President Granger says, “There was nothing secret or criminal about it”By Kiana WilburgThe Special Purpose Company which was established to fast track the completion of the D’ Urban Park Project only existed for about six months.President, David GrangerThis is according to President David Granger, who fielded questions regarding accusations of lack of transparency with regard to the project.During a taping of his show,Jerseys NFL Cheap, “The Public Interest” the Head of State gave his views on the project and the reason for a special company being established in the first place.Granger said that the company, Homestretch Development Inc. (HDI), had several directors, one of whom was Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine.“Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine has not committed any error. In fact, he was a representative on the company that was formerly established. We have not concealed the company. He represented the government’s interest because the celebrations which we had aimed at, at that time of the establishment of the company, concerned largely the 50th anniversary celebrations. So please don’t attach any blame or any fault to him,Cheap Jerseys Wholesale,” Granger emphasised.He also insisted that HDI was not a secret company, and that the National Assembly was notified.The President said that when the coalition entered office in May last year, there were some ad hoc measures in place to rehabilitate the Independence monument which had been neglected for several decades. Those measures were also in place with regard to the inauguration parade at the national stadium. However, since no budgetary allocations had been made for the construction of a stadium, it soon became clear that it was necessary to establish a short-term company to complete the project on schedule.“So I would say that certain ad hoc measures were put in place as early as May 2015. And it was decided that a special purpose company called HDI would be used to continue the preparation which had started, until the government passed a budget and put other institutional structures in place,” the President explained.The Head of State said that when the purpose of the company came to an end,Wholesale Jerseys USA, particularly with regard to the D’Urban Park Project, its role was transferred to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.“So there is nothing secret or criminal about HDI and it did serve its purpose. When it came to an end, it was transferred to the ministry, but we could not have done it before, because of the uncertainty of the budget and the speed with which we had to bring the project to conclusion by May last,” Granger said.The President said that today, Guyana now has a stadium that can accommodate about 30,000 persons. He said that it is a public asset that will be there for all time. It is open to all Guyanese.Granger was subsequently asked to say how the company was only registered in January last but started works on the project since November 2015.“It is a matter of a month or two-difference. As I explained, budgetary provision was not made for the construction of that stadium in time for Independence celebrations in May 2016,Cheap Jerseys Store, and it was felt prudent to establish the special purpose company.As soon as we could, we terminated the work of that company, and (transferred the project to) the Ministry of Public Infrastructure with the sole responsibility to complete the project…So it was only in existence for about six months, and I would refer to it as a transitional company,” responded the President.The Head of State admitted that while the establishment of the company may have been an unusual course of action it was expedient at the time, and Guyanese now have a valuable asset, which is a source of national pride.On April 19, 2016 President Granger mandated the Minister of Public Infrastructure to assume full responsibility for the D’urban Park Development Project as its completion date drew near.Minister Patterson had also expressed confidence that his team could meet the deadline and realised the President’s vision of making the Park a beautiful and safe public space. The Guyana Defence Force’s Engineers Corps were also tasked with assisting the Minister’s team in this endeavour.The Minister made good on his commitment that the venue would be completed in time for Guyana’s Golden Jubilee Anniversary celebrations and thousands of Guyanese turned out in their numbers, filling all the bleachers and spilling onto the verges for the national celebration.Minister Patterson, who had also indicated in July 2016 that his Ministry was working on ensuring all outstanding payments to contractors involved in the project were addressed,Wholesale Jerseys, in