Dear Editor,
It was very tragic to hear that the country’s Ministry of Health had lost of millions of dollars in national assets including buildings, vehicles, equipment and medicines, much of which had been acquired through hard-earned taxpayer money.
I was not too surprised that former Chief Magistrate Juliet Holder-Allen has once again become a target, but this time it was about criminalizing her by linking her to the Ministry of Health fire. She was arrested at her home and whisked off to the Brickdam Police Station for questioning and subsequently put on $10,000 station bail after the intervention of her attorney, Mr Gregory Gaskin. Then I heard that President Bharrat Jagdeo had said a vehicle belonging to former Chief Magistrate Juliet Holder-Allen had been driven to a Meadowbrook house on the night that channa bombs were used to set the Ministry of Health building alight, a claim Holder-Allen dismissed as total nonsense.
I can’t understand why the President should comment on an investigation and link a person to a crime before the police have charged them. I am certain there are many more important things that he could do with his time such as removing VAT from items that have an impact on the cost of living, reducing poverty, providing better health care for everyone, free education from nursery to university and a better standard of life for the people of Guyana. Some of the things that came to mind on hearing of the arrest of Ms Holder-Allen were what substantial evidence did the police have which led to her arrest? Are the police certain that the vehicle which was used on the day of the incident belonged to Ms Holder-Allen? And why was the government so quick to link the former Chief Magistrate to the fire?
At the end of the day millions of taxpayers’ money will have to go towards rebuilding the Ministry of Health, when it could have gone to reduce property and creating job opportunities for our young people. Burning down the Ministry of Health or any government place for political reasons does not make sense. The harassment of Ms Holder-Allen is wrong and should stop.
In closing, I pray that God will give Ms Holder-Allen strength, faith and the encouragement to overcome these verbal attacks by the government which are tarnishing her character.
Yours faithfully,
Rayvonne P. Bourne
