Anil Nandlall has his say…

Dec 18, 2017 Letters

That Mr. Adam Harris is one of the most skillful journalists in Guyana, I am in no doubt.
My attention was drawn to his weekly column published in yesterday’s edition of the Kaieteur News. It was an exhibition of an amalgam of political sophistry and journalistic guile par excellence.
The article was born out of a brief conversation that I had with Mr. Harris on the corridors of Parliament Buildings during the consideration of the national estimates by the Committee of Supply. It was not an interview nor was it intended for publication.
The scandal regarding the US$18M signing bonus stashed in a secret account at the Central Bank had just erupted. Our conversation was confined to this issue. Mr. Harris’s contention to me is that the money cannot be stolen. I explained to him that there is no record of this money in the official accounts of the Government and therefore, the regime of legal and administrative protection accorded to public monies will not apply to this deposit since it is not recorded anywhere.
Therefore, in the same way that it was secretly deposited, it can be secretly withdrawn and used for any unauthorised purpose and the population will have no way of detecting the same. Neither Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo’s name nor indeed the name of any PPP member featured in this conversation.
To my surprise, the entire thrust of Mr. Harris’s article was to convey the impression of corruption on the part of the PPP Government. In so doing, he credits me with knowledge of how money can be siphoned off in government. He also attributes to me, statements made about Mr. Jagdeo.
For the record, I wish to clarify that I have no such knowledge which Mr. Harris attributes to me other than knowledge which any prudent lawyer would possess on these matters.
As I said above, Mr. Jagdeo’s name was not mentioned in this conversation and at no time whatsoever, did I utter the statement about Mr. Jagdeo which Mr. Harris attributes to me. If I ever made such a statement, it certainly was not in the context in which Mr. Harris has situated it.
I hope that these clarifications will settle the public record.
Yours faithfully
Mohabir Anil Nandlall MP
Attorney-at-Law

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