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Attorney General Anil Nandlall approached the Court for a declaration, among others, that an Agreement of Sale between BK Marine Inc. and the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) dated October 23, 2017, for properties situated at North Cummingsburg, Georgetown, is illegal, unlawful, null, void, repugnant, and contrary to public policy. The entities, including Colvin Heath-London, in his capacity as former Chief Executive Officer (ag) of NICIL and the Registrar of Deeds were respondents in the matter.
AG Nandlall had sought hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for, among other things, negligence and a breach of the duty of care owed to the State of Guyana; loss and damage suffered as a result of conspiracy and/or breach of the duty of care owed to the State of Guyana, a breach of fiduciary duty owed to the State of Guyana, misfeasance in public office and fraud committed by the defendants.
Jordan for his part had contended and insisted to the High Court that he “was not part of any conspiracy, neglect or collusion in relation to the transfer of title from NICIL to BK Marine Inc.” He also stated that “the properties in question were properties owned by the company NICIL by virtue of Vesting Orders 43/2003 and 42/2005 and therefore not property of the State.”
The former Minister of Finance was also of the view, “There was a contractual agreement between BK Marine nIc and NICIL, and the Government of Guyana was not a party to that contractual agreement; since the Government was not the owner of the properties and was not a party to the contractual agreement, the Attorney General had no legal basis on which to assume standing to bring the matter before the court.”
As court documents show, the High Court found Jordan’s arguments appealing, and the Learned Trial Judge “after hearing of the applications, struck out the claim. The Attorney General, being dissatisfied with the decision, appealed the matter.
With Justice Jo-Ann Barlow and Justice Sandil Kissoon delivering the decision, the full court of the High Court stated that Attorney General Nandlall “persisted with an appeal that was unmeritorious and that the nature of the arguments and the issues were in great measure similar to those before the Learned Trial Judge since no new matters were raised on appeal. “Considering these factors, the Court in the exercise of its discretion, orders that the Appellant do pay to the First-named Respondent costs in the sum of $2,500,000 (two million five hundred thousand dollars) on or before 24 October, 2023.”
