President David Granger says he personally rescinded the controversial appointment of Brian Tiwari as business advisor to the government as he did not believe that he was needed.
“They have a Minister of Business and as far as I am concerned that minister is quite capable, quite competent and he has not asked me for any assistance and I personally rescinded Mr. Tiwari’s appointment,” Granger said in an interview for the weekly television programme, ‘The Public Interest.’
Tiwari’s appointment, made in January this year under the signature of Minister of State Joseph Harmon, was revealed in the Monday edition of the Kaieteur News. The following day the Ministry of the Presidency issued a one-line statement saying that Tiwari’s appointment as Ministerial Advisor on Business had been rescinded.
Tiwari had been closely linked to the previous government and is a major contractor in the construction and sea defence sectors. Early on in the life of this administration, he was embroiled in a dispute with Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan over the Haags Bosch landfill project.
The appointment, which was done without an announcement, has put Harmon under scrutiny, particularly in light of Tiwari travelling with him on a recent trip to China.
Harmon will now face questions over the circumstances surrounding the appointment of Tiwari and it was anticipated that he would have been grilled on his decision at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.
Observers have said that Harmon’s powers rival or exceed those of Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and that the appointment of Tiwari to the apparent ignorance of other ministers in government is evidence of this.
Harmon is said to have a close relationship with President Granger stretching back to their days in the Guyana Defence Force.
Tiwari was prominent at the swearing in ceremony of Granger last May at the Public Buildings,
He was also a contributor to the President’s transportation programme for schoolchildren and had assisted in the clean-up of the Brickdam Arch in preparation for last year’s presidential inauguration events.
However, Granger made clear that Tiwari was not a government appointee, while hinting that Harmon made the decision on his own. “Mr. Tiwari is not an appointee of the government. He is not performing any function and that is why the position was rescinded,” the president said.
