PNCR/APNU and the AFC yesterday joined calls for President Irfaan Ali to publicly disclose details of his assets and the financing of his Long Creek farm.
The calls come days after Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed released a 23-minute video questioning the ownership, financing and scale of a farm near St Cuthbert’s Mission, also known as Long Creek, which he said is owned by Ali. Mohamed has called for the resignation of the President over the matter.
Yesterday, the PNCR/APNU said the President must “state unequivocally whether he is the beneficial owner of the farm lands in question.”
The opposition party also called on Ali to make “full disclosure of his income, assets, liabilities, and the financial arrangements associated with these lands,” arguing that, as President, he has “a fiduciary responsibility to the people of this country” and is obliged to uphold “the highest standards of transparency and accountability.”
It said the public was entitled to know how the wealth associated with the property was acquired and whether all declarations required by law had been made.
And the Alliance For Change (AFC) also called for an independent investigation into the Long Creek property, saying the President should disclose details relating to the acquisition of the lands and the financing of the farm’s development, maintenance and operations.
The AFC further urged agencies it said may have been involved in the transaction, including the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, Guyana Power and Light and any financial institution, to publicly disclose their roles.
The party argued that, as a politically exposed person, Ali should demonstrate that he did not improperly use his office in relation to financing or resources connected to the farm.
Declined
Meanwhile, speaking with reporters on the sidelines of a rice farmers’ grant distribution at Leonora yesterday, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha declined to say whether he believed the President should publicly disclose the declarations he had made to the Integrity Commission.
“Let we not deal with that. Let the President pronounce and then I will speak,” Mustapha said.
Asked again, Mustapha referred to comments previously made by Ali.
“The President said he has nothing to hide. He made a comment in St. Lucia that when he gets back in Guyana he will get the press to go to his farm to visit his farm,” he said.
Mustapha maintained that Ali has owned the property for many years and expressed confidence that the President has been complying with his statutory declaration requirements.
“The President always has the farm a long, long time ago and I am certain the President has been declaring his financial assets to the Integrity Commission,” Mustapha said.
He added that Ali has been “up front and open” about his assets.
“If somebody has been declaring their assets, financial records, they don’t have anything to hide and the President has been up front and open,” the minister said.
A document circulating on social media, purportedly a copy of a lease issued under the State Lands Act, indicates that in September 2011 a lease was granted to “Mohamed Ali” for two adjoining parcels of State land, Lots 33 and 35, situated on the western side of the Soesdyke-Linden Highway at Long Creek on the left bank of the Haimaruni River. The lease identifies the parcels as containing approximately 9.733 acres and 10.465 acres, respectively, and records them as agricultural and residential State lands. The document bears the signature of then President Bharrat Jagdeo and identifies the lessee by passport number. The authenticity of the document has not been independently verified.
According to sources, the farming lands were the subject of inquiries during the former APNU+AFC administration after questions arose over the lease granted to Ali while he served as Minister of Housing.
Sources said investigators had trouble obtaining complete information relating to the property, including documentation identifying the precise location of the lands.
Standing on a road near the property, Mohamed presented what he described as conservative estimates for the cost of the farm’s infrastructure, buildings, machinery, livestock and agricultural operations, claiming the investment exceeded $2.2 billion.
Mohamed said that a presidential salary of approximately $3.7 million per month could not finance such an investment and called on Ali to explain when the property was acquired, how much land he controls in the area, how it was financed and whether any conflicts of interest arose from his office. He also questioned whether the necessary approvals, including environmental authorisations, had been obtained for the development.
Responding while on an official visit to St Lucia, Ali dismissed the allegations, saying he had “nothing to hide” and announced that upon his return to Guyana he would invite members of the media to visit the farm. The President had not spoken publicly about the farm before.
Transparency International Guyana (TI Guyana) on Sunday called for an independent investigation into the matter, saying the allegations surrounding the property raise “urgent and serious questions” about conflicts of interest, the possible misuse of public resources and compliance with the Integrity Act.
The anti-corruption body said the issues surrounding the President’s reported ownership of the facility should be subjected to an “immediate, fair, and impartial investigation” and warned that failure to address them could have lasting consequences for Guyana’s international reputation.
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