Attorney Charrandass Persaud has apologised for being “out of line” with disparaging comments he made on March 2, in reference to Medical Superintendent of the New Amsterdam Hospital Dr Vishalya Sharma.
Persaud, an Alliance for Change’s (AFC) representative in Berbice, made the comments while representing the cause of another woman; Tirtawattie Shoandeo, 47, of Whim Village, Corentyne, who died during a blackout on January 20 at the New Amsterdam Hospital while undergoing surgery.
In an interview with this newspaper last evening, Persaud said he in fact, “intended to focus on the administration of the New Amsterdam Hospital…”
He said he “inadvertently compared her duty at the hospital with her size. My intention was not to defame her because of her size. I have a lot of oversized friends.”
According to him, it was a fact that “administrative skills were not utilised because the hospital does not have generator that kicks in during the blackout, but surgery continues.”
He added, “I agree in retrospect that it was a bad comment and that’s why I apologised. I know I was out of line. For that I apologise to [Dr Sharma] and all Guyanese women.”
Another AFC representative, Dr. Veerasammy Ramayyah said he raised the topic with Persaud during the weekly television programme that deals with issues in Berbice.
Contacted yesterday, Dr Sharma told Stabroek News that she was preparing a report on the matter and was planning to email a copy of the report to this newspaper.
The Berbice Regional Health Authority, in a strongly-worded statement on Thursday, condemned Persaud, stating that his remarks were not just an attack on Dr Sharma but on all women.
Women rights’ activists had also taken the AFC member to task and called on the party to condemn his utterances and distance itself from the comment, which AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes had done from the time the matter was raised.
