Alexei Ramotar defends E-Governance record, says critics ignorant of facts

Last Updated on Monday, 20 July 2015, 18:53 by GxMedia

by Zena Henry

Head of the ailing E-Governance project, Alexei Ramotar has come out swinging as he tells critics to go educate themselves before pronouncing on his record as head of the venture.

Alexei, son of former President Donald Ramotar, was days ago sent on administrative leave by Minister of State Joseph Harmon to facilitate an investigation into the financial aspects of the project.

The E-Governance project of some US$32M includes the laying of a fibre optic cable from Brazil to Guyana and a three-component initiative to connect state agencies via internet access along the Linden-Lethem road and the coastland. Despite the poor state which the cable component is said to be, GUY$1billion has already been expended on that aspect alone, leaving stakeholders to blame Ramotar for failing the project.

He responded in a Facebook post, Monday July 20 that, “What I have seen from most of the criticisms and articles written is a deep ignorance of the subject matter. This is notwithstanding the fact that on many occasions I have tried to educate the public, via the media, on the nature of the projects, but politically motivated agents eventually win through.”

Ramotar said that his, “E-Government Team together with Huawei Technologies Inc. designed and built a LTE-A infrastructure and Data Center that provides 4G cellular and FTTX (Fiber to the end-user) coverage to all major government agencies and public buildings. We did it within budget; we did it within the time frame.”

He had stated in the media recently that he had no fear given the ongoing investigation. He said project funds were controlled and was not spent illegally.

He said, “The only critics I shall heed from now are those who have a similar accomplishment under their belt. To the rest I bid that you educate yourself; that you get out of your armchair, away from your computer or TV and do something useful.”