The government yesterday secured parliament's approval for $8.1 billion in supplementary provisions, including $50 million to acquire the land owned by Toolsie Persaud Ltd on Water Street for public purposes.

Finance Minister, Saisnarine Kowlessar, yesterday refused to discuss the details of the controversial valuation of the property in the National Assembly, stating that the matter was engaging the attention of the court.

PNC REFORM leader, Desmond Hoyte, queried whether the request for $50 million covered the total market value of the land to be acquired and if it was not, whether the minister would say what the total market value was. He also asked, if Kowlessar could not say what the market value was, why he had gone to the National Assembly unprepared and if he had a value, for him to explain how it was arrived at.

All Kowlessar would say was that the $50 million represented the government's offer price and the market value was a matter for the court.

But Hoyte took objection to Kowlessar deflecting his question and argued that Kowlessar could not depend on the court to determine market value. He said under the law, the government had to offer market value for acquisition of the land and he wanted to know what the market value was. He wanted to know if the $50 million requested was snatched out of the sky.

Kowlessar informed the House then that the firm had acquired the land for $2.7 million and the offer price was 20 times that.

But Ravi Dev of the Rise, Organise and Rebuild Guyana movement (ROAR) asked whether the minister was aware that the market value was in no way related to the initial purchase price and asked the basis for the valuation of $50 million. He further queried why the government had rejected Toolsie Persaud's offer for an independent assessor to value the property. He also questioned the wisdom in allowing the matter to be dragged out in court which defeated the purpose of acquiring the land in the first place.

However, Kowlessar said the matter was engaging the court's attention and he did not believe he could continue with the discussion.

The government yesterday cleared $742 million in supplementary provisions for spending between July and November and a further $7.4 billion for spending to the end of the year.

Questions were raised over the $250 million to be paid to the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) for the supply of power. Kowlessar could not provide a breakdown of the agencies, which owed GPL or the total arrears, saying that information was still being worked on.

The issue of $3.8 billion for the processing of Guyana Rice Development Board cheques was also raised.

The sitting yesterday also saw a tribute to the late Arthur Alexander, former Deputy Speaker and PNC member of parliament.