Office of the President now admits to laptop purchases

Feb 08, 2011 News

… Laptop flip-flop 2

The Office of the President, in its continued attempt to accuse Kaieteur News of distortion regarding laptop purchases, has once again flip-flopped on information that it has already publicly put out.
After vehemently denying that it had bought 20 Lenovo laptops, the Office of the President now admits that it did.
Kaieteur News on Thursday last, said the Office of the President “reportedly bought 20 Lenovo G550 computers at US$585 each.”
The report followed a statement in Parliament by Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jennifer Webster, that the government intends to spend $295,000 for each laptop to be distributed to 90,000 poor families and special needs groups.
Minister Webster then said she was wrong and that the cost of each laptop for distribution would be US$295.
In comparing prices for laptops, Kaieteur News reported that the Office of the President bought 20 Lenovo G550 laptops. Office of the President promptly denied buying the 20 Lenovo G550 laptops.
“This is false and misleading and is in keeping with the clear agenda of the Kaieteur News to disparage development projects being put in place by the Guyana Government to benefit all Guyanese,” the Office of the President declared. It then sought to accuse Kaieteur News of making false claims.
Then Kaieteur News displayed on its front page the documents to prove that Office of the President indeed did make the purchases and that the laptops were delivered on three different dates last month.
The Office of the President went on the defensive again, Sunday, this time flip-flopping on its own denial about buying the computers. First, it said that five laptops were bought for use by the OLPF office at a cost of US$690.
Then, without clearly admitting that it had lied about the purchase of the 20 G550 laptops, the Office of the President admitted that it had bought 20 laptops.
“If Kaieteur News had observed the journalistic principle of verifying its information, then it would have known that the 20 Laptops were for the various units within the Office of the President and Cabinet,” the Office of the President stated.
It should be noted again that Office of the President, a mere three days before the Sunday article had vehemently denied buying the 20 Lenovo G550 laptops.
The Office of the President claimed that Kaieteur News was suggesting that the Government was hiding the real cost of the OLPF from the Guyanese people.
This was not the intention of Kaieteur News, but to highlight the fact that the Office of the President lied about the procurement of the laptops and continues to dodge an interview to reveal full details about the OLPF initiative.
The Office of the President said the government’s handling of the OLPF initiative “clearly shows there is no basis for this conclusion.”
But the Office of the President has been vague and has so far refused to say exactly how the first set of laptops was procured. The first set of laptops was on display on January 21 when the OLPF was launched. President Bharrat Jagdeo had ceremonially handed over some of those laptops to four groups.
The government estimates that it will spend US$295 each on the 90,000 laptops it plans to distribute.
The Office of the President said that laptops procured for distribution would have “modest specification and as a result, the cost will be at the low end.”
Three Mondays ago, Kaieteur News requested an interview with Sesh Sukdeo, the Senior Project Officer of the OLPF initiative, but he has so far not accepted the request.

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