Gov’t awaits report on BK $800M steel allegations
BK International boss, Brian Tiwarie
BK International boss, Brian Tiwarie

THE David Granger administration will soon receive a report following an investigation into allegations against controversial BK International boss, Brian Tiwari, who was reportedly ‘gifted’ some $800M worth in steel. The allegations were levelled against Tiwarie by former President, Donald Ramotar. Cabinet Secretary Joseph Harmon told the press corps on Thursday that even as Public Health Minister Dr George Norton continues his investigation, yet another investigation has transpired in the public through a series of letters in the press by both Messrs. Ramotar and Tiwarie.

Cabinet Secretary, Joseph Harmon
Cabinet Secretary, Joseph Harmon

The vicious exchange between the former President and Tiwarie brought to the fore the shaky relationship between the former Donald Ramotar presidency and the construction boss.
Tiwarie was awarded a number of multi-million dollar contracts under the former Jagdeo and Ramotar administrations. It was Ramotar who had first made allegations that Tiwari, now a close affiliate of the David Granger administration, was given $800M in steel from the now-paused Specialty Hospital project at Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown site.
BK’s boss struck back, accusing the former President of corruption and of gifting state assets to his affiliates. He went as far as to proclaim he had distanced himself from the Ramotar presidency one year before the PPP lost the May 2015 election to the now-David Granger-led coalition government.
Ramotar still has not responded to those allegations but, instead, released a 2015 letter from BK aggressively pledging his loyalty to the PPP. BK’s response to the 2015 letter, now placed in the public by Ramotar, was that he pledged his loyalty to avoid victimisation by the then PPP/C government.
But the March 2015 letter, according to Tiwarie, was not enough to “quell the anger of Mr. Ramotar. His rant continued with threats to evict my airline operations from the GUYSUCO hangar where we were conducting our operations.”
Tiwarie said his business never discriminated against political parties, but continued to be relegated by then President Ramotar for allegedly boosting the opposition coalition with millions of dollars in contributions.
Tiwarie has since professed a shift in his allegiance from the PPP, now in opposition, to the APNU+AFC, now in government. Since the release of the first letter, government maintained its only concern is with the allegations of the steel being gifted. Minister Harmon said this represented a matter of a security breach which had to be investigated.

 

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