Minister Jordan files $200M lawsuit against PPP’s Juan Edghill for libel

DPI, Guyana, Friday, June 22, 2018

Opposition Member of Parliament, Juan Edghill will face the full force of the law as Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, through his attorney, today filed a $200Million lawsuit against him for libel, false charges and malicious prosecution.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Attorney Roysdale Forde on the Finance Minister’s behalf resulted from the private criminal charges that Edghill had filed in the Magistrates’ Court against Minister Jordan, claiming Misconduct in Public Office.

Edghill’s case was discontinued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), it was related to Government’s funding of the D’ Urban Park project.

Minister Jordan, in his suit, contends that Edghill’s intent was to embarrass, humiliate and cause him to suffer public hatred since the charge was widely reported in the local newspapers, radio, electronic media, social media and was accessible and circulated on the World Wide Web.

“That I have suffered significant harm to my reputation and integrity as a direct result of the institution of the Criminal Proceeding by the Respondent against me,” the lawsuit stated.

Speaking exclusively with Department of Public Information (DPI) earlier this evening, Minister Jordan said the lawsuit filed by the PPP MP was another demonstration of the opposition “clutching at straws.”

He said that “one such MP [Edghill] that clutched at these straws and sought to impugn my name and a number of ministers… he will have his day in court for impugning my integrity and my character.”

Further, Minister Jordan points out in his lawsuit that Edghill was aware that it was the National Assembly that approved the sum of $906Million to be made available to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure for the project and not him [Min. Jordan].

Edgehill will appear in the High Court later this month.

The minister, in his interview today, also warned that political commentator, Ramon Gaskin, if he continues to make certain accusations related to the Signing Bonus by ExxonMobil, he will be visited with the same legal procedures.

Gaskin is reported as saying that his calculations show that the amount of interest to be earned from the Signing Bonus is more than the figure given by Minister Jordan and he has called on the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to investigate the matter.

The Finance Minister said any information on the Signing Bonus can be obtained from the Bank of Guyana (BOG), “you will know where the money is, you will know how much is earned in interest, I have absolutely nothing to do with the management of the signing bonus.”

In a similar manner, Minister Jordan said the BOG will have oversight of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) since it has years of expertise in managing such resources.

By: Stacy Carmichael.