Senator questions transparency in HOPE housing deal with Guyanese firm

Revelations that a newly registered Guyanese company was contracted to build homes under the State-run HOPE housing project in St Lucy have prompted Democratic Labour Party Senator Ryan Walters to demand full transparency from the government.

The opposition lawmaker accused the government of operating without transparency after it emerged that a Guyanese company, Modular Builds Guyana (MBG), has been contracted to build homes for the state-owned Home Ownership Providing Energy Inc. (HOPE) in St Lucy.

Attention was drawn to the company earlier this week after a video circulating on social media showed Modular Builds claiming to be building 86 houses for HOPE using concrete board and galvanised steel frames. The post sparked widespread public debate, as there had been no prior announcement from the government or HOPE about the company’s involvement in local housing projects.

Senator Walters said he was deeply concerned about the social media post and even more concerned about the new development with HOPE: “This development raises serious questions about transparency, accountability, and the continued misuse of taxpayers’ funds in the government’s housing programme.

“The situation . . . is deeply troubling that, despite promises from the Prime Minister over 18 months ago to investigate the operations and finances of HOPE Inc., no government‐initiated inquiry or report has been made public”, he added.

The senator said Barbadians “have not forgotten the over $60 million of taxpayers’ money wasted and squandered by HOPE Inc. with very few completed houses to show for it”.

He also referred to the Auditor General’s special audit in April, which “painted a disturbing picture of mismanagement, wastage, and a lack of accountability”.

He continued: “Despite this record of failure and irresponsibility, we are now learning that this new company is claiming to have a relationship with HOPE Inc., the very agency responsible for this mismanagement. Barbadians deserve a housing programme that works for them, not another scandal built on the backs of taxpayers.

“Barbadians have never heard of this company before… we are in the dark looking on as the public purse is caught up in another housing project.” He pointed out that even some state officials were unaware of Modular Builds.

Public records show that Modular Builds was registered in September 2025, prompting him to question how a newly formed company could be involved in a large-scale government housing initiative within weeks.

“This is unacceptable,” he said. “The country deserves to know who this company is, how it came to be involved in government housing initiatives, and what arrangements, if any, exist that involve taxpayers’ money.”

But HOPE explained in a statement that MBG was awarded a contract following a “rigorous tendering process” to build ten of a planned 86 steel-framed houses at Fustic Gardens, St Lucy.

HOPE’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Williamson, said work began in mid-September, with completion of the initial phase expected by April 2026. He said: “The tendering process for this project was undertaken and has proceeded in full compliance with the regulations of the Chief Procurement Office.”

Williamson added that MBG was selected after a site visit to its plant in Guyana and that the company is using local labour and materials for the foundations, while Guyanese artisans handle the erection of imported steel frames. Barbadian workers are also being trained in the fabrication and assembly of the units, which will be vital for the completion of the remaining houses once the first phase is evaluated, he said. (SZB)