Wilfred Bhagaloo, the man seeking investments for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the sale of other assets, has said he was only being “factual” in saying GuySuCo has not been providing the information requested and this has hindered the process in seeking investments for the closed factories at Enmore and Skeldon.
Bhagaloo is a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the international financial firm which was hired by the Government’s investment arm NICIL and the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) it created to conduct a valuation of the closed sugar estates and seek investments.
GuySuCo, in a statement Wednesday, railed against Mr Bhagaloo for speaking on GuySuCo without its consent.
“GuySuCo views the… disclosures as a gross breach of confidentiality and the standards of ethical conduct of the financial and investment industries by the Consultant PWC and which might incur serious consequences,” the Corporation stated Wednesday.
In comments to the News Room, Mr Bhagaloo said that PricewaterhouseCoopers is contracted to NICIL/SPU and reports to those agencies.
GuySuCo stated that PricewaterhouseCoopers was recruited as the consulting firm by the SPU to conduct the valuation of GuySuCo’s estates – Skeldon, Rose Hall, East Demerara (Enmore) and Wales.
“Mr. Wilfred Bhagaloo was legally contracted as the ‘lead’ Consultant; as such, it is outside of the remit for Mr. Bhagaloo or PricewaterhouseCoopers to be discussing the Corporation’s business in public, more so in the media, without its permission,” GuySuCo stated.
But Mr Bhagaloo said PricewaterhouseCoopers’ contract was not only for the valuation of the assets and the business but to provide general privatisation advice, including managing the process.
At a press conference, he said he was invited by the NICIL/SPU to share, Bhagaloo said that the information which the firm needs to move forward with Enmore and Skeldon has not been forthcoming from GuySuCo.
“We have only been factual as to the information received to date and the challenges we have faced,” Mr Bhagaloo told the News Room via email.
“We do report NICL and SPU and we (do) so in accordance with our contract and best practices.
“Our interactions with Guysuco has been very limited and all our requests for information has been made to NICIL/SPU,” he stated.
