Lawyers for Commissioner of Forests, James Singh have written to Capitol News demanding an apology over a report that suggested that Singh had rented his Ogle property to logging company Bai Shan Lin.
The letter follows:
We write on behalf of our client, MR. JAMES SINGH, the Commissioner of Forests of the Guyana Forestry Commission. We are instructed by our said client that on or about the 22nd day of August, 2014, statements were televised on your Daily Newscast suggesting that our said client, Mr. James Singh, has rented his property situate at Ogle, East Coast Demerara to BAISHANLIN INTERNATIONAL FOREST DEVELOPMENT INC.
We are further instructed by our said client that his property is not rented nor was it ever rented to BAISHANLIN INTERNATIONAL FOREST DEVELOPMENT INC. or anyone operating in the Forest Sector.
In or around the month of April, 2013, Mr. James Singh advertised his said property for sale or rent in several issues of the Guyana Chronicle Newspaper. Several persons responded to the said advertisement and the property was eventually rented to and still is rented to a person who is not operating in the Forestry Sector.
We are instructed by our said client to call upon you, as we hereby do, to retract your statements made on the 22nd day of August, 2014 suggesting that our client, the Commissioner of Forests, has rented his property to BAISHANLIN INTERNATIONAL FOREST DEVELOPMENT INC. and to issue an unqualified apology to our client.
These false and malicious statements were calculated to cause and have indeed caused our client irreparable damage both in his professional and personal life. The said publication was intended to convey to the public that our client has a corrupt relationship with BAISHANLIN from which he derives financial benefits to condone the alleged illegalities being committed by BAISHANLIN and reported in the press.
