My statement was made in the presence of Christopher Ram

Nov 27, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
High state officials must be extra careful how they relate to politicians in power. When state officials beg for favours then politicians will demand favours in return.
The result can only be the decapitation of democratic values. In the presence of Mr. Christopher Ram in the corridor of the High Court, I told a senior judge that I knew that Mr. Kurshid Sattaur, Head of the Guyana Revenue Authority, turned down his request for a duty free car because, according to the GRA letter, he, the judge, had no authority to write the GRA on his own and that the concession letter had to emanate from the Chancellor. I also told him I knew that he wrote the President requesting his intervention with the GRA. All this was said in front of Mr. Ram
I will not name the judge because I wouldn’t want to waste my time in that the editor may not publish his name. But I know Mr. Ram is the type of person that would not deny that he was there when I was speaking. I don’t think that judge should have solicited the sympathy of the President. For that reason, I think he should be asked for a response. Now we have a funny situation that happened on Friday in the National School Championship sporting events
The son of Mr. Kurshid Sattaur, Fiyad was not allowed to compete in a racing event because at the time of the race, his birth certificate was still not submitted, meaning then that he missed the deadline for age verification (see Nov. 19 edition of KN and SN for the full controversy).
Then interventions occurred and he was accepted. This caused a storm and a protest with some participants staging a demonstration on the tracks. I am going to quote from both independent dailies. The Stabroek News wrote; “It was learnt that calls were made to senior officials questioning why the athlete was not allowed to compete.” The Stabroek News did not state who the calls were from. But this writer was told that they were from politicians. Who contacted ruling politicians to intervene on behalf of the son of a high state official?
The Kaieteur News quoted irritated officials as saying; “…Special athletes were allowed the convenience of submitting documents whenever they were available…we are saying that we had athletes that we asked for one day leeway to submit their birth certificates and GTU turned away us away…now here it is that we have the son of a high-ranking government official and he is allowed to submit his birth certificate whenever he wants…what goes for one must go for all”
Why in a simple matter like this must politics show its presence? As we are on the topic of Mr. Kurshid Sattaur, it must be noted that two weeks ago, outgoing President, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, met the staff of the Guyana Revenue Authority.
It was reported in the state media that there was the assertion from the President that under his presidency there was no political interference in the work of the GRA. But Mr. Sattaur sent me eight property tax forms with the edict to submit them within a certain deadline. I called him on the phone to ascertain if he displayed the same action to my colleagues at university that have their own homes and vehicles
To date, I am the only UG lecturer with a property and a car that was sent those forms. Many of my white-collar friends in the public sector told me they received no such forms. I didn’t object to Mr. Sattaur’s attitude to me since the forms must be submitted.
But it seems that such an attitude was specifically directed at me. I want to publicly thank Mr. Christopher Ram for his valuable assistance in doing everything in relation to my property tax submissions.
I am still angry because I pay my taxes yet when my salary goes into the bank I still have to pay property tax on it. Sometime ago, my old RAV4 broke down with my wife inside outside Survival Supermarket on Sheriff Street. While pulling up the bonnet, Mr. Sattaur was emerging from the supermarket and yelled out, “Freddie, you have to get a new car.”
But with a salary that is taxed twice, I will have to wait for a call from Roger Luncheon, the same way he called Mr. Mingo offering him a lot in Pradoville 2. On receiving the lot, I will sell it, buy a new car and gave the rest of the profit I make as a donation to the AFC, APNU and the Mark Benschop Foundation
Frederick Kissoon

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My statement was made in the presence of Christopher Ram

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