Attacking Winston Brassington is “obscene” – Ramotar

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:00 by GxMedia

President Donald Ramotar has been defending senior government employees who are being harshly criticized for their performances and roles.

Among them coming under intense fire from the opposition and critics Chartered Accountant, Christopher Ram and Financial Analyst, Ramon Gaskin over several projects including Amaila Falls Hydropower project, Marriott Hotel, Berbice River Bridge as well as the the Guyana Energy Agency are Head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Winston Brassington and GEA Head, Mahender Sharma.

“The attack on Winston Brassington is obscene. Anyone who works professionally for the government is coming under intense personal attacks,” Ramotar told a recent meeting with more than 140 Guyanese in Brooklyn, New York.

The President noted that although one of Chandra Narine “CN” Sharma’s son is a legislator for the opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), his brother heads the GEA. “The boy is doing a professional job and he is now coming under personal attacks as well,” said Ramotar.

The Guyanese leader deplored the tactic of trying to “pull” people down personally because it is “totally unethical” “Brassington is a professional, Brassington doesn’t run everything,” he said.  

Rejecting criticisms of Brassington, who is also Chairman of the Board of Guyana Power and Light (GPL), Ramotar said: “Brassington is an extremely competent person who works for the government in many, many ways.”

The President urged critics to stop accusing Brassington and instead confront him because he is the politician who employed him. “Don’t blame Brassington. Blame me. Come to me. I can answer for myself. I am a politician.”

Ramotar reiterated his concerns about attacks against Brassington and other top government technical officials while addressing the 50th anniversary dinner of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) Wednesday night at the Pegasus Hotel.

“There seems to be a campaign to try to prevent the public sector from having some of the better people in our society working for us,” he said.

President Ramotar said such attacks would not aid in Guyana’s development and would thwart business. “We need to create an atmosphere where people would do their work, where people would not be afraid to serve their country and because they would be slandered and attacked and their families attacked and embarrassed and all of that,” he said.

He said such an approach “is from another era and is something that we should not encourage in any way. It is not good for a democratic society. Ramotar’s immediate predecessor, Bharrat Jagdeo, had launched vicious attacks on his critics and sections of the privately-owned media.

Back in the 1980s under the Peoples National Congress (PNC) administration, late History Professor Walter Rodney was banned from working at the University of Guyana because he was a staunch opponent of the government of the day.

More recently, an outspoken anti-corruption activist and practising lawyer was not green-lighted by government to head the local branch of the Credit Bureau.