More than a month after Aishalton schoolteacher John Adams said that he was slapped by presidential guards during a public meeting with President Donald Ramotar, the Aishalton Village Council has acknowledged that the incident took place.
Head of the Presidential Guard Rohan Singh had strenuously denied that Adams was slapped. In a letter to Stabroek News, which among other things, criticized this newspaper for its reportage of the incident, Singh had that ‘truth’ will suffer. In the letter, Singh had stated that “there was no verbal or physical contact with the individual” and said that Adams appeared to be drunk.
It is not clear what the acknowledgement by the Aishalton Village Council that Adams was slapped will have on Singh’s position or on the investigation into the incident which appears to have ended.
Some village leaders have called for Adams to be transferred from the Aishalton Secondary School where he is a mathematics teacher saying that he “shamed” the village. Other residents have objected to this course of action.
In a letter to the secretary of the Teaching Service Commission, which was signed by secretary of the Aishalton Village Council, Ralph Smith, Adams behaviour was deemed “somewhat not acceptable” and it was recommended that he be transferred to another school or suspended. The letter dated January 5, 2014, was obtained by Stabroek News yesterday.
In the letter, Smith said that on behalf of the Aishalton Village Council, he would like to inform of an incident that occurred on the 3rd of December 2014 at around 21:00 hours at the compound of the Village Office during Ramotar’s visit. Smith said that when Ramotar was addressing the public, Adams remarks to the president were very disrespectful. “There may have been more than one with him who may have been under the influence of alcohol. He was warned by the security officer to keep quiet but this he ignored,” the letter said.
“Because of his refusal to comply to the officer’s warning, he gave him a slap on his face. However, he kept grumbling and saying all sorts of negative and disrespectful remarks,” the council’s letter said.
“The officers noticed Mr. Adams stubbornness and went to give him another warning but he ran and got away. According to the public and the village council’s knowledge, this teacher has a reputation of unacceptable behavior, very disrespectful, criticizing and giving negative remarks to whosoever is concerned,” it said.
“For this year, the council has received several complaints about his behavior at his workplace and around the public. Sometimes he would go to work intoxicated with alcohol even though the head teacher of the school would warn or discipline him but to no avail. His behavior now is somewhat not acceptable to the community members,” the letter said.
According to the council, Adams should have known better because of his profession. They said that some appropriate measure needs to be done urgently and recommended that he be transferred to another school or suspended.
The letter was copied to the Regional Education Officer of Region Nine as well as the District Education Officer and the Headmaster of the Aishalton Secondary School.
The acknowledgement by the Aishalton Village council that Adams was slapped adds a new dimension after Singh had denied that the incident occurred. Adams had told Stabroek News that he was slapped by a presidential guard after he heckled while the president was making a speech.
On December 3rd, Adams had reported that as he was making his way through the crowd after saying his piece at the meeting, he felt a hand collar him from behind and when he swung around, he saw that it was one of the president’s guards. “The man ask me, ‘Weh de other two that went with you?’ And I told him I don’t know what he talking about, it was just me.
The man said I lying and as I continued to explain to him that it was just me speaking my mind, he hand me one slap to the left side of my jaw,” he recalled.
“The slap numb my face and like I get dizzy because I can’t tell you how many other slaps I got after that if it was one or two or five… I start begging… I say, ‘Boss what wrong with you? Boss, ow boss,’ but he tell me I disrespectful,” Adams added.
The man said after the assault he ran home, escaping through the crowd and used his motorcycle to go to the police station to lodge a complaint. However, when he got there no one was there.
He believed he was targeted because he was outspoken about issues affecting residents in the community.
Singh subsequently said that when interviewed, the officer and ranks denied having any knowledge of Adams’ allegations and only that they moved closer to an individual in the crowd who appeared drunk.
Adams has dismissed claims that he was drunk as untrue.
According to Singh, Adams had a beer bottle in his hand and was shouting questions at the President. In noticing his demeanor and the fact that he was armed with a potential missile, two ranks positioned themselves closer to him.
Subsequent to the slapping incident, a recording was also released in which a voice said to be of the President was heard calling a resident stupid. Adams insisted to Stabroek News that Ramotar was speaking to him. It would appear as though the president’s comments came after Adams had heckled him about former President Bharrat Jagdeo. Ramotar has not denied that the voice was his though the Office of the President said that the tape’s contents will have to be authenticated.
