“Nandlall failed miserably to prosecute matters on behalf of the state”- Min. Harmon

DPI, Guyana, Friday, May 11, 2018

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon today charged that former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall failed miserably to prosecute matters on behalf of the state and that the ineffectiveness of the previous administration subjected the state to billions in liabilities.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon.

Minister Harmon was responding to media reports regarding the Opposition Leader’s claims that several out of court settlements were being used as a ‘conduit to pay kickbacks.’

“Mr. Jagdeo can say whatever he wants; the root cause of these problems started in the administration of the PPP…They ineptly failed to provide levels of defence to these matters and which caused the courts to make determinations against the State. Many, if not all of these matters were so badly handled that even at the level of appeal it could not be reversed,”

Minister Harmon said during his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing.

He explained that it was the Cabinet Council of Ministers that approved several billion in payments stemming from court matters brought against the State, based on proposals submitted by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams.

“As a state, as a government that respects the rule of law, we cannot say to citizens who have been granted awards by the courts that we aren’t paying… there was a final judgment, it made no sense you saying ‘I am not doing this I am not doing that’; it sets a standard by which other people will judge you…it will set a standard not only for us here in Guyana but for international agreements of which we are a party to,” Minister Harmon emphasised.

The Minister of State said that Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams S.C, will be providing a full statement on the matter soon, “then we would recognise the deep hole into which the PPP has put us in this country.”

Minister Harmon pointed out that the administration is doing its best to keep the country progressing, “but every day you are faced with some nonsense done by the previous administration that you now have to deal with.”

 

By: Synieka Thorne

Photograph courtesy of Keno George

CATEGORIES
TAGS