REFERENCE is made to a letter published in the Kaieteur News on January 23, 2012 in which the name of the author was withheld.
Before I attempt to respond to the unfounded and fallacious content of the letter, I must express my astonishment that the Kaieteur News chose to publish same, given that it is against their policy of not publishing letters where writers have not signed or choose to withhold their names.
I myself have a policy of not responding to letters in which there are no signatures, but I am forced to on this occasion given the gravity of the accusations levelled against me.
Let me start off by saying that I have a professional relationship with former President Bharrat Jagdeo and at no time did I approach him for any position. In fact, there were numerous positions offered to me that I turned down. I have never approached or will ever approach any politician for any favours.
Further, I have no apologies for making the statement on the former President  being the best President that I have worked with. The constitution does provide for free speech.
Secondly, all the areas in which I have worked have been open and I have never been involved in any secret deals. The former President has on more than one occasion expressed his satisfaction with my work.
Many of the positions I hold are not fulltime  and therefore has not impaired my performance as head of the Health Sector Development Unit (HSDU), contrary to what the writer or writers of the letter suggests.
I admit that over the past few weeks, I have not been at work for some days because of illness, but people who work with me could attest that I even work through nights to ensure all my work is completed.
I would like the writer or writers of the letter to look at where the HSDU was when I assumed the position of head to where it is now. Use this assessment to determine the efficacy of my performance. From this, the writer or writers of the letter would be able to determine whether my involvement with other entities in any way hampers the effectiveness of the HSDU in terms of meeting stringent timelines and targets. They could also check with the various donors for further verification.
With regard to the group which I put together called ‘Friends of Donald’, I had said publicly that once the elections were over we would be converting the group into an advocacy organisation that will monitor the implementation of the manifestos of all the political parties. This could be confirmed by simply speaking to any member of the group.
In relation to my resignation from state boards, as I had stated in a previous correspondence, in 1992 and before, I was on state boards under the PNC administration and after the PPP/C won the elections, I similarly resigned from those positions and was reappointed to some of them.
I did it not to put pressure on anyone as the letter seems to be suggesting. In fact I usually do it as a reminder to the new President that if someone else is deemed more suited for the position(s) they should seek out that individual. I have no intention of continuing on any one of these state boards unless asked to by the President.
Regarding remuneration from the boards, I have had a policy before 1992 of not accepting board fees. Checks can be made  with GAWU to verify whether or not my board fees are going directly to the sugar workers of GuySuCo, as is the case; similarly, the fees that I receive from the Guyana National Newspapers Limited is going towards the welfare of the staff or even whether the amount I was paid as a member of the Competition Commission was or wasn’t donated to the welfare of the staff that work there.
I want to cite one more example where I was paid over $300,000 to function as the Commissioner into the affairs of the Georgetown Municipality; this entire amount was paid to those persons who assisted in preparing the reports for distribution. I do this not because I am wealthy. I am not. It is a matter of principle.
With respect to another institution I was asked to head, my predecessor was paid a salary of over US$12,000 (monthly) and did not achieve the level of debt recovery that had been envisaged by the Government.
As a result, the President at the time asked me to wind up the operations of this entity in 2004. However, because of the work done and the approach I adopted, our rate of collection increased by over 5000% (I’m unable to provide details of this without approval from my superiors).
The writer or writers can also confirm whether the amount I was paid (if any) was nearly as much as my predecessor.
In all of those institutions I requested that there be audits and most of them are up to date in terms of audits. Provided my superiors give the OK, I am willing to make all of the audits of these entities available. In fact, the letter writer or writers could commission an audit of all the areas that I have been involved in and I am willing to fully cooperate with them.
I know for a fact that the President is fully capable of making decisions with respect to appointments to public entities and therefore could not be influenced by any other factors.
Two weeks ago I had discussions with His Excellency  and at that meeting (my apologies to the President as this revelation is made without his consent ) I was offered a very senior position  which I politely turned down.
I reiterated during my meeting with His Excellency that I have no interest in any position whether it be as a board member or otherwise, but I wanted to work in a role to enhance the cohesion of all Guyanese and to ensure  that donor funds are well spent. Further, I indicated that this work would not envisage any remuneration.
The letter published in Kaieteur News is not that surprising since there are a number of persons including persons in the political arena who believe that because I served President Jagdeo I should not work with His Excellency, President Donald Ramotar.
It is my anticipation that there will be more of these letters coming my way; however, I wish to say I will continue  as a nationalist to work for the betterment of my country.
In conclusion, I believe that the writer or writers of the letter are people who believe that I am seeking to influence the current President. Perhaps it is the reverse.