Deputy PM sold house, lands to charities, not swap with gov’t as PM had said

Deputy Prime Minister and North Windward MP, Montgomery Daniel sold the lands and house he owned at Sandy Bay to two charities and did not exchange them with the government, as Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves had said had been agreed.

The disclosure came in Parliament on Thursday as Gonsalves responded to a question from Senator Shevern John, who is the opposition New Democratic Party’s candidate for North Windward in the next general election.

“I am happy that the PM has answered the question, clearing that the lands were not swapped but that they were purchased,” John said after the prime minister responded to her question.

In August 2021, four months after La Soufriere volcano erupted, Gonsalves said the government would swap lands it owns at Orange Hill for the parcel that Daniel owned at Sandy Bay.

He said Daniel’s lands would be used to build houses for people affected by the eruption and the subsequent mudflows.

Further, the prime minister had said that the government would purchase Daniel’s house, located on the lands at Sandy Bay, and renovate it for use as a clinic.

Then, in October 2022, Gonsalves said on NBC Radio that Cabinet and Daniel had agreed to exchange lands owned by the government at Orange Hill for Daniel’s lands at Sandy Bay.

The prime minister did not disclose the amount of money that the government had agreed to pay Daniel for the house but restated that it would be refurbished and converted into a health centre.

However, the prime minister disclosed to Parliament on Thursday that Daniel’s lands at Sandy Bay were sold to two charities operated by the Mustique Company, which built on them 20 houses for people affected by the volcano and that the transactions were above board.

A source familiar with the deal told iWitness News that the charity paid Daniel for the lands but added that questions should be asked about who suggested that the charities make the purchase.

John had directed her question to Daniel, in his capacity as Minister of Transport, Works, Lands and Physical Planning.

She asked him to state “the terms and conditions of any agreement for the purchase or use of the Honourable Minister Daniel’s lands in Sandy Bay on which the government constructed 20 houses and distributed to residents by the government on 26th October 2023”.

The opposition senator also asked Daniel to “indicate whether the pre-existing house located on the referenced real estate (lands) was acquired or leased by the government and if acquired, the amount paid for such acquisition and to whom this amount was paid; or if the house was leased what are the terms of such agreement”.

Daniel, however, declined to answer the question, saying that there was a similar one on the Order Paper that day that involved “private business”.

“And I refused to answer in terms of bringing out what is private and because as a member of the Cabinet that I had very little to do with this property sales, the honourable Prime Minister at the Cabinet was in charge of this, and I prefer the Prime Minister to answer the question,” Daniel said.

‘Bouncer’

Gonsalves said that John’s question was “greeted with much thumping of the desk, and somebody from that side uttered ‘bouncer’, meaning that this is some kind of a question with some political time bomb associated with it”.

The prime minister said that as he read the question, he “realised the mischief which was being sought to be created in this question”.

He said that while he would answer the question, the standing orders prohibit questions “as to the character or conduct of any person except in his official or public capacity”.

The prime minister said that the “presumptions in the question and imputations” could have been “obviated” if the opposition had seen that on Oct. 2, two deeds were recorded in the registry for a sale of landsby Daniel to a company called the Volcano Relief Housing Ltd. and Mustique Charitable Trust Property Co. Ltd.

“And if they had gone and done that, there would not have been this desk thumping, this matter of bouncer and the question would not have been framed in the manner in which it was framed.”

PM ‘took control’

Gonsalves said that as prime minister, he “took control of this entire exercise” from the time he approached Daniel in the housing minister’s personal capacity after the people in Sandy Bay said his “is the only parcel of land on which we can build houses, consequent upon Soufriere…

“There is no document in relation to this matter, other than Montgomery Daniels selling his land at arm’s length to two companies, private companies,” the prime minister said.

He said Daniel did not receive money from the two companies until after the houses were built and distributed.

“I said to him, ‘We need to fix up these houses for people. You have to take my word that you will be paid for your land. You’ll be paid for your property.’”

Gonsalves said that through discussions with him and MCT, the charity allocated “a certain amount of money” to assist people, particularly those north of the Rabacca Dry River, with the rebuilding of houses after the eruption.

He said that the Mustique Company decided that they were going to buy the land, which is over six acres, and the house on it, all of which belonged to Daniel.

He said that Daniel — who was first elected to Parliament in 2001 — had owned the lands since 1982.

“And I discussed with the Mustique Charitable Trust also that when they buy everything there, I suggested also that they buy the property, … and to turn it into a facility. And the idea is a health wellness facility. That’s another phase.”

He said 20 lots of land have been distributed, adding that there are “10 more lots on which you can build, which have been surveyed already, but extra land is left for further development, including possibly even an area for a cemetery”.

The prime minister said a letter by the Mustique Company’s lawyer to its CEO said the combined purchase price paid to Daniel was made following an independent valuation carried out on the instruction of and provided to the MCT.

“But they paid him one year after the houses were completed because they had to do a lot of checks with the deeds,” Gonsalves said, adding that Daniel was not hustling the MCT “because his prime minister had told him that the purchasers will pay”.

Gonsalves said the charities needed to obtain alien land-holding licences because their directors are non-nationals.

He, however, said the Cabinet accepted his advice and waived the alien land holding licences and stamp duty fees for the two charities.

“…  but the seller of the land, Montgomery Daniel, paid his 5% as every vendor, every seller of land has to do.”

Daniel rented the house after selling it

Gonsalves also said Daniel began paying rent for the house from the time that the charities pay him for the house, as construction of his new home was not yet complete.

The prime minister said that the licence that Daniel had to live in the house as a tenant was expiring on Nov. 30.

The prime minister told Parliament that the opposition can look at deeds number 3035, of 2024, and deeds 3036, of 2024.

“They have been registered since October 2nd, 2024. We are now in the end of November,” he said.

“The opposition had noticed to the world that Montgomery Daniel had an arm’s length transaction perfectly compatible with the Constitution and the law and the law relating to a sitting Members [of Parliament], but he sold land to private entities and for the welfare of the people,” Gonsalves said. 

“And the record will show that the houses were put there without him getting a cent. And, after the houses were built, a year passed before he got any money. And after he was paid, he paid rent to live in the house which he built, which belonged to him, but which had been bought from him and paid for as of early October 2024.

“Let me hear you shout nuh. Let me hear you applaud now nuh over there on the other side, let me hear bouncer now, nuh,” Gonsalves said.

The senator then noted that Daniel had sold the lands and no exchange had taken place, as the prime minister had said would have been the case.