Up to the time of his resignation in November, former Office of the President (OP) consultant Jud Lohmeyer says that there was much talk about President Bharrat Jagdeo still being around “to see through all of the projects” he has started.
“It is a common conversation of speculation within OP and with close advisors of His Excellency that he fully intends to see through all of the projects underway,” Lohmeyer told Stabroek News last night in an online interview. In addition to the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) initiative, other major projects started recently by the Jagdeo administration are the Amaila Falls access road and the Hope Canal.
There is also talk about the government partnering with Suriname to bridge the Corentyne River and teaming up with oil exploration firm CGX to construct a deep water harbour in the Berbice River.
President Jagdeo has repeatedly said that he is not interested in a third term. He also denied seeking legal advice on extending his presidential term. Jagdeo is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election.
Lohmeyer, the one-time project manager for the OLPF, referred to a group of six persons who have been pushing this agenda, with one member indicating with “a wink and nod” that President Jagdeo “will be in power in the years to come.”
According to Lohmeyer, “most of the speculation is around the Russian Putin model.” Under this arrangement, Lohmeyer said, a “weak figurehead” would be selected to lead the PPP ticket and that the Prime Ministerial post would be filled by Jagdeo at some point. “It’s clean, no constitutional issues,” he said. Jagdeo’s party, the PPP is still to name its candidate to contest the general elections, which are due this year and he is said to be playing a key role in the behind-the scenes lobbying and jockeying.
Lohmeyer said that these discussions took place throughout his stint at OP, which began in November 2009.
According to him, no one was concerned that projects were starting so late in the President’s final term or that they would be a change in presidency. “Everyone [seemed] quite confident that things will remain intact going forward for the foreseeable future,” he added.
Lohmeyer has clashed with OP in recent days over a request for payments. OP has accused Lohmeyer of issuing threats of blackmail.
Lohmeyer, OP said, has been “threatening to disclose to the media aspects of his work experiences as the consultant for the launch of the OLPF initiative, unless he was paid about US$9,000 subsequent to his separation from the job.”
Lohmeyer, said he contacted Steven Grin, the Head of the Project Management Unit in OP, requesting payments due to him (Lohmeyer). According to him, he has complied with the terms of his contract, giving 30 days notice of his resignation. Lohmeyer said he was only paid for the five days he worked after giving notice.
OP has since labelled Lohmeyer “a scoundrel” who misrepresented his qualifications. It also said that Lohmeyer “resigned and as per contract was ineligible to receive the benefits he is now demanding.” Lohmeyer was being paid a salary of US$100,000 per year.
Since the fallout with Office of the President, Lohmeyer told social activist Mark Benschop that the US embassy in Guyana has contacted him. “I have been contacted by the US Embassy in Guyana to determine if I was in Guyana and if I thought I might be in danger based on my speaking out against the OLPF project,” he said. According to him, the concern of the US Embassy is based upon another person who claimed to have received threats after they spoke out against the OLPF. Lohmeyer is currently in Manila, in the Philippines.
On Sunday, during an interview aired with activist Mark Benschop on benschopradio.com, Lohmeyer said he resigned after it became clear that there were two plans in place for the OLPF project. He said he learnt that Grin was planning to outsource the project while he (Lohmeyer) was working on executing the project locally.
Under the OLPF project, government plans to distribute 90,000 computers over the next 3 years to poor people’s children.
Lohmeyer has revealed that the approximately140 netbooks ceremonially distributed at the official launch of the OLPF project in January were bought with a US$50,000 “thank-you gift” from Chinese company Huawei, after it was awarded the US$14 million contract to lay fibre-optic cables here. This contract, he said, was a sole-source contract and the government did not go to tender for the project.
Lohmeyer said that after the “gift” was given to the government, despite his concerns about the unethical nature of this transaction, he suggested using the money to support a “public social project.”
He told Stabroek News that that the initial plan was use the money to acquire 50 high value laptops for the President to distribute to whomever he chose.
