Glen Lall & Ed Ahmad
The Office of the President last night issued a statement in which it charges the Stabroek News with being devious and biased “in dealing with matters concerning the President and the government,” and promises to continually expose the paper’s so-called commitment to professional ethics. The following is the full text of that statement. THE OFFICE of the President will continue to disclose the deviousness of the Stabroek News in its dealing with matters concerning the President and the government.
In the August 20 edition of the Stabroek News, a lengthy article on Mr. Ed Ahmad’s legal problems in the USA ended with a reference to his export of 29 containers to President Jagdeo and also the payment of applicable taxes.
On August 15, Stabroek News editoralised about Ed Ahmad’s legal problems and his engagements with the President. Stabroek News disclosed that it has sourced information that 29 tons of building materials were exported by Mr. Ahmad in 2009 to President Jagdeo. Twenty-nine tons of building material could easily fit in a 40-foot container.
How the shift from 29 tons on August 15 to 29 containers on August 20 came about, only Stabroek News and its sources know.
Additionally, revisiting the tax treatment of the imported goods is another devious act of Stabroek News’. It is widely known and established that Mr. Ahmad is a businessman. The shipment was of goods bought by the President for his personal use, and consigned to the President.
Also already established was the fact that the waiver on the taxes due was based on an Act of Parliament enacted before President Jagdeo’s tenure, and available to all the Executive Presidents of Guyana.
While Stabroek News’ focus on Mr. Ahmad is media-worthy, its relentless efforts to maintain a connection in the media between the two flies in the face of President Jagdeo’s definitive statements about his 15-year friendship with Mr. Ahmad.
The President said, “I know this gentleman a long time, about 15 years now. I know many other people; I knew Glen Lall, and he used to say that he is my friend, and I later found out that he is a backtracker. If Ed Ahmad breaks the law in New York, then he must face the consequences, and I cannot deny knowing somebody; I know him very well… I know this gentleman, and I have considered him all these years as a friend. But if he does anything illegal, it does not mean that I will condone this. No, I will not condone it. And a lot of the people who try to deny these connections, they are the ones who have things to hide; I do not have anything to hide, because I do not tolerate people breaking the law. Even if they break the law, even if you are my friend, you face the consequences, but it doesn’t mean that I’m going to deny you.”
Significantly, the editor-in-chief of Stabroek News, whose brother-in-law, Mr. Roopnarine, a Guyanese, was implicated in and charged with a similar offence, has not been accorded similar treatment by Stabroek News.
Such deviousness of the Stabroek News will continue to be exposed, thereby allowing its readers to be better informed about its commitment to professional ethics.
In the August 20 edition of the Stabroek News, a lengthy article on Mr. Ed Ahmad’s legal problems in the USA ended with a reference to his export of 29 containers to President Jagdeo and also the payment of applicable taxes.
On August 15, Stabroek News editoralised about Ed Ahmad’s legal problems and his engagements with the President. Stabroek News disclosed that it has sourced information that 29 tons of building materials were exported by Mr. Ahmad in 2009 to President Jagdeo. Twenty-nine tons of building material could easily fit in a 40-foot container.
How the shift from 29 tons on August 15 to 29 containers on August 20 came about, only Stabroek News and its sources know.
Additionally, revisiting the tax treatment of the imported goods is another devious act of Stabroek News’. It is widely known and established that Mr. Ahmad is a businessman. The shipment was of goods bought by the President for his personal use, and consigned to the President.
Also already established was the fact that the waiver on the taxes due was based on an Act of Parliament enacted before President Jagdeo’s tenure, and available to all the Executive Presidents of Guyana.
While Stabroek News’ focus on Mr. Ahmad is media-worthy, its relentless efforts to maintain a connection in the media between the two flies in the face of President Jagdeo’s definitive statements about his 15-year friendship with Mr. Ahmad.
The President said, “I know this gentleman a long time, about 15 years now. I know many other people; I knew Glen Lall, and he used to say that he is my friend, and I later found out that he is a backtracker. If Ed Ahmad breaks the law in New York, then he must face the consequences, and I cannot deny knowing somebody; I know him very well… I know this gentleman, and I have considered him all these years as a friend. But if he does anything illegal, it does not mean that I will condone this. No, I will not condone it. And a lot of the people who try to deny these connections, they are the ones who have things to hide; I do not have anything to hide, because I do not tolerate people breaking the law. Even if they break the law, even if you are my friend, you face the consequences, but it doesn’t mean that I’m going to deny you.”
Significantly, the editor-in-chief of Stabroek News, whose brother-in-law, Mr. Roopnarine, a Guyanese, was implicated in and charged with a similar offence, has not been accorded similar treatment by Stabroek News.
Such deviousness of the Stabroek News will continue to be exposed, thereby allowing its readers to be better informed about its commitment to professional ethics.
Glen Lall was not only a backtracker but an exporter of cocaine to the U.S
ReplyDeleteOnce again SN is out tp spread their wrong side of the story when the President had made it clear that he knows the man just like how he knows Glen.But SN just out to do their propaganda work.
ReplyDelete