Mohabir’s “jealousy letter” out of place

Nov 03, 2012 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
Mr. Satesh Mohabir, in “A case of profound jealousy” (KN Oct 31), a retort of Mr. Lionel Lowe about EZ Jet (KN Oct 30), is out of place in engaging in a scathing personality attack of Mr. Nohar Singh (CEO,TravelSpan). As a supporter and defender of EZ Jet and Sonny Ramdeo, I find the attack against Mr. Singh very repugnant and distasteful.
Mr. Mohabir’s letter is an unjustified, unsubstantiated attack on a prominent person (Mr. N. Singh) of the Guyanese fraternity in New York. Lionel Lowe’s commentary seemingly cheering the troubles of EZ Jet is wrong. But so is Mohabir’s attack of Mr. Singh. A tit for tat is inappropriate. And no evidence was offered to show Lowe is a pseudonym for Singh and as such the editor should not have allowed that comment.
I believe Mr. Mohabir errs in engaging in a personality attack of Singh in his defence of EZ Jet. I have praised EZ Jet for providing an essential service to nationals of our Diaspora and I have urged the public to continue its support of the airline. I also back the application for scheduled carrier service.
Regardless of Lowe’s personal sentiments about the airline and Mr. Ramdeo, the attack on Singh does not help EZ Jet. I believe people should have absolute freedom of the press. But attacks on personality should not be published unless there are supporting facts and evidence to back allegations.
Mohabir made some very serious allegations against Singh but failed to offer verifiable evidence.
I am not familiar with the financial aspects of Mr. Singh or TravelSpan or of any other of the allegations leveled against Singh. And we are not close friends. But I have known Mr. Singh for almost 30 years and the serious allegations leveled against Singh is not the person I knew who did a lot for Guyana and Trinidad and their Diasporas.
My first encounter with Mr. Singh was around 1983, when he voluntarily joined my small group in the struggle against the Guyanese dictatorship. He was generous in his donations to the group, helping to publish newsletters about Guyana and costs associated with organizing rallies, leafleting, etc.
Later, when Singh became involved in the travel industry, he withdrew from political activities. But he offered discounted travel for several individuals who were involved in the struggle against the dictatorship during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Singh also offered financial assistance and discounted fares for many of us who were involved in political struggle in Trinidad.
Also, my feint recollection of news reports from the 1990s about Leisure Air was, it was owned by two non-Guyanese, Harold Paretti and Robert Young. I believe Singh was the Manager ( I stand to be corrected).
I do recollect that Leisure Air was shut down by the FAA and passengers were accommodated on Guyana Airways. I believe Guyana Airways was refunded by Leisure Air (from deposits) for transporting those passengers. Fazal Khan, who was the CEO at the time, and Mr. Harry Nawbatt, who was Chief Accountant, would be in a better position to comment on the allegations. I do not think TravelSpan stranded passengers. The airline had to make a huge deposit in order to get a flying certificate.
My news recollection was passengers were refunded by TravelSpan and or the mandatory deposit was used to transport or refund affected passengers.
The news had indicated that TravelSpan was refunded its deposit because there were no stranded passengers. Civil aviation will have commented on the above. Mr. Zulfikar Mohammed can comment on the accuracy of my memory.
Also as far as I know, TravelSpan is not defunct and is probably the largest seller of air travel to Guyana and Trinidad.
To conclude, Mohabir’s defence and zealous support of EZ Jet is to be applauded and admired. But his response to Lowe attacking Singh was out of place.
Vishnu Bisram

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