This was not the usual sort of agreement. They sold the shares as if they were selling a car or a piece of furniture.By Abena RockcliffeFrom all indications, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL)—under Winston Brassington’s management—was in such a haste to sell Government’s share in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) Company that it failed terribly to formulate a proper sale agreement.As a result, the new government is having a hard time trying to secure the outstanding sum owed by Datang Telecom Technology and Industry Group.In 2012, NICIL sold Government’s shares in GT&T for US$30M of which Datang paid up US$25M. The balance of US$5M was to be paid within a period of two years, but that account is yet to be settled.Brassington failed to get the Chinese company to settle its debt. Because NICIL’s management has been unable to secure the outstanding sum,Wholesale Jerseys USA, the Board of NICIL has intervened.However, even the Board is having a hard time in this regard. Chairman of NICIL’s Board of Directors, Dr. Maurice Odle, told Kaieteur News that Datang is now saying that it will not pay up unless it is given more seats on GTT’s Board of Directors.The 20 percent shares it now owns only entitles Datang to one seat on the Board. However, the company is holding out that it must inherit all that the Government of Guyana enjoyed while it was in possession of the shares.It was a case of government having a privileged position and was given two seats on the Board.? But according to Dr. Odle, GTT is not willing to give Datang more than that to which it is entitled.Deputy Head of NICIL,Marcia Nadir-SharmaFormer CEO of NICIL, Winston BrassingtonFormer PresidentBharrat JagdeoDr. Odle, who described GTT as an “innocent partner” said that the telephone company is maintaining that Government and Datang have to sort out their own problems. However, he said that the company is only willing to give Datang a seat commensurate with the amount of shares it owns. “Nothing more, nothing less”.There is a stalemate. “That is what is holding up resolution on the matter and Datang is adamant that it will not pay until it gets what it wants.”Dr. Odle said that NICIL is now pondering its next move in this regard.The Chairman explained that sale agreement is of no use to NICIL as it was not formulated in the best interest of Guyana.The Chairman said,Wholesale Jerseys Cheap, “This was not the usual sort of agreement. They sold the shares as if they were selling a car or a piece of furniture.”In this regard, Dr. Odle pointed to the fact that the shares were sold in a manner that resembles a hire purchase agreement.He said,Wholesale NBA Jerseys, “It was not done professionally. There should have been a definitive price and NICIL should have stood firm on collecting all the money at once.Now that Guyana finds itself in this position it is hard to find a solution because of the fact that NICIL consented to an agreement that forces Guyana to petition a United Kingdom (UK) court to resolve financial issues.The merit of NICIL’s decision to sell the shares was questioned by auditors.? The NICIL audit report revealed that a considerable amount of revenue has been lost due to that sale.Chairman of NICIL’sBoard, Dr. Maurice OdleMinister of State, Joseph HarmonDuring the period 2002-2011, Government received $5.261B in dividends from the shares,Nike Roshe Run Sale Outlet, or an average of $526.1M per annum. The audit report stated that government suffered a major loss in the disposal of the shares and that the sale was a blunder.The Auditor said that by disposing of the shares, “the Government would have lost $1.578B, equivalent to US$7.616M, in revenue during the period 2012-2014.”At a press conference he held a little before his retirement, Brassington could not have given the media any logical reason why government was so eager to sell the GT&T shares.The eagerness to sell was called into question when Brassington said that the government was forced to take the deal with the Chinese company as it was getting no better offers at the time.Even though he could not have defended the reason for sale, Brassington said that he thinks that Government made a good call in selling.Brassington admitted that Government used the money collected from the sale to offset expenses of the Marriott Hotel.Asked about the fact that he agreed for Guyana to petition the UK court for resolution on any financial matter,Cheap Jerseys From China, Brassington had told Kaieteur News that it was “normal” for an agreement to have those sorts of arrangements.Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, who sits on the NICIL Board, had explained that if the court route is pursued,

…but criticises MMU for chiding Jagdeo The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C),Cheap Huarache Shoes For Men, has accused the Media Monitoring Unit of bias.A letter signed by PPP’s Executive Secretary,Nike Air Max 2018 Mens Shoes, Zulfikar Mustapha was sent to the Unit on Thursday, two days after the report was released.In the letter,Cheap NFL Jerseys, the PPP registered its “strong objection to the decision of the Media Monitoring Unit to label a speech by former President Bharat Jagdeo at Babu Jaan on March 8,J.R. Smith Jersey, as racially divisive.”Jagdeo had said “…Consistently, they shout about racism of the PPP, but they practise racism. They whisper campaigns. In the last elections they went to some of the Afro-Guyanese villages and beat some drums at 6 o’clock in the morning and say let us throw out these coolie people.“Get up, go out and vote; throw out the coolie people. That’s the kind of language they use. Anybody from our party who uses that sort of language, we will kick them out. This is our approach.”These remarks had caught the attention of the MMU which on Tuesday made public its first report on the media coverage of the election campaign.Addressing the public outcry?over Jagdeo’s delivery, the MMU noted that after it reviewed a broadcast of the speech made by Jagdeo at Port Mourant last month, it found his remarks racially divisive.The MMU chided sections of the media for publishing the comments, because the unit “verily concluded that the remarks made by Dr. Jagdeo were racially divisive.”The MMU made it known that Jagdeo’s Babu Jaan speech was the first time such details were ever publicly disclosed by anyone from the ruling PPP/C, the Opposition political parties, local civil society, international elections observers, or the media.The letter sent by the PPP/C stated that it regarded the position adopted by the MMU as unfair and a gross misinterpretation of what was actually said.“Was the speech of Jagdeo reviewed in its entirety? No reasonable mind could have arrived at such an interpretation. Jagdeo was simply reciting what was actually being peddled by other political parties…We in the PPP have always and will continue to condemn racism.”The PPP added, “We note your conspicuous omission to express a view on Kaieteur News’s very skewed and malicious twist of what Jagdeo said in an article a day after the event under the screaming headline,Cheap Jerseys China, “PPP is a coolie people party- Jagdeo”.Those statements clearly indicate that the Party did not read the report in its entirety.The PPP said that is has cause to question the MMU’s objectivity as well as the organisation’s professionalism “and perhaps political bias. In the circumstances,Deion Sanders Falcons Jersey, we request a review of your decision at the earliest possible time and a retraction of what you published in relation thereto.”