Opposition concerns about NICIL lack merit – President

President Donald Ramotar on Monday dismissed the opposition’s concerns over the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) holding state funds which according to them ought to be placed into the national coffers.

Speaking to the press at the Office of the President, the president said, “Well, I have heard the arguments and I am not convinced, as far as I am aware… I am not doing anything illegal, and we are not doing anything illegal as far as that is concerned”.

According to the president, NICIL’s main accounts have been audited, and as such, there should be no concern on the part of the opposition. Ramotar noted that the Privatisation Unit has been audited up to 2010, and is “fairly up to date”. However, NICIL’s accounts have not been tabled before the House because some of the enterprises belonging therein are yet to be audited.

“Some of them had to be privatised and many of them would have had litigation and other problems that’s why some of them have not been completed, but the main area that you are talking about has been audited.”

The president said the public is being misguided on the issue, stressing that no money held by NICIL has been “misappropriated”. Asked why all of the money has not been placed into the Consolidated Fund, President Ramotar said there is no need for government to place its money there.

“Because we don’t have to do that… Because the law allows NICIL to keep that money,” he told the media. The parliamentary opposition parties have been demanding that government puts all finances acquired by NICIL into the Consolidated Fund.

AFC’s Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan recently claimed that the action of the government has resulted in “a situation where the elected representatives of the people cannot monitor or even question how the money is being used”. Asked what evidence is available to substantiate this claim, Ramjattan said “there is supporting documentation which will be revealed by one of our advisors”.

According to him, NICIL has acquired lots of money from the sale of lands and other assets, and over the years, the money acquired through such transactions must have amounted to billions of dollars. The last NICIL report tabled in the National Assembly dates back to 2003 and it is in that report that NICIL’s revenues amounted to some Gy$ 30 billion.

Similarly, another AFC executive Moses Nagamootoo said government has not denied that there is “a lot of public funds held by NICIL”. Nagamootoo wants NICIL’s Chairman Dr Ashni Singh to “give a full account of the transactions of NICIL, every divestment, every property sold, to whom and for how much”.

Economic Services Committee

That aside, Ramjattan noted that the parliamentary opposition is currently in the process of establishing the Economic Services Committee in light of the acting chief justice’s ruling on the composition of the Committee of Selection recently.

“We will now have to make a further amendment to the Standing Orders; right now the Standing Order has that the Economic Services Committee must have four members from the government side and three members from the opposition.

There is a motion… to configure that, that the opposition will have four members, and government three members: three to government; three APNU and one AFC.” The first task, he assured would be to have NICIL investigated under the Economic Services Committee.

“We are going to order that papers and documents and even the minister of finance to come and answer questions.” This approach, he said would be supported by the APNU. The APNU had said it would move to the courts to compel NICIL to have the money placed in the Consolidated Fund.