Mr. Jervis cannot alter the state of facts and evidence

Dec 22, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
I begin my response to a letter written by Mr. Jervis, the DPS, Admin., in the Ministry of Agriculture with the following quotation by Mr. John Adams (1770).
Mr. Adams states (quote): “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence”.
Mr. Editor, Mr. Jervis, the DPM, Admin, should have passed my letter for a professional response from the technical people in the Ministry, either the Chief Agriculture Officer or the Senior Agricultural Economist.
These qualified people will not engage in scurrilous attacks. Instead, they would have provided enlightenment and knowledge. Mr. Jervis has done neither; and therefore, “whatever may be (his) wishes (his) inclinations, or the dictates of (his) passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence”.
So what are the facts and evidence? First, the data I used in my letter were extracted from the Bank of Guyana Annual Report 2008.
These are public records published by a reputable National Institution. That data show agriculture output declining over the decade and one cannot but write the truth that one sees.
For Mr. Jervis to say, however, that I “…sit at a desk and manipulate information to create mischief.” is an insidious attack against the qualified people in the Ministry and the Bank of Guyana who put their professionalism on the line when they reported their finding on the performance of the sector.
I would therefore caution Mr. Jervis that a Permanent Secretary in Charge of Administration must do administration work and not wander off into unknown territory.
Speaking of wandering off into unknown territory, Mr. Jervis writes that “…his (Dr. Hunte’s) stint at the GAIBANK was short lived due to mismanagement of the bank’s financial resources resulting in its closure.”
This is libelous and I should take Mr. Jervis to court and sue him for every thing that he has, but in this season of goodwill I will not; instead, I will only correct the record.
The facts are as follows. I was employed at GAIBANK from 1980 to 1993, working in various technical positions and later as General Manager from 1985 to 1993.
My tenure spanned both the PNC and PPP/C governments, working with our late Presidents Burnham, Hoyte and Jagan and none of them ever accused me of mismanagement or fraud.
Furthermore, the Auditor General of Guyana, who audited GAIBANK books every year, never accused me of any fraudulent act.
Additionally, all audited GAIBANK Reports were laid in Parliament every year from the time the bank was established in 1973 to at least until I resigned in good standing in 1993, when Minister Asgar Ally was the Senior Minister of Finance and our current President Jagdeo was one of his advisors.
If Mr. Jervis has any evidence to the contrary he should produce it.
Mr. Jervis accuses me of not providing advice to the Government. In my letter of 12-14-2009 I provided a series of recommendations and Mr. Jervis should ask the technical staff in the Ministry to enlighten him as he is operating under the ‘Peter Principle’.
On the subject of the closure of GAIBANK, the record is unambiguously clear and I have written on this matter since 2005 and before.
The closure of GAIBANK had nothing to do with fraud or mismanagement by me. Instead, the…” the ill-advised closure of GAIBANK was the sole responsibility of the PPP/C Government which failed to implement the recommendations of Mr. S. A. Goolsarran, Auditor General of Guyana, in relation to foreign exchange losses that were Government liabilities and not GAIBANK liabilities.
The Auditor General in his letters of 31-12-93 and 9-16-1994 supported his recommendations of dealing with the foreign exchange losses by invoking the Laws of Guyana, Section 50(2) of the Co-operative Financial Institutions Act, Chapter 75:01.
Regrettably, the PPP/C Government ignored the professional advice of the Auditor General, which would have accurately reflected the profitability levels of GAIBANK that were in the hundred of millions of dollars, after all other operating expenses were charged to the appropriate accounts.”
Unfortunately, the PPP/C government followed the nutty advice to two consultants who were in many ways the same as Mr. Jervis.
Once again, Mr. Editor, I call on Mr. Jervis to produce evidence to the contrary; otherwise, he needs to cease and desists from his sitting at his desk and making up false accounts and ridiculous fables.
C. Kenrick Hunte

Latest News

Mr. Jervis cannot alter the state of facts and evidence

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Rana five-for and enterprising batting put Bangladesh in the...

ANSA McAL on board with inaugural National Futsal...

GBF unveils squad for 2024 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup...

Someash Boyer benefits from Project “Cricket...

Several athletes and coaches aiming to benefit...

GAPLF congratulates Dominic Tyrell for taking...

Features/Columnists

Morally Right. Legally wrong

Haiti: Tragically Descending into Deeper Crisis

Is the PPP anti-Guyana?

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Mr. Jervis cannot alter the state of facts and evidence

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]