Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Group meets Ramotar on Prof. Samad UGBC re- appointment
By Leon Suseran
President Donald Ramotar and Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, recently received a group representing former University of Guyana Berbice Campus (UGBC) Director, Professor Daizal R. Samad at the Office of the President in Georgetown.
Ms. Shazeena Seetayah, head of the group, told Kaieteur News that the purpose of the visit to Office of the President was to make the case for rehiring Prof. Samad as UGBC Director. The University of Guyana has since advertised for the position and Prof. Samad, who resigned on October 4 last, has re- applied. Samad had resigned citing strained relations between him and the current Vice- Chancellor, Prof. Jacob Opadeyi.
L to R: Some members of the group: Mr. Latcha; Prof. Samad; Ms. Seetayah and Pastor Geer.
Samad was also not satisfied with the “dictatorial policies” of UG Turkeyen and had been a strong advocate for calling for autonomy and Berbice University.
He has applied for the position and is very optimistic that President Ramotar will consider giving more freedom and autonomy to the Berbice Campus. The group that visited the Guyanese leader, comprised Agriculture Consultant, Shazeena Seetayah, Roman Catholic Priest, Fr. Edwin Thadeu, SJ; Imaam Naeem Barlow; Pastor Shawn Geer; Pastor Pooran; Security Expert, Mr. John London; and sportsman in Berbice, Mr. Randolph Latcha.
Seetayah and the group met with the media last week, and stated that the meeting stemmed from the initial meeting after Prof. Samad said he would have resigned. Additionally, Seetayah stated that following the meeting with the president, thousands of Berbicians have signed a petition demanding that Samad rescind his resignation and be re- appointed the top position at the Berbice Campus.
“We need him not because he is best fitted for the job, but his work…and after demitting office in October, we have seen that a lot of things that he worked for have been going down the drain and Berbicians want him back to build the campus.” She added that Samad’s works “speaks for itself.”
Seetayah stated that the result from the meeting with Ramotar and Manickchand “was very likened to Berbicians in that they told us that, once he applied, he would be given fair chance to get the job back, because a lot of persons have applied…”
She said that the President “promised some very good things and that he will give Prof. Samad a fair shot back at his job. His Excellency said that he was even shocked at Samad’s resignation.” Manickchand, she said, “shared her liking for Samad. She said, “We all like the dude”.
Samad told this newspaper that he returned to Guyana on October 5, 2013 after he was offered a very lucrative job offer in his homeland of Canada; “of which I am a Citizen…I turned it down…business is not really my cuppa tea but it was a very, very lucrative offer— and it was a serious business offer, but my whole idea is to return and serve this nation.”
The Professor said that he hopes the appointment process “speeds up”.
“I will be really chagrined if the process takes another five months—clearly, if you have one person tailor made for the job, you just don’t have to pull out four more people.” “I am not begging for this job—let’s be clear about that. I think, here is a position where I can serve Berbicians and serve Guyanese…the one word I have is ‘service.’”
Should UGBC get greater freedom, there will be twinning programmes with St. Helen’s University; Universities in Canada; and new degree programmes such as Senior Police Management; Human Kinetics; and a Degree in Sports Management.
“I will be talking about Errol Morrison of the University of Technology in Jamaica and I would like to see a unique athletic centre built and we have had offers of 22 scholarships and an offer of over 100 acres of land (for new dorms).
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