– BK told Ramotar two months before elections

BK International boss Brian Tiwari has distanced himself from the former People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government, but the controversial businessman’s position was ripped to shreds when former President Donald Ramotar yesterday released a letter from Tiwari in which the businessman aggressively professed his loyalty to the PPP.Former President Ramotar did not respond to any of the damning allegations made by Tiwarie, but instead took a tactful approach by simply releasing Tiwari’s letter addressed to the President’s office while Ramotar held the seat.
That letter, dated March 23, 2015, saw Tiwari expressing concern that Ramotar made allegations “publicly and privately” that he was “a supporter of Brigadier David Granger and his opposition alliance.”
At the time of Tiwari’s letter, the coalition A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) were aggressively approaching what was to become their victory at the May 2015 polls with Granger, then Opposition Leader of the prorogued National Assembly, as its head.
“Mr President, nothing could be further from the truth,” Tiwari said in March 2015, “I have always been a long-standing supporter of the PPP from long before 1992 and its campaign in the interior locations particularly in Regions 1, 7, and 9.”
Tiwari outlined the lengths his company had gone to aid the PPP in their campaigns and other events “without asking for a penny.”
“We must be careful at this time, Mr President, that mischievous elements do not cause unnecessary divisions. As you have said yourself, this is an extremely important election where the PPP is seeking to restore its lost majority, no one should be allowed to distract us,” Tiwari assured then President Ramotar.
In the final paragraph of his letter, the businessman re-affirmed his commitment to the PPP and expressed best wishes to the party in its upcoming elections bid.
“I will continue to serve in any way I can in the circumstances before us,” Tiwari wrote.
That March 2015 letter was copied to former President Bharrat Jagdeo; then-Cabinet Secretary Roger Luncheon; then Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee and then Housing & Water Minister, Irfaan Ali.
Tiwari’s words of encouragement were not enough to prevent the ousting of the PPP from office just a few weeks after what could be called his letter of endorsement and commitment.
The tug-o-war between Ramotar and Tiwarie started a few days ago when Ramotar alleged that some $800M in steel from the site of the Specialty Hospital was awarded to Tiwari’s contracting firm under questionable circumstances.
Tiwari then came after the former President accusing Ramotar of corruption, incompetence, and mismanagement of the US$18M specialty hospital project, which was to be built with support from the Government of India.
Ramotar’s letter adds a new dimension to the equation, especially since Tiwari said he had distanced himself from Ramotar’s party and government one year before the May 2015 elections.
Following that election, Tiwari became an affiliate of the David Granger-led coalition government. Tiwari had offered services for the cleaning of the capital city free of cost to the public purse.
However, it was revealed earlier this year that Tiwari was appointed as a Ministerial Advisor to State Minister Joseph Harmon effective January 2016.
That appointment was hastily rescinded by President Granger while Tiwari was on a state-sponsored China trip with State Minister Harmon, who is also the Head of the Presidential Secretariat.