Minister Patterson clarifies claims made by Opposition

─ instructs lawyers to take necessary action against breach of financial confidentiality

By Anara Khan

DPI, Guyana, Friday, May 17, 2019

Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson has noted with great concern that the Opposition illegally acquired access to his personal financial records.

In a social media post Friday evening, the Public Infrastructure Minister stated that he has instructed his lawyers to take the necessary legal actions against any offending party. He also sought to address and bring clarity to claims being peddled by an Opposition oriented Facebook page that US$9000 was deposited into his personal bank account.

Minister Patterson explained that in April 2016, he was invited to attend and make a presentation at the 7th International Investment and Construction Forum in Macao, China. According to him, the organizers of the event committed to reimburse travel related expenses up to US$10,000.

The Public Infrastructure Minister disclosed that permission was sought from Cabinet and the arrangement was approved.

In the social media post, the minister stated that the advance for the trip was paid by the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) and was subsequently refunded.

“I attended the conference, and sometime in 2017, a refund for my travels was processed and paid to me as the attendee…I promptly remitted same to MARAD,” he wrote.

Minister Patterson further noted that it is not an unusual practice with regard to reimbursements for international travel.