Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Nov 21, 2016 News
By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell
Is the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL) operating with more transparency?
No, say some anti-corruption advocates.
Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman is saying otherwise.
Hosting the most recent post-Cabinet press briefing in the place of Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, Trotman said that NICIL has already undergone significant changes and is continuing along that route.
The Minister reminded media operatives of the fact that NICIL was established prior to 1992 when the People’s Progressive Party government took control of the country. He said however that the purpose of the company has been compromised. “The purpose and intention has changed drastically over the years.”
He said that the APNU+AFC government wants the company to return to its former glory. In this regard, “recommendations are being adhered to in terms of what it is intended to be doing. It was not meant to be a profiteering enterprise.”
Even though the changes are not evident, Trotman said, “Yes, we have had changes effected. I know that the leadership of the company is going well; we do not anticipate it should be disbanded.
But the reality seems to be different to those keeping a close eye on the company. It is over a year and the entity essentially remains shrouded in the secrecy that had been detested during the previous regime.
NICIL’s new Board Members include Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, Board Chairman, Dr. Maurice Odle and Head of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Berkley Wickham. The Board is yet to hold even a single press conference since it has been installed.
Communication with Chairman, Odle has been via telephone. However, over the past three months, Odle has not answered calls from Kaieteur News.
When he was first appointed to the post in August last year, the Chairman of the Board had made a commitment that NICIL would be run in an entirely different manner.
Last year in an interview with this newspaper, Odle bemoaned the fact that under the previous administration, the entity was run with little to no transparency and accountability for investment decisions.
He also spoke against the way in which taxpayers were kept in the dark on the happenings of the state-owned company.
One year later, under Odle’s directive, NICIL is being accused of keeping the nation “in the dark” about how reforms have been made by the company under the new administration and the status regarding the millions of dollars in debt it is owed by various agencies.
Furthermore, the Chairman had given his support for the release of the Marriott Hotel contract. But even though he had said that NICIL is in possession of the document, it is still to be released under his watch.
Additionally, meaningful reforms recommended for NICIL in a forensic audit report are yet to be implemented. Kaieteur News was able to confirm this with several officials working with the entity.
In the forensic audit report which was prepared by Chartered Accountant, Anand Goolsarran, it was recommended that the entity be closed down and a small department opened under the Ministry of Finance, if Government deems it necessary.
It was explained that the reason for such a recommendation was premised on the fact that NICIL was initially established for the purpose of privatization of state assets. That was done in two phases in the 1990s.
Since that phase ended years ago, the report recommends that there is no need for NICIL to remain a company. It says that it should be liquidated and Government should make moves to establish a department to manage the assets being held by the company.
Finance Minister Winston Jordan said, however, that he is not inclined to go this route, and has since made it clear that the entity is necessary.
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