Dr. Vishwamintra Persaud finally fired from GPHC
‘I take full responsibility…a mistake was made and it has been remedied’ – Dr. Leslie Ramsammy
HEALTH Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy disclosed, late yesterday, that controversial sex offender, Dr. Vishwamintra Persaud, is no longer an employee of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) or any agency within the Ministry of Health. Ramsammy said, “I take full responsibility. I should have asked for more attention to be placed on all the details…a mistake was made and it has been remedied.”

According to the New York Department of Health, Dr. Persaud was found guilty of “attempted course of sexual conduct against a child in the second degree” in 2008. Later that year, he was sentenced to an eight year order of protection, ten years probation and fined over US$2,500.
Reports are that Persaud allegedly abused a child over a three year period, from 2003, and was convicted after the victim spoke out about the abuse.
Minister Ramsammy acknowledged that he knew Persaud had some difficulties to get a licence from the Medical Council.

He said, “We did not do diligence,” he said.
Ramsammy added that the next step now is for the Medical Council to make their decision.
He made it clear that he has no influence over what decision is taken and assured of his support for whatever decision is taken by the Medical Council.
“I have always supported the Medical Council. I had only once asked them to review their decision, but even then I indicated that if they came to the same conclusion I would support them…whatever they decide I will support,” Ramsammy said.

Meanwhile, GPHC Medical Services Director, Dr. Madan Rambarran, in a statement, said, “In recommending the decision to offer employment at GPHC, I pointed out that Dr. Persaud was not a serial offender and that he was never, to the best of our knowledge, investigated or convicted for any similar crime.”
Rambarran maintained that harming a child is not okay and has since said if he has erred in his judgment to recommend Persaud, he is “willing to be guided and directed by the relevant authorities.”
“The courts sentence and various authorities make the rules. We offered employment to someone who we believe is eligible. If we are wrong then these authorities must tell us so,” he said.
However, he noted with concern that based on the positions of various interest groups there seems to be no place for Persaud in Guyana.
He contended that Persaud is human and in finding a resolution, stakeholders must stay close to the facts in a case that is “complex and difficult.”
According to him, failure to recognise the humanity of the perpetrator renders the individual less than human and no punishment will be too severe.

RAMBARRAN’S COMMENTS CONTRADICTORY &  FLAWED
Minister of Human Services and Social Security Ms. Priya Manickchand,  speaking with reporters yesterday, said she found Dr Rambarran’s most recent comments “sad and contradictory” and said while she had the greatest of respect for Rambarran, a man who had lived his life in service, she found his arguments “seriously flawed”.

Rambarran argued that the man’s punishment in the US was enough to have reformed him but Manickchand countered that the GPHC didn’t even wait for his sentence to be spent and, in hiring Persaud, acted like an appeal court without any of the necessary evidence, facts and/or circumstances that were available to the bodies that made the decision in the first place.

“They overturned an informed decision that said Dr Persaud was not a fit and proper person to be practising  medicine. And they did all of this based on what the doctor said,” a visibly angry Manickchand lashed out.

She said while Rambarran is calling for objectivity and balance, his defence of the doctor and his defence of his decision to hire the doctor are “most unbalanced and lacking in objectivity”.

Rambarran was guided by what the doctor perpetrator said but he made no effort to determine what the child victim has to say. “How objective is that?” the minister questioned.

Rambarran had argued that because the doctor did not sexually abuse the child at work, he should be allowed to work. But Minister Manickchand said that the logical extension of Dr. Rambarran’s statement “carries us to a tragic position” and that is, if at night a doctor jumps into people’s houses and rapes the wife and steals the family’s possessions then, because he didn’t do this at work, the next morning he should be allowed to merrily proceed to practise what has come to be known as a noble profession.
Minister Manickchand said to prevent such a ridiculous proposition, the Medical Practitioners Act is clear that to practise medicine in Guyana, persons must be of good character.

SUPERVISION FOR LIFE
Minister Manickchand also stated that after such an offence, the laws clearly indicate that a country does not trust the perpetrator and so that individual will be subject to supervision for life.
More importantly, she stated that it is her personal view that “sex offenders have no place in society” where they can abuse one of society’s most vulnerable groups, children.
However, in all fairness, she said Persaud can seek employment elsewhere, where he is not in contact with children.
“I do not dispute that he is a human being, but he must be seen as a human being that was convicted…our laws and policies are clear in situations like these…we have zero tolerance for sexual offenders,” Minister Manickchand declared.
Manickchand, a staunch defender of the rights of especially women and children, added that there is no “blurring of the lines.”
“It is either you are a sexual offender or you are not,” she bluntly stated.
According to her, the laws are clear and as citizens, Guyanese are duty bound to comply with the laws that govern the land.
When asked about what is being done to ensure that the laws are enforced, more particularly the Sexual Offences Act, Manickchand acknowledged that with this recent matter it is clear that more needs to be done.
According to her, more education on the provisions of the laws and the reason for their existence needs to be done. 
Manickchand also called on all the relevant bodies to do what is right as it relates to this doctor.
Help and Shelter was one of the recent groups to speak out against Persaud’s employment in light of recent revelations that he was convicted of sexual assault in the United States.
The group, in a statement, made it clear that the employment of a known child sexual offender is in breach of the new Sexual Offenses Act, which seeks to prevent the employment of convicted sexual offenders in jobs where they have access and are in positions of trust with respect to children.
Help and Shelter stressed that it will “strenuously oppose and advocate against the continued employment of Persaud as a medical doctor in Guyana.”