Engineer Charles Ceres yesterday vehemently denied that he resigned as a member of the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) Board of Directors because of issues with Chief Executive Officer Dr. Richard Van-West Charles and accused Stabroek News of “driving a wedge between Afro Guyanese” in light of its reportage on issues at the company.
Though no longer a director, Ceres was permitted to hold a press conference at GWI for the purpose of clarifying the reason for his departure from the board.
Stabroek News had reported on Tuesday that Ceres had resigned because he had a “blow up” with the CEO and that attempts to contact him for a comment via phone proved futile. Yesterday Ceres said that he would not speak to this newspaper on the phone and that his office, whose location is known, could have been visited. He pointed out that a reporter had previously gone to his house to speak to him.
“I am surprised to see Stabroek News, which claims to be a representative media resource and agency, making statements that have no basis in facts and I would expect better of people who say they are representative of the fourth estate because if you are representative of the fourth estate you should in fact be representing fact and not hearsay and innuendos,” Ceres said.
He charged that the newspaper claimed that it was unable to contact him because it wanted to continue “feed this innuendo and the nonsense that they have been putting in the newspaper and it is an idiotic attitude to have and I expect better from the people who say they are representative of the fourth estate.” He said the newspaper should have clarified the facts before reporting same as because of its innuendoes people are repeating it in the public as they “do not read between the lines what you write. They would take what you write as indicative that there is a problem between myself and Dr. Van West-Charles.”
In recent editions, Stabroek News has reported that Van West-Charles was under pressure from the GWI board over numerous complaints levelled against him by managers and it was in this context that the resignation of Ceres had been referred to.
Ceres was also asked by Stabroek News if he has a $2M consultancy contract with the corporation and he denied same but later indicated that he did do some work with the entity some months ago but added that the money paid was paltry compared to what his company earns from doing work for other companies.
“That is absolute nonsense! Where you get that from? …Let me tell you something: How long have you been in Guyana? My company has been around since 1993. We work for every major project there is in this country…,” he said, while listing all the international companies he would have done consultancies for.
“Further to that … I would say this clearly now, your newspaper is always trying to drive a wedge between Afro Guyanese people…,” Ceres then stated angrily, referring to a letter he said was written by PPP/C Parliamentarian Odinga Lumumba to this newspaper about his claims of “who was given lands but he never made a claim about Indians who were given lands.”
“Now you would never write the fact that Bharrat Jagdeo in his time never gave me a single government contract and I built my company in the absence of that, that is what you should be writing about if you want to be the fourth estate…,” he said, while calling for the newspaper to report on everything in the country.
Told that the business of the newspaper is to report on everything that happens in the country. Ceres disagreed and questioned whether the newspaper has done an expose on “Why Bharrat Jagdeo marginalised Black people in this country and why my company has been marginalised?”
Conflict of interest
He was asked whether he had considered that his membership on the GWI Board could have posed a conflict considering the type of work his company did and he said he had thought of it but he accepted the position to give his technical support and advice, which he continues to do. He added that his company is the “best anywhere in South America” and therefore does not need to be granted any handouts by any politician.
“And that is why I stand up and I talk how I talk because there is nobody who could victimise me because I have built my company on the back of hard work, quality and competence, so I am not afraid to say what I have to say and if I am ever given work by GWI, it will be because of my ability to get the work done, there is nobody else who has my ability…,” he declared.
He then said he did some geotechnical engineering for GWI. “I would challenge you to find anybody who could do what we did on that project,” he said, while adding that the company did do some work for GWI about three months ago but that $2M is a pittance considering the sums he earns on projects from other companies locally and internationally.
“I would like you to represent [to] whoever is saying that to you to tell you where they have a comparable skill set to us. So, if we have two million dollar worth of work from GWI, that is miniscule to what we do,” Ceres said as he thumped the table he sat behind.
The press conference was also attended by Dr. Van West-Charles, who was invited, according to Ceres, because he wanted to show that there was no rift between them.
He said that it is the CEO who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the corporation and his role as a board member was to provide advice to him and he has continued to do so since his resignation.
“The fact is, I do not have the time to commit myself and my resources to doing what I think is requisite for me to do if I am a member of the board,” Ceres said yesterday.
Nigel Hinds, who recently resigned as Board Chair, had told this newspaper that many of the corporation’s managers had complained about the CEO’s attitude and the manner in which he was running the corporation including the procurement system and the hiring process.
However, Ceres yesterday said that the responsibility to manage the corporation is that of the CEO. Asked what would be the responsibility of the board, he said that decision would have to be taken by the Government of Guyana of which he is not a part since he is a private citizen.
“My concern is that Stabroek News is trying to use myself as a private individual to drive a wedge between myself and someone who I consider to be a friend,” he said.
In an invited comment, Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief Anand Persaud said that Ceres’ truculent behaviour at the press conference was reprehensible and evinced disrespect for the Stabroek News reporter who attended the press conference and the media as a whole. Persaud said that Ceres was well within his right to correct misreporting but the manner in which it was done was completely uncalled for.
As to the claim that Stabroek News is always “driving a wedge between Afro-Guyanese people,” Persaud said that this was a figment of Ceres’ imagination. He said a key part of the newspaper’s role is to ensure accountability and openness across the board and it will continue to pursue this mandate.
