Minister within the Ministry of Communities Annette Ferguson has filed a $60M lawsuit against Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and the Guyana Times newspaper, over what she said are libelous statements made by the two, calculated to damage her character and reputation.
The case was called yesterday afternoon before Justice Gino Persaud who Ferguson (the claimant) is asking to grant injunctive relief to prohibit the newspapers from disseminating words similar to those which were published on page 13 of the Guyana Times newspaper dated Wednesday, December 11th, 2019.
Additionally, she is seeking an injunction against Jagdeo making what she says are untrue statements regarding her acquisition of land.
Following an in-chamber hearing, Ferguson’s attorney Lyndon Amsterdam said that the statements made were reckless and his client intends to fully ventilate the matter.
Against this background he said that he has submitted to the court all relevant documents substantiating that Ferguson owns a single property on only one plot of land, and not three house lots as was disseminated by the defendants.
He explained, too, that contrary to statements made suggesting that his client suddenly came into wealth after becoming a government minister in 2015, her financial records of income have been submitted to the court substantiating her income way before 2015.
As a matter of fact, he said that his client had been able to secure a bank loan which she used to acquire the only house she owns at Eccles, East Bank Demerara for which she has legally been given title.
In court documents seen by this newspaper, Ferguson says that she earns a salary of $695,000 monthly along with an allowance of telephone at $10,000; electricity $50,000 and entertainment $1,500.
Duty allowance is paid at $1,500, parliamentary allowance $30,000; Committee $8,289 and internet $10,000.
Amsterdam said that no injunctive orders have yet been granted, but that the court will address this when the matter is called again on January 29th.
In her suit against Jagdeo, Ferguson is seeking damages in excess of $50,000,000 for libel she said he committed on two separate occasions—December 5th and 12th of last year for which she is asking for more than $25M in damages for each occasion.
Meanwhile, as regards the libelous statements she said were published by the Guyana Times, the minister is seeking damages in excess of $10M.
