The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), led by the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), has been accused by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo of “playing the victim of all sorts of so-called government plots” regarding the “illegal” occupation of government properties.
At a press conference on Friday, Jagdeo stated that the Auditor General (AG) has been continuously listing in his annual reports to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) the illegal occupation of government properties across the country, including in Region Nine. His comment comes on the heels of the recent dismantling of a building in the region that housed a PNCR office.
“If you check the Auditor General’s reports, you would see – historically – him speaking about people illegally occupying government properties. If you look at the 2020 report, you’ll see the Auditor General mentioning illegal occupations across the country,” Jagdeo said.
Jagdeo went on to add that his government supports the eviction and noted that when regional accounting officers appear before the PAC, they are “hammered” by both government and opposition members when recommendations in those reports are not followed. He also stated that the Regional Chairman had written three letters to the PNCR requesting eviction.
“So APNU pretends that this is a spur-of-the-moment thing, etcetera, and claims that it never knew about attempts to have them removed from the government property [but] since 2021, three notices from the Regional Executive Officer were sent to the PNCR pursuant to the Auditor General’s reports.”
Jagdeo then held up a document that he said was the inventory of the Region, which shows that the disputed building is listed as “belonging to the region.” He clarified that there was no direction from the central government to have the PNCR evicted from the building. He said that the action was taken at the regional level.
Jagdeo noted that the PNCR has been occupying “tens” of valuable state properties across the country for decades without reportedly having any supporting documents of ownership.
The VP said that the PNCR can apply for a piece of land, and the government “may be willing” to grant that request.
