Office of the President Permanent Secretary Dr Nanda Gopaul, who on Friday night crashed into a parked car on Carifesta Avenue resulting in injury to two passengers in that vehicle, yesterday reached a settlement with the other driver.
At about 8:30 pm, Colin Loncke was parked in his car outside the Guyana Legion headquarters waiting on his wife Jennifer, who was attending a church meeting. As Jennifer was about to enter the vehicle, Colin said, he heard a loud sound and felt a sudden impact as his vehicle was pushed several feet away. Colin said his wife and friend Dwayne Blair, who had been sitting at the back of the vehicle at the time, were both injured in the accident.
Loncke told Stabroek News yesterday that his wife and Blair had both been treated and discharged from the Georgetown Public Hospital on Friday evening. His wife sustained injuries to her hip and shoulder while Blair had his head scraped by the top of Gopaul’s car.
Meanwhile, an upset Colin expressed frustration about the entire incident, saying that it was entirely Dr Gopaul’s fault. Colin believes that alcohol played a part in the incident, since when he approached the Permanent Secretary moments after the accident, it was clear that he had been consuming alcohol. Gopaul, however, has denied consuming alcohol.
“I was parked in the corner and there was nothing coming,” Colin said. Gopaul was later escorted to the police station and Colin later followed. Both men were told to return to the police station yesterday.
Yesterday, Colin said, Gopaul agreed to replace the damaged vehicle and to offer compensation to his wife. Colin told this newspaper that he was satisfied with the settlement.
