Former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran says President Irfaan Ali has to provide answers on key questions surrounding his farm such as when lease arrangements were concluded.
In an invited comment to Kiskadee Watch amid growing controversy over the President’s farm, Goolsarran said to satisfy the concerns of key stakeholders and the citizens “it would be entirely appropriate for the President to publicly provide answers to the following: (i) Who approved of the additional acreage of lease land and for what purpose? (ii) What is the total value of the investment in the lease lands? and (iii) What are the sources of funding of the investment, specifying the amounts involved?”
Tracing the sequence of events that led to the development of the farm, Goolsarran said that on 2 September 2011, just days before demitting office as President, former President Bharrat Jagdeo, approved two leases of land of approximately 20 acres to Ali.
“Apart from the timing of the granting of the leases, nothing appeared wrong with this transaction once the property was not used for commercial purposes. This is especially so, considering the President’s (Ali’s) role then as a Minister might present a potential conflict of interest not only in terms of his duties but also the possibility of the use of State resources in furtherance of his commercial venture”, Goolsarran said.
He noted that it has now been reported that the President is in possession of 150 acres of farmlands though he said that the President has claimed that the size is about half that amount.
“Be that as it may, who would have approved of the leasing of the additional lands? It would certainly be inappropriate for the President to approve of a lease to himself”, Goolsarran said.
The former Auditor General said that considering the scale of investment, questions have been raised as to the source of funding. He noted that the President was quick to point out that he had borrowed funds from the banking system and that he had filed all his annual declarations of assets and liabilities with the Integrity Commission.
“I had stated on several occasions that the Commission needs to go beyond the monitoring of submission of annual declarations and the publication of the names of the defaulters. It must scrutinise such declarations for completeness and accuracy and for any mismatch with the observable lifestyles of the officials involved”, Goolsarran stated. He also said that there is no evidence that the Commission carries out any form of monitoring of the activities of declarants against the Code of Conduct contained in the Integrity Commission Act. Further, he said that although Section 37 of the Act provides for the submission of an annual report to the National Assembly on the operations of the Commission, there was no evidence that this has been done under the present Commission which has been in place since 2020. Furthermore, the Commission, he said, is bound by the confidentiality clause contained in Section 35 of the Act.
Goolsarran underlined that this was not the first time that Ali was facing scrutiny as it relates to various transactions during his life as a public official.
The former Auditor General said that Ali had acquired the GuySuCo Manager’s house (inclusive of a swimming pool) at Leonora for $15 million when he was a Minister.
“This price was considered low compared with the market value of the property. That apart, questions were asked as to the source of funding considering his salary then as a Minister and whether the property was acquired through a system of competitive bidding. However, they were never answered”, Goolsarran said.
He added that this was followed by the 19 charges of fraud when Ali was Housing Minister, only to find the charges dropped by the Special Organised Crime Unit because of presidential immunities as provided for by Article 182 of the Constitution. However, Goolsarran contended that those immunities are only applicable for acts done while holding office as President.
“I believe that the charges can be reinstated after the President demits office, subject to time limitations”, Goolsarran posited.
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In a 23-minute video posted to his Facebook page on July 5th, Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed stood on a road near the property and provided his own cost estimates for the infrastructure, buildings, machinery, livestock and agricultural operations at the farm.
He contended that a presidential salary of $3.7 million per month could never finance what he described as a 150-acre ranch investment amounting to what he said was more than $2.2 billion.
Beginning at the entrance to the property, Mohamed claimed that the President constructed a private 2.2-kilometre access road approximately 17 feet wide at an estimated cost of $75 million.
He said that while farmers in the area use narrow trail roads, the President built a significantly wider roadway to accommodate large trucks.
The Opposition Leader further claimed that clearing and preparing the previously forested 150-acre property would have cost no less than $300 million.
Turning to utilities, Mohamed alleged that the estate contains approximately 70 utility poles, 210 high-voltage isolators, more than 6,600 metres of electrical distribution lines and at least two transformers, placing the total electrical infrastructure at approximately $55 million.
According to Mohamed, the ranch includes two fully automated commercial poultry tunnel houses capable of housing approximately 80,000 chickens.
He estimated the buildings alone cost about $340 million and projected that another $76 million would be invested every production cycle in chicks and feed.
Mohamed also pointed to what he described as a large cattle operation, claiming the ranch has facilities capable of housing 500 head of cattle and currently contains about 200 cows.
He estimated the cattle shed at $40 million, the tractor and trailer used to transport feed at $15 million and valued the cattle at approximately $64 million.
He alleged that truckloads of antelope grass are brought to the ranch daily to feed the animals.
The Leader of We Invest in Nationhood, Mohamed also highlighted a large black-bellied sheep operation, estimating there are approximately 200 sheep housed in elevated pens designed to improve hygiene and reduce disease.
He valued the sheep facility at approximately $10 million and estimated the flock itself to be worth about $18 million.
He further claimed the estate houses about 50 goats in facilities valued at approximately $3 million, with the animals themselves worth another $3 million.
Nearby, Mohamed alleged there is a shelter housing approximately 500 Black Giant chickens, which he estimated at around $1.2 million. He also claimed the President operates a duck farm.
The disclosure of the farm has triggered growing calls from the opposition and others for Ali to provide all of the requisite information to show that there was no state input into his private operations or influence brought to bear. No such information has been provided.
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