Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC on Tuesday night defended President Irfaan Ali over continuing scrutiny of his Long Creek agricultural development, arguing that critics have produced no evidence to contradict the Head of State’s explanations regarding the ownership, financing and operation of the farm.
Speaking on his weekly Issues in the News programme, Nandlall said the allegations surrounding the President’s farm were unsupported by evidence and dismissed suggestions that Ali had acted improperly.
“First of all, the President has spoken and the President has explained that the acreage of the land is not 150-odd acres as they have said, that it is somewhere about 60 to 70 acres,” Nandlall said, referring to claims made by Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed.
He said Ali had also explained that the lands were acquired before he assumed the presidency, that the development was financed through bank loans and that his assets and liabilities had been declared to the Integrity Commission.
“The President has explained… that he never used his office to benefit, for his personal benefit, neither did he act in any conflict of interest scenarios,” Nandlall said.
He challenged critics to produce evidence contradicting those explanations.
“Have you seen any evidence that the farm is 150 acres? Have you seen any evidence that the President has not taken a loan? Have you seen any evidence that he acquired the farm while he was President? Have you seen any evidence that he used the Office of the President improperly? Have you seen any evidence that he entered into a conflict of interest situation in relation to this farm? None,” he said.
“So I ask again, where is the controversy?”
Nandlall also sought to establish that Ali had been engaged in commercial agriculture long before returning to government in 2020.
“I know and almost anybody who knows the President would know that the President has had that farm… 15 years ago thereabouts,” he said.
The Attorney General said Ali had operated a commercial poultry business, cultivated vegetables and ran a fruit juice enterprise while the PPP/C was in opposition.
“I remember him bringing juices to sell in Georgetown, him and his late uncle… These are facts that I know and I feel compelled to speak about them,” he said.
Nandlall further argued that there is no legal prohibition against ministers or presidents owning businesses provided there is no conflict with their official duties.
“There is no law, there is no code of conduct, there is no regulation which stipulates that a member of government can’t have a business while he holds the office of government or office of a minister or the presidency,” he said.
“I have business interests while they do not conflict with my governmental activities. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If we want to change that, then we can change it, but unless it is changed, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.”
The Attorney General’s comments come as questions over the President’s Long Creek farm continue to mount and amid calls from opposition parties, governance advocates and former public officials for greater transparency regarding the acquisition of the land, financing of the project and oversight by state agencies.
On Wednesday, Kiskadee Watch was unable to obtain responses from either the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on issues relating to the development.
GLSC Chief Executive Officer Enrique Monize was unavailable, while Senior Land Administration Officer Cycrene Fredericks declined to comment. Land Administration Manager Jewel Cheong said she was not authorised to speak with the media.
At the EPA, Executive Director Kemraj Parsram requested through his secretary that questions be submitted in writing after previous telephone enquiries from the newspaper went unanswered.
The controversy began after Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed released a video questioning the scale and financing of the President’s agricultural operations. Mohamed estimated that the property encompassed approximately 150 acres and represented an investment exceeding $2.2 billion, arguing that the development could not have been financed from the President’s declared salary.
President Ali subsequently rejected those estimates, saying the farm comprises between 60 and 70 acres and was financed through what he described as a “huge loan” from the banking system. He also said the property had been declared to the Integrity Commission but has not publicly released documentation relating to the acquisition of the land, financing arrangements or the value of the investment.
The issue has since prompted Opposition Member of Parliament Terrence Campbell to put together a private member’s bill that would require the Integrity Commission to publish summary declarations filed by holders of specified public offices, including the President.
Former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran has also called for greater disclosure, questioning how the property expanded beyond two leases totalling approximately 20 acres that were approved in 2011 and urging the Integrity Commission to scrutinise declarations rather than merely receive them.
Former EPA Executive Director Vincent Adams, the Guyana Trades Union Congress, the Alliance For Change, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), former Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson and attorney-at-law Christopher Ram have also called for greater transparency or independent investigations into aspects of the development.
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