Dear Editor,
I NEVER invited Mr. L. Christopher Ram to an exchange in the press on the just concluded renaming of the Ogle Airport to E. F. Correia International Airport.In his usual tongue in cheek manner, he wrote a letter in Stabroek News, calling on me to answer certain questions and referring to me as a former member of the Reform component of the PNCR. Was it necessary to so do?

This is the same man who, when cornered and exposed, complains about being ‘cussed out’ by others. He likes to dish it out but is thin-skinned when countered.

Mr. Ram’s tantrums are not new, he was recently publicly chided by no less a person than retired Justice Patterson, Chairman of the CoI into the Camp Street Prison riots, after he walked away from the hearings because he didn’t get his way. What is clear from Mr. Ram’s letter in your newspaper is that Mr. Ram is still nursing his wounds from our exchanges on the legality of any president, including former President Bharrat Jagdeo, to claim exemption and immunity from taxes under Section 66 of Cap. 88:01. This section states: ‘The President is exempt from TAXATION’. Mr. Ram was dead wrong in his interpretation. He knows this, but is embarrassed to admit same, as he is supposed to be the taxation czar of Guyana.

I do not possess Mr. Ram’s apparent pathological obsession with attacking former President Bharrat Jagdeo. I do not hate anyone, and will not hate anyone, even if I do not share their political leanings. Mr. Jagdeo is not my friend, colleague or political associate; I do not hate him or anyone in his party, even though I stoutly oppose them.

Mr. Ram asked for me ‘to state and explain the role of President Granger in the context of Article 24 of the Lease Agreement between Government and OAI’. I provided an answer. He now teases that I don’t know the law. I can only smirk at this, and I would not help Mr. Ram to untangle himself from the web he has spun by providing any additional information at my disposal.

Research is the hallmark of any student. I am still a student. To successfully complete 4 university degrees and two professional accreditations requires very good research skills. Moreover, a good researcher knows where to look and where to find the answers, even if it means — as I have done in the past — calling Mr. Ram himself. I never expected him to beat his chest about this; it is a sign of great weakness.

Yours faithfully,
JEROME KHAN