Basil Williams desecrates dead to vilify Gov’t
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams

PEOPLE’S National Congress Reform (PNCR) Chairman, Basil Williams, who succeeded the late Deborah Backer as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, is alleging discrimination by Government in its medical assistance programme.

Speaking Friday at A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) weekly press engagement held at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Williams responded to reports that Government had used money to assist the late Presidential Advisor, Dr. Navin Chandarpal with his medical treatment, while it refused outright to help the late Deputy Speaker.

Williams made the claim despite assurances given by Office of the President that a claim for reimbursement for Backer’s treatment will be treated favourably.

 Late Presidential Advisor, Mr Navin Chandarpal
Late Presidential Advisor, Mr Navin Chandarpal

The Guyana Chronicle was reliably informed that following Backer’s death, a claim for reimbursement for the medical treatment and care afforded to the late Deputy Speaker, prior to her demise, was submitted to the House.
This publication understands the claim was made through the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, which in turn was handed over to the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon.

According to reports, Dr. Luncheon at the time assured that the reimbursement claim would be treated favourably.
The Guyana Chronicle was told further that the reimbursement claim for Backer was submitted by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, in the presence of the Speaker of the House, Raphael Trotman.
Deputy Speaker Williams however told media operatives Friday that Government paid for Dr. Chandarpal’s treatment throughout the course of his illness but “they never ever paid a cent for Ms. Deborah Backer, who was Deputy Speaker.”

Williams elaborated that Backer took ill on the job and her expenses were not dissimilar to Chandarpal’s, “but the Government refused to pay a cent in support of her expenses.”

Late Deputy Speaker, Ms Deborah Backer
Late Deputy Speaker, Ms Deborah Backer

The Deputy Speaker was at the time being grilled as to whether there was ever a request to access the Government’s medical assistance programme.

He responded by saying a request was not the germane matter but rather “the issue arose, I know for a fact that the issue arose and it is stated that the Office of Deputy Speaker doesn’t attract such medical benefits.”

Williams attempted to qualify his position by stating he sought clarification, which came possibly from the Clerk of the National Assembly, Isaacs, a charge, Isaacs has since denied.
When the issues of the Government’s medical assistance programme came to the fore during yesterday’s press engagement, Williams at first denied knowledge of the existence of the type of expenditure.

He told members of the media corps, “I don’t know such spending comes to the House…what we know is that we don’t get.”

Reminded that Opposition Members of Parliament such as Desmond Trotman had benefited from the Government’s medical assistance programme in the past, “I don’t know, I am not (a recipient).”
It was at this point Williams was asked to respond to the expenditure on the late Chandarpal and he responded by saying, “I don’t know if there is a lawful regime governing that type of expenditure….I would be hazarding a guess as to what is the medical policy of the Government with respect to Ministers, I know there is none in relation to parliamentarians, maybe with the exception of the Speaker…I know the Deputy Speaker also is not entitled to any medical relief whatsoever from the State.”
According to the PNCR Chairman, who is also currently the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, “we’re concerned also about the discrimination too.” Asked to expand on why he calls the expenditure under the medical programme discriminatory, Williams said, “you have one set of people benefitting.”

Reminded that former PNCR leader, Robert Corbin, during his stint as Opposition Leader was also a beneficiary under the Government’s medical assistance programme, Williams conceded that this is catered for.

Chandarpal was cremated in November last after succumbing to his battle with cancer.
From 1992 to 2001, he served as Presidential Adviser on Energy, Natural Resources, Technology and the Environment. From 2001 to 2003, he served as Agricultural Minister and a Member of Parliament. His final decade saw him serving as Presidential Adviser on Sustainable Development, Science and Technology and Principal of the GAWU Labour College from 2010 to 2011. He chaired, and was a member of several boards, including the Guyana Forestry Commission and the Guyana Gold Board, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Caricom’s Task Force on the Environment and several others.
He passed away on October 28, 2014, after a two-year battle against cancer.
A few months earlier in March, the House also lost Deputy Speaker Backer, who also succumbed to her battle with cancer.
Through the PNCR, she joined the National Assembly in 1997 and had served in the Seven, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Parliaments.
She had also served as a lawyer for over 30 years. In December 2013, she went to the U.S. where she received treatment at a hospital in Florida but later succumbed.

By Gary Eleazar

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