Dear Editor,
I have noticed the response of the Attorney General, Mr. Basil Williams, in the Chronicle Newspaper, to the piece I wrote in relation to issues in the Ministry which he heads. I wish to thank him publicly for acknowledging that so many persons have left the Ministry since the change of government and in particular, his Ministry. It has been a virtual exodus. It is indeed more than passing strange that in the present economic environment where there is no job creation, no programme for such either, that so many people have left their employ. I note also Mr. Cecil Dhurjon’s response as well. I know Mr. Dhurjon still has substantial benefits for his long service to the Ministry and the country. It is apposite to recall that Mr. Dhurjon’s wife is still in the employ of that Ministry. I have no desire to jeopardise either the jobs nor the receipt of benefits for anyone. Further, I say not.
In relation to the Attorney General, I have seen his explanations for the exodus of so many in his employ. I do not wish to respond to them. I will merely recite his recent known actions.
You, the readers, will decide on how credible and what weight you wish to put to his most recent explanation. This is the same man who denied that he ever sought to compulsory acquire two private lots in Carmichael Street when this was publicly advertised in the Official Gazette. This is the same man who, together with his colleagues in the APNU+AFC, voted against the AML/CFT Bill brought by the PPP/C administration. That placed our country in grave danger of being blacklisted. Yet Basil Williams shamelessly and barefacedly blames the PPP/C.
This is the same person who blamed the PPP/C for the more than one billion dollar judgment that the Courts awarded to the Rudisa Company. The whole country knows that it was Williams and all of his colleagues in the APNU+AFC that voted against the Bill being passed in the National Assembly by the PPP/C government. The failure to pass this Bill led to a humongous cost to the country.
This is the same Basil Williams who placed his name on a case when he was never a party in the case involving Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, Opposition Leader and Magistrate Charlyn Artiga. He refused to take the advice of the Solicitor General and the Deputy Solicitor General not to do so.
Further, I say not.
Donald Ramotar
Former President