Last Updated on Tuesday, 4 February 2025, 20:16 by Writer
In the wake of a complaint filed with the United States’ Department of Justice (DoJ) by businessman Terrence Campbell against a real estate transaction in New York, the Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Sherwyn Greaves has resigned but insisted that he was innocent of any accusations.
“To address the many questions about whether I have resigned—yes, I have, effective immediately. This decision is a deeply personal one made after consulting with my family,” he said in the statement issued on Tuesday, February 4.
“Let me be crystal clear: my resignation is purely a personal choice and in no way an admission of guilt,” he added. In apparent reference to the alleged questionable links between a number of official land sales through the CH&PA and suggestions of misdeeds by a Sherwyn Greaves named in New York property records, he stated categorically that, “everything I have achieved has been through hard work and can be fully justified.”
Mr Greaves said he decided to resign based on several posts on social media that were “directed at me personally”. He said those posts have caused significant distress to “my family and impacted our mental well-being.”
He did not say if he is the same Sherwyn Greaves who is listed in a property acquisition in New York.
“These posts are not only upsetting but also irresponsible, inflicting immense mental strain on individuals and their families,” he said.
The now former CH&PA boss believed that his decision was in his personal interest of the organisation that is responsible for the sale of commercial and domestic lands most of which are for use in the housing sector. “While I take great pride in the work we’ve accomplished at CHPA and the many milestones we’ve reached, stepping away now is in the best interest of my family and the organization. I did not enter public service to be subjected to such vilification,” he said.
Mr Campbell on Saturday said on his Facebook profile that he filed a report with the US Justice Department urging an investigation into a Sherwyn Greaves’ purchase of a property from Reliable Custom Builders Inc, represented by Rashaad Ahmad.
Mr Campbell said that entity sold a property located at 11530 142nd Street, Jamaica, NY 11436, to one Sherwyn Greaves. “If the Sherwyn Greaves is the same person as the CEO of the Central Housing and Planning Authority then it would seem the sale of the NY property was a quid pro quo for favors to be granted in Guyana in violation of the FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act).
The New Global Investment Corporation, whose Director/Secretary is Edul Ahmad, on July 17, 2024, signed an agreement to purchase land at Ogle, East Coast Demerara, at a cost of GY$30 million per acre to construct an “upscale” housing project. That project will also entail the installation of drainage, including concrete drains, and irrigation, roads, including internal roads, and street lighting within 18 months of the agreement. However, the agreement states that those infrastructure works would depend on availability of site access, timely issuance of approvals, weather conditions, local labour availability or where an event of force majeure occurs, which delays the completion of the project, there would be an extension of time.
The CH&PA and New Global Investment Corporation agreed that the buyer would substantially complete 70 percent of the residential constructions within three years of July 17, 2024.
Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes has publicly called on the CH&PA to reveal the criteria being used to sell prime land in the Ogle area for GY$30 million per acre, after that entity said there was no preferential treatment and that the price is standard for all commercial lands.
One of Mr Hughes’ clients, a Trinidadian businessman’s company, had acquired land in Ogle for the same price.
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