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By Kiana Wilburg Amidst accusations of lack of accountability and transparency, the Government is maintaining that theMinister of State,Joseph Harmonfinancing of the D’Urban Park Project was above board.Setting the record straight in this regard yesterday was Minister of State, Joseph Harmon.At a post cabinet briefing with the media,Cheap NFL Jerseys, Harmon was called upon to respond to allegations made by the PPP that the Government was less than forthcoming on various aspects of the multimillion-dollar project.Specifically,Nike Roshe Run Men, members of the media fraternity learnt on Monday during a sitting of the National Assembly that a company was established to deal with the finances of the D’Urban Park Project.According to Public Infrastructure Minister, a company called Homestretch Development Incorporated was doing these works since last year. However, the PPP revealed that the company was only registered in January last. This means that the entity was conducting financial transactions before it was even registered.What was also disturbing to the Opposition was the fact that Patterson disclosed Lawrence (Larry) London to be the Chairman of the company, but failed to reveal as well that the Minister of Education,Cheap Jerseys China, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, was a Director. London currently serves as the Chairman of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). He also enjoys a seat on the Board of Atlantic Hotel Inc (AHI). AHI is a fully-owned government company which manages the Marriott Hotel.Additionally, Government on Monday blocked a motion by Opposition Member Juan Edghill which sought to reveal who the financers of the D’Urban Park project were, and how much money in total was collected by the special purpose company.Taking the aforementioned into consideration, Minister Harmon is of the view that the political opposition is out to use any opportunity at its disposal to erode the patriotism and “Guyanese pride and feelings” which the D’Urban Park project was able to garner during and after its establishment.He maintained yesterday that the operations regarding the project and Homestretch Development Inc. were in line with the tenets of good governance and transparency.An aerial view of the D’Urban Park Project.Harmon then explained how Homestretch Development Inc. came to be in the first place.“I think it is important for the people to understand that what we were doing was converting what was jungle into a public space for the public good. I think I can go back a little bit and provide a little history,” Harmon said.In this regard,Cheap Jerseys Online, the Minister stated that when Guyana became independent in 1966, there were preparations for celebrations to mark that occasion. He said that in the contemplation of the planners of that time, they were looking to accommodate at least 50,000 persons for the celebrations. He alluded to the fact that it was a challenge then and posed the same difficulty 50 years later.The Minister explained that during President Granger’s inauguration, celebrations which were held at the Providence Stadium, and it was observed that the facility was not adequate enough to hold the thousands of citizens who came out in support of the event.He said that the next affair was the Independence Day celebrations and it was obvious by that time that the stadium could not be used again. Harmon said that Government was then faced with the challenge of finding a space that could properly accommodate in excess of 20,000 Guyanese.“We looked all around the country to see where that number could be accommodated and the D’Urban Park became a central focus. It was cleaned up and we did all the checks to see if it was possible, and there were different models which were looked at.“So that basically was the genesis of finding the D’Urban Park as a space for that purpose. People became enthused with the cleaning up and many Guyanese came out and gave their support willingly.”The Minister noted that when the project started, it saw a few “well-intentioned” persons making various forms of contributions. He said that as time went by, it became evident that such a model had to be modified and as such, it became necessary to establish a company.“The persons who were dealing with the project,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, approached the private sector, private individuals and residents within the D’Urban Park area,Cheap NHL Jerseys, and made presentations. They explained to them what was going to happen and what the project was going to look like,” the politician said.Harmon stressed that there was no secrecy regarding the establishment of the company. He said that it was registered at the Deeds Registry “and that was notice to the world that the company was no secret.”“You can’t have a secret company when you have registered it,” Harmon added.Regarding Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine’s involvement in the company, the Minister of State reminded that the activities of the Jubilee celebrations, related activities and projects, fell under the control of the Ministry of Education,Authentic NFL Jerseys Cheap, which had established a National Commemoration Commission. The Minister of Education headed that Commission.“That Commission overlooked all of these things, such as the preparation for the events. And that is how he became part of that company that was tasked specifically for the Development of the D’Urban Park Facility.”When “crunch time” came, Harmon noted that the project was subsequently taken over by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.The Minister of State insists that Homestretch Development Inc did an excellent job regarding the project.Since its creation, Harmon said that a number of organizations have utilized the park such as the Scout Association, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Ministry of Education and Guyana Fire Service.“I want to make a distinction with what happened with D’Urban Park and what occurred under the previous administration. Under the previous regime, they were using public assets for the benefit of a private few. I want to make it that clear to (Opposition Member Juan) Edghill and others; this was private citizens contributing to a public good as opposed to taking public assets for private benefits.”The Parliamentarian emphasized that the Park serves a public good and rejected claims by the opposition that the project is shrouded in questionable circumstances and underhanded behaviour.