[www.inewsguyana.com] – Cabinet has cancelled the initial $3B loan to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and has since ordered that the funds be directly transferred.
According to information received, the funds will be used to support the development of housing infrastructure projects in mining communities other areas where miners’ settlement occur.
This move by the government follows an order by Chief Justice Ian Chang who instructed the GGMC and the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) to show the exact purpose of the money.
The decision was made by the Chief Justice after City Councillor Ranwell Jordan had filed a motion in the High Court Challenging the constitutionality of the of the loan given to the CH&PA.
Ranwell also sits on the Board of the Housing Authority. A similar motion was also filed by Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Desmond Trotman with his being directed to the GGMC.
In his application to the Court, Jordan states that the CH&PA held a single, Statutory Meeting in the month of January 2015, – this was on Thursday January 29, 2015 – but at no time during the deliberations of that meeting or any other meeting of the CH&PA was the issue of any investment proposal put to the meeting or decision taken on the terms and conditions of any loan from the GGMC or from any other person.
It is unclear what impact Cabinet’s decision will have on the court case.
