Nov 02 - GSD Says Picardo Is “The Most Opaque Chief Minister In History”
The GSD says it is continuing with its investigation into what it describes as the “secret Credit Finance loan” provided to the developers “responsible for the destruction of the Risso Bakery.” The party says it is determined to ensure that the community is aware as to how their money is being used “despite attempts by Mr Picardo to hide the facts.”
A statement continued: “Mr Picardo says the loans were not secret because a mortgage was filed at Companies House.
“Suggesting that an Opposition must search every single company in Company House in order to find out which ones have mortgages funded by savers' money, is ludicrous to anyone who believes in basic transparency of Governments.
“There are thousands of companies registered at Companies House and the cost of a search is £15 per company. The Opposition would need a loan from Credit Finance in the tens of thousands of pounds in order to complete the task!
“The fact is that this is yet another example of the opaque way Mr. Picardo operates.
“In 2013 when the Leader of the GSD asked in Parliament whether the Govt had ‘directly or indirectly’ provided any loans to the owners of the Sunborn, Mr Picardo said no. A month later (after a search at companies house following a tip off) the GSD found a mortgage in favour of the Sunborn from Credit Finance. Mr Picardo denied a loan had been provided right up to the day after the By-election.
“It is remarkable that a Chief Minister like Mr Picardo who loves to make announcements with great fanfare on the most minor initiatives, should forget to tell the public that hundreds of millions of pounds of savers' money was transferred from the GSB to Credit Finance in the first place in order to allow the latter to make these loans. The existence of Credit Finance and that colossal investment was also something that the GSD discovered as a consequence of a tip off.
“In the premises, the GSD cannot accept there is no link between the loan from Credit Finance and the demolition. In order for us to do so the Government would need to show that it had had no discussions with these developers before demolition encouraging them to pursue the project. We are afraid we have been lied to, too many times. In any event, we should not be rewarding developers who destroy our Heritage with loans and if Mr Picardo believes that is right he should be open and transparent about it.
“Mr Picardo is open with the public when it suits him and he is rapidly going down as the most opaque Chief Minister in history.”
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