession of the Complex and was totally funded by QAII.
The reporter did not adhere to even the scantiest standard of responsible journalism.
All the audit said about the Sanata purchase, which Kaieteur ironically published, was: “By Order No. 40/2010 dated November 29, 2010, NICIL sold 18.891 acres of land and buildings and erections at the Plantation Ruimveldt (Sanata Textiles) to Queens Atlantic Investments Inc. (QAII) for Gy$689 million (US$3.4M).
The note on NICIL’s publication reads: After being advertised for sale but no proposals were received, in mid- 2007, a proposal was received from QAII for the development of the compound with a US$27 million investment plan.