Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Amaila Falls US$15.4M road project…Inefficiency is not an offence-AG
Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, has responded to an article that quotes Member of Parliament
Attorney General, Anil Nandlall
for the Alliance for Change, Khemraj Ramjattan, as calling on the Attorney General to prosecute an inefficient consultant on the Amaila Falls road project.
We publish his response.
I wish to respond to the front page headline of Kaieteur News, Tuesday edition, March 20, 2012 viz:
Amaila Falls $15.4M road project…Clear evidence of inefficiency exists “…AG must prosecute or face no-confidence motion” – Ramjattan and to the Article in relation thereto published on page 6, and continued on page 17, of that edition of the Kaieteur News.
I set out hereunder my response.
(1) It is not the function of the Attorney General to prosecute anyone or entity; that is the exclusive function of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Indeed, the Constitution clearly provides that in the discharge of the functions of that office, the Director of Public Prosecutions cannot be the subject of anyone’s direction or control. The Attorney General, therefore, cannot direct the Director of Public Prosecutions which matters to prosecute.
(2) Even if the Attorney General is empowered to prosecute, Mr. Ramjattan is requesting that I prosecute, because according to him there is “clear evidence of inefficiency”. “Inefficiency” is not an offence for which one can be prosecuted under the laws of Guyana. One would expect that as an experienced legal practitioner, Mr. Ramjattan ought to have, at least, a fleeting acquaintance with these rudimentary legal principles. It is patently obvious that this is not the case.
(3) I observe that Mr. Ramjattan in his tirade, omits to inform Kaieteur News that Mrs. Cathy Hughes, an executive member of the Alliance for Change and a Member of Parliament for the Alliance for Change, is (or at least was), the Public Relations Officer of Synergy Holdings Inc. I hope that Mrs. Hughes will also be the subject of Mr. Ramjattan’s No Confidence Motion.
(4) If any inquiry or proper inquiry was made by Mr. Ramjattan, he would have found that when Synergy Holdings Inc. instituted proceedings against the State and obtained certain Conservatory Orders which prevented the State from taking into possession certain assets used by Synergy Holdings Inc. on the project, it was the Attorney General, who appeared in person and successfully presented legal submissions which resulted in the discharge of those Conservatory Orders.
(5) A press release was made by the Office of the Attorney General in relation to this issue and sent to every media house in Guyana. Unfortunately, it did not find expression in the Kaieteur News, although when the Orders were granted, the story was carried over several days as a front page feature in the Kaieteur News.
(6) Additionally, a claim has been filed by the Attorney General against Synergy Holdings Inc. on the 9th day of March, 2012, in which the Attorney General is claiming, inter alia, damages in excess of $1,000,000 (one million dollars) as general damages for breach of contract, and special damages in the sum of US$3,880,029.80. These proceedings are pending in the Commercial Division of the High Court.
(7) I feel obliged to comment upon what I consider to be the real motive of Mr. Ramjattan’s constant criticisms of me. He has, without any lawful basis or any reasonable grounds, called for my resignation in relation to the role I played in dismantling the persons who unlawfully presided over the administration of cricket in Guyana. He is again, without any lawful basis or reasonable grounds, calling for my resignation.
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