Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:56 AM
Jan 25, 2015 Letters
Dear Editor,
What follows is my point by point reply to Ms. Vindhya Persaud, daughter of Reepu Daman Persaud.
First, I stand by my assertions and do so unapologetically. Secondly, Ms. Persaud wrote that her father was very much loved and respected. That was not the subject-matter. I would not dispute the Minister had more than one secretary. All Ministers do. The one I dealt with on every occasion was Shanti
Thirdly, I have written literally thousands and thousands of columns since 1988 and not in even one of them can you find any line or sentence on the politics of Reepu Daman Persaud. If as Ms. Persaud claims that I have a long standing dislike for her father then Reepu Daman Persaud was my only sacred cow because I have never written even a line on him.
I cling tenaciously to my facts and they are; the young lady told me her name was Shanti. I called her Shanti.
It is a fact that she lived in Cornelia Ida. She was of brown complexion with flowing black hair and small built. She told me she had an affair with the Minister. She told me he promised her a visa and he tore up her passport. I stand by that story. I will repeat those facts. I know at least a dozen well placed individuals in this country who know about this tragedy and the role the Minister played
Fourthly, why would I choose to tell such a lie on Reepu Daman Persaud with whom I had no bad relationship. Does Vindhya Persaud expect people to believe that?
I hope Vindhya Persaud knows that she tripped up herself. She rejected my description of her father’s secretary but admitted that I was in contact with her father because she said her father told her I abused him over the land application. It meant, then, that in my request for land I had to see the Minister and I had to see his secretary. Why then would I describe her in opposite terms to what she looked like?
Fifthly, in my application for land, I dealt with Mr. Datadin of Lands and Survey. Mr. Datadin is very much alive in Guyana and there is a paper trail. It was Mr. Datadin who assigned me the land at Mahaica. At no time was Reepu Daman Persaud involved. All that was needed was his signature.
I went to his Ministry to get his signature. It is untrue for Minister Persaud to tell his family that I abused him because he told me to apply. I applied and got the land. If Minister Persaud told his family that I abused him over the application then he abused his family by telling them an untruthful story
Since the Minister was in the habit of telling his family who and who applied for land, then Ms. Vindhya Persaud should inform readers if her father described for her the gargantuan plots of land that her father, in his capacity as Minister of Agriculture, awarded to a certain dishonest entrepreneur who robbed one of Guyana’s diplomats under the Cheddi Jagan government in the nineties. When the poor soul found out that the legal papers were doctored, he had a heart attack and died
Sixthly, yes Vindhya Persaud is right. I didn’t publish what I wrote about her father’s role in his secretary’s suicide when he was alive because he would have sued me. I wasn’t that stupid to name him because I would have had to bring the dead to testify and the countless young girls would have refused to testify. Now that he is dead, I am paying my obligation to history by naming him.
I need to remind Vindhya Persaud that I did write about this young girl’s tragic death, four times before and I substituted the words, “a leading Hindu priest” rather than name the priest himself.
Frederick Kissoon
Jagdeo giving Exxon 102 cent to collect 2 cent.
Apr 25, 2024
By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sports – The French Diplomatic Office in Guyana, in collaboration with the Guyana Olympic Association and UNICEF, hosted an exhibition on Tuesday evening at the...Kaieteur News – Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, persists in offering... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – On April 10, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]