Dear Editor,
I make reference to C Kenrick Hunte’s letter in your publication, instant, that calls for the immediate resignation of Dr Raj Singh and Badrie Persaud. I fully agree with Mr Hunte that the CEO of GuySuCo, Dr Raj Singh, and the Managing Director of GuyOil, Badrie Persaud, should resign from their current posts with immediate effect. However, I would not agree that the resignation should only be subject to either or both men being appointed opposition parliamentarians. Both men have allowed their names to be enlisted on the PPP list of candidates for the May 11 elections. They have covertly demonstrated their allegiance to the PPP, so how either of them be allowed to manage a state-owned corporation, one of which is the largest and most expensive and problematic in Guyana.
The resources of the two corporations were used to bolster the PPP campaign. Fuel from GuyOil was allegedly provided to all those vehicles which were engaged in the campaign. It was obvious to the public that dozens of GuySuCo labour lorries were used to ferry supporters to the PPP rallies in Berbice and Demerara. There can be no denial that meals were not provided by the estates’ clubs to the many PPP delegates that participated in the meetings and rallies in Berbice.
Nowhere in the world would the CEOs of state corporations openly and publicly allow their names to be on the political list of candidates in a general election, and still be allowed to retain those posts after the party they had endorsed is not in government. The decent thing that any such person would do is to voluntarily resign. If GuyOil and GuySuCo are private entities, then there is no problem, but not when both companies are state-owned, moreso GuySuCo which has been receiving state subventions that amounted to almost $16 billion in the past four years.
Not only have both men lost their independence from the time they accepted the call to be on the PPP electoral list of candidates, as stated by Mr Hunte, but they have also compromised their allegiance and impartiality. They are not politically neutral in the eyes of workers.
Editor, it is impossible for either of these two gentlemen to have faithful allegiance to this government, and in the circumstance it would be better in the interest of both organizations and its people that they voluntarily resign. Too much will be at stake if these two men are allowed to retain their place, especially at GuySuCo, which is plagued with problems of all sorts, ranging from finance shortfalls to low production to low morale.
Yours faithfully,
Wazir Khan
