Though out of Guyana, controversial D’Urban Park coordinator hired for millions by APNU+AFC Gov’t

The former APNU+AFC Government had created hundreds of positions for persons who were closely linked to the party and was paying them millions of taxpayers’ dollars in salaries and other perks, although some of these persons did not spend much of their time in Guyana.

Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Ail Nandlall revealed on Saturday that one such person was the “Director of Parks” and while he did not reveal the name of the individual, Nandlall revealed that the Director spent most of his time out of Guyana.

The News Room subsequently confirmed with usually reliable sources that the Director of Parks is Larry London – the controversial coordinator of the D’Urban Park project which was shrouded in secrecy and financial impropriety.

“…this is a guy when I find out is hardly ever in Guyana, but he is the Director of Public Parks. What is that?” Nandlall said during an interview with Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the National Communications Network (NCN) Leeron Brumell.

Nandlall said earlier in the interview that he had never heard of such a position, and it was evident that the APNU+AFC government was creating positions and handing them to persons linked to the party.

Nandlall revealed that the Director of Parks was receiving a net salary of $500,000 per month, his electricity, internet and telephone bills paid by the State, guards at his home, a driver and a car, duty-free allowance for the highest grade of vehicles, and a gratuity of 22.5 per cent every six months.

The AG reiterated that the beneficiary was receiving all of these perks although he was out of Guyana most of the time.

London, who is closely linked to the People’s National Congress (PNC) – the largest party in the APNU+AFC coalition – was a part-owner of Homestretch Development Inc (HDI) –the company which lead the initial development of the controversial D’Urban Park project.

HDI claimed to have received millions in donations to execute the project but failed to disclose those amounts, and later found itself in the spotlight after failing to pay contractors.

In December of 2016, the then government, through the Committee of Supply in the National Assembly, approved the transfer of $500M to London’s company, to facilitate the outstanding payments to the contractors.

The failure of the company to successfully execute the project lead to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure assuming responsibility for its completion.

Under the former government, London served in several capacities including Chairman of the Board of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), and as a board member of Atlantic Hotel Inc. (AHI), otherwise known as Marriott Hotel.