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Ramotar releases letter showing Tiwarie backing for PPP up to month before polls

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Former President Donald Ramotar yesterday released a letter written by prominent businessman Brian Tiwarie pledging his support to the PPP a month before the May, 2015 general elections that ended the party’s 23-year reign.

A blazing row has erupted between the two men on a range of matters and Ramotar’s release of the letter was meant to show that Tiwarie had not told the truth in a letter in yesterday’s edition of Stabroek News, where he said he had withdrawn his support for the PPP a year before last year’s general elections.

The feud, which has since enmeshed Ramotar’s brother and…to continue reading this article, please subscribe.  Already a subscriber ? Sign In.

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Brian Tiwarie sets Ramotar straight on Surendra steel


BK Managing Director, Brian Tiwarie

BK Managing Director, Brian Tiwarie

Former President, Donald Ramotar

Former President, Donald Ramotar

Managing Director of BK Group of Companies, Brian Tiwarie has debunked allegations by former President Donald Ramotar that his company was awarded $800M in Specialty Hospital steel.
In the June 30 issue of a daily newspaper, Ramotar, said that the coalition administration needs to explain why some $800M of steel and other equipment earmarked for the specialty hospital project went solely to Brian Tiwarie.
The issue surrounds eight containers of steel that the Ramotar administration took possession of after Surendra Engineering was dropped from the project.
Tiwarie made it clear that the containers were taken to an auction and bought by an individual and not BK International. He said that the accusations being made by the former Head of State show that he was incompetent in dealing with the issue while he was in office.
The Managing Director of BK International explained that “mere” steel rods were in the containers and not expensive steel frames as told to the Government.
“To refresh former President Ramotar on this issue, if he had researched it properly, he would have seen that the estimated cost of the cargo in the containers was approximately US$153,000 and that is consistent with the contents in the container.”
According to the Managing Director, the former government failed to do elementary homework as to the contents being shipped and also to monitor the expenses based on the massive amounts for mobilization that were paid to Surendra Engineering.
“Ultimately, it would serve this nation well if a performance audit was to be conducted into the presidency of Donald Ramotar. Let the facts and the findings speak for themselves”, he noted.
BK International, Tiwarie stated, was subcontracted to do foundation work and had expended enormous amounts to do piling works and stock materials on site. But proper supervision and monitoring of the project was lacking by the government. Tiwarie stressed that huge sums of money were paid over to Surendra and the company was allowed to walk away.
He said that Surendra Engineering owes BK International $400M for foundation work done on the specialty hospital. Tiwarie added that BK International filed legal proceedings against Surendra Engineering in Guyana and courts in India.
Tiwarie added that BK was granted judgment against Surendra Engineering by the High Court in Guyana after the company conceded that it owed BK the sum claimed.
He said that the Donald Ramotar Cabinet on advice of then Attorney General, Anil Nandlall disregarded court decisions and allowed the Managing Director of Surendra Engineering to leave Guyana even after a court order prevented him from doing so until he had honoured judgment granted to BK International.
However, Tiwarie pointed out that while some contend that BK was a favoured contractor under the PPP, records will show that all contracts awarded to the company were done after fair bidding process.
He stated, “There were some instances where BK was unjustifiably denied contracts even though we were the most competitive bidder. There were numerous occasions when BK had to challenge these injustices through the courts in Guyana.”
Tiwarie continued, “The records will therefore show that BK was no favoured contractor in the PPP regime. The records will also show that BK International was the first local company to qualify itself with the appropriate equipment, infrastructure, engineers and personnel which allowed us to bid and receive contracts for projects under the International Development Bank (IDB), European Union (EU), Caribbean Development and Word Banks among others.”
In the meantime, he is urging Ramotar to get his facts correct when making derogatory statements against a company like BK. He added that BK will continue to provide support and growth to this nation while continuing to provide employment for Guyanese for the betterment of themselves and their families

 

Pointblank
Last edited by Pointblank

Tiwarie says penned PPP support letter as he feared eviction from Ogle hangar

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2 hours ago

Businessman Brian Tiwarie today said that he penned a support letter to the PPP a month before 2015 general elections as he feared the aviation company he owned would be evicted from Ogle.
As a high-voltage row with former President Donald Ramotar shows no sign of abating, Tiwarie today sent another letter to the media explaining why he pledged his support to the PPP event though in an earlier missive to the press he had said he had decided to switch support a year before the May 2015 elections.
Tiwarie’s letter today will fuel more discussion about how prominent businessmen try to play both ends of the political spectrum particularly at elections time.

A copy of the letter follows:

Dear Editor,
Former President Donald Ramotar.
I must state categorically, that Mr. Ramotar has so far failed to address pertinent issues raised by me regarding the acquisition of state property by his relative at grossly under-valued costs. There are two salient issues at hand. Two issues Mr. Ramotar MUST answer:
1. Where is the $800M in steel referred to by the former President; and
2. As President of the Cooperatively Republic of Guyana, what did Mr. Ramotar do to prevent his brother from acquiring state property in the form of Land, Tugs and Barges at ridiculously low prices?
What Mr. Ramotar chose to do instead, was to initiate a low-blow by creating a smoke screen, by publishing a private correspondence to him. That correspondence was in fact authored in an effort to prevent further victimization of the BK International Group of Companies, more specifically, the eviction of Jags Aviation, a subsidiary of the BK Group from the GUYSUCO Hangar at the now Eugene Correiea International Airport. If one were to follow the events leading up to my forceful penning of the said letter provided to the media by the former President, it would show clearly it was a case of responding to a threat and demands for an apology. In fact it was on the recommendation of a former Senior Minister that I should go beyond a formal apology and restate my allegiance to the party, which would have quelled the anger of the former President.
His anger in this instance was as a result of a flight provided by the aviation department of the BK Group – Jags Aviation, for the Mr. Ramotar to conduct election campaign activities in the Essequibo Region. Our aviation consultant at the time, Mr. Bobby Vieira had called and informed me that the company had provided a flight to the same area a day before comprising a team of APNU/AFC campaign officials headed by Mr. Raphael Trotman. Mr. Trotman’s team was due to return to Georgetown the same morning that Mr. Ramotar and his team went in.
As suggested by Mr. Vieira, it would have been much more economical for the aircraft taking in the then President (as this was a one-way charter) to ferry Mr. Trotman and his team back to Georgetown. Since this operation apparently annoyed the former President which he displayed on several occasions later, we were advised to write and offer an apology for any discomfort we may have caused him. This was immediately done by Mr. Vieira and sent to the President.
However, this did not quell the anger of Mr. Ramotar. His rant continued with threats to evict my airline operations from the GUYSUCO hangar where we were conducting our operations. It was as a result of the continued abuse and significant claims of my contributions to the APNU in the millions of dollars, that a former Senior Minister suggested that I pen the letter, part of which he made some suggestions so as to quell the issue. Clearly, I simply wanted to alleviate the situation at that time. Jags Aviation further went the distance to waive the fee for the former President’s one-way charter. The said letter released by Mr. Ramotar, bringing further into question his integrity as a person moreso someone entrusted to lead this beloved country of ours.
My consultant was on several occasions subjected to Mr. Ramotar’s rants and claims of us backing the APNU and the AFC. We run an operation involving aircraft with significant costs. We never discriminated against anyone or political party which requested our services. Maybe the Ex-President felt this should have been standard procedure.
Editor, many persons were born with political affiliations. However, it is one’s democratic right to choose his/her political direction. My support for change was as wanting as any or most Guyanese, thus my choice to whom I choose and would support. My point is we should put Guyana first.
By this time, Hubu Backdam road and Haags Bosch dump site contracts were already taken away from BK Construction.
The Barge referred to in my initial missive was purchased by Jules Kranenburg at a cost of over US$1M and resold to Former President Donald Ramotar’s relative for a paltry G$3M. Let us deal with the issues at hand. I challenge Mr. Ramotar to refute this. I further challenge the former President to refute the denial of BK International of the Aremu Interior Road project which was in turn “gifted” to the Vulture Construction Company even though BK International was awarded the contract. Strangely, Mr. Ramotar personally and genuinely advised me to sue his government over this injustice.

Sincerely,
Brian Tiwarie AA
Managing Director
BK Group of Companies

Pointblank
Gilbakka posted:

I've read the full letter. BK said: "I was born a PPP." BK shamelessly plagiarized yuji22 and Bibi Haniffa. 

I think she said, "I was born a PPP and I will die a PPP."   Or something laka dat.

Bibi Haniffa
Bibi Haniffa posted:
Gilbakka posted:

I've read the full letter. BK said: "I was born a PPP." BK shamelessly plagiarized yuji22 and Bibi Haniffa. 

I think she said, "I was born a PPP and I will die a PPP."   Or something laka dat.

talking about yourself in the third person?

FM
Bibi Haniffa posted:
Gilbakka posted:

I've read the full letter. BK said: "I was born a PPP." BK shamelessly plagiarized yuji22 and Bibi Haniffa. 

I think she said, "I was born a PPP and I will die a PPP."   Or something laka dat.

True dat. And I appreciate your acknowledging thereby that the PPP has imprisoned your mind from the cradle to the grave. 

FM
Last edited by Former Member

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