Lall’s radio licence refusal tied to U.S. visa revocation

– personal vendetta against QAII exposed

The personal vendetta that Kaieteur News (KN) publisher Glenn Lall has against executive chairman of Queens Atlantic Investment Inc (QAII) Dr Ranjisinghi Ramroop has yet again been exposed and continues to be manifested daily in articles of the mud-slinging tabloid.
The grudge first took root with the launch of Guyana Times in 2008 and spiralled into hatemongering, as KN continued to predicate attacks on almost every company associated with, or owned by, Dr Ramroop. KN was in business when Dr Ramroop acquired the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (NEW GPC) in 1999. Between 1999 and 2008, there was not a single negative article about Dr Ramroop or NEW GPC. That has now changed, with more than 2000 scurrilous attacks through articles, editorials, columns and letters – all of them manufactured or distorted – regularly in the KN.
In the history of media in Guyana, there have been several instances when new entrants challenged the status quo and earned their ire, but the scale, scope and intensity of the attacks by Lall and his mouthpiece KN against the executive chairman is unprecedented.

Lall attacks Radio Guyana
Only recently, KN has been peddling more misinformation surrounding the launch of Radio Guyana, Inc 89.5/89.7 FM, as it sought to give credence to Lall’s view that something was amiss when Dr Ramroop obtained the green light, along with nine other applicants, to proceed with operations for a radio station after securing a broadcast licence.

U.S. accused scoundrel Glenn Lall

KN has been spinning a web of contortion, along with his colleagues in the opposition-friendly publication Stabroek News (SN), making politically-motivated statements which seek to impute the integrity of the process, and which resulted in Dr Ramroop’s company receiving a broadcast licence.
Speaking during an invited comment as to whether he was alarmed or surprised at the attacks, Dr Ramroop responded, “We expected Lall to do his usual dirty work and to continue his anti-Dr Ramroop and anti-Bharrat Jagdeo stance. We have nothing to fear or hide, as the company was granted a licence on the basis of a court ruling, which compelled the government to honour certain obligations.”
Dr Ramroop further argued that Lall and his other tag-team members should ask themselves why their applications were not approved. “It is none of my business. He need not bring our company into the scheme of things to justify his inability to either qualify or be granted a broadcast licence,” he said.
The only person whom KN and its phantom writers have attacked is Dr Ramroop, despite there being nine other successful applicants.
“Why doesn’t he question the process through which all these persons were granted their licences? What is Lall’s obsession with me? What is his obsession with former president Jagdeo who served Guyana with distinction? We know that he has no journalistic aptitude but he should show respect for a former president. Where is his respect for business in Guyana? Where is the evidence that some grave injustice was committed when we were granted a radio licence… my view is that this is pure jealousy and hatred from a bitter man,” Dr Ramroop said.
In 2010, Lall criticised Guyana Times and other local media for publishing authentic information released by Wikileaks in the U.S., which described him as a man with a “sketchy past”.
“He translated a shoe trading business (and rumoured involvement with alien smuggling) into a muckraking independent newspaper. He has a finger firmly on the pulse of Guyana’s underworld, which serves his media enterprise well,” said Wikileaks in accusing him of backtracking. This newspaper understands that Lall’s visa to the U.S. was revoked for the same reason. It is highly possible, according to one source, that his application for a radio licence was denied based on his visa revocation by the U.S., as government seeks more information from authorities there.
Lall has also been linked to the sad state of affairs at Guyana Stores Limited, which still owes the Guyana government and people hundreds of millions of dollars after its privatisation. “Lall seems to have found a purpose in life to destroy Guyana’s image and to satisfy his ego from sensationalism, as he is the chief architect of the scandal industry in Guyana. He attempts to single-handedly destroy Guyana’s reputation for investment, both locally and overseas. Guyanese overseas are often scared to visit Guyana,” said Dr Ramroop.

Lall attacks Guyana Times
In 2008, Guyana Times entered the media landscape, announcing that it wanted to be a serious “newspaper of record”, demonstrating responsible journalism while remaining focused on highlighting the development of Guyana and the growth of businesses in particular.
But from the moment Guyana Times was launched, KN initiated a vicious campaign in an attempt to destroy the publication. It especially attacked the newspaper’s nationalistic developmental stance, as being “government” friendly.
The attacks eventually became more of a personal vendetta, and the owner of KN got directly involved in mud-slinging, not only at Guyana Times but Dr Ramroop as well. For some reason, the owner of KN also started a vendetta against then president Jagdeo, claiming that the latter actually owned the newspaper. But this is totally false and something which both Dr Ramroop and Jagdeo have categorically denied.

Lall attacks QAII
Gradually, the scope of the attacks widened to include the several companies that Dr Ramroop operated under QAII. NEW GPC was attacked, although it was in compliance with the established pre-qualification bidding procedures. KN, however, blatantly refused to acknowledge NEW GPC’s legal basis for securing government contracts. NEW GPC has filed several lawsuits against KN locally and in New York.
Lall continued his string of misinformation as often and for as long as he could, until the truth surrounding the integrity and work of NEW GPC came to the fore, when the health minister and other government officials released information exposing KN’s deceit. KN never apologised, but went quickly on to Ezjet Airlines

Lall seeks to link EZjet with Dr Ramroop and Jagdeo
Lall’s hatred and jealousy continued when he co-authored and piloted news articles and full page advertisements that claimed Dr Ramroop owned a new charter airline, EZjet. KN reasoned that an ex-Guyana Times employee serving as country manager of the airlines was enough evidence to conclude that Dr Ramroop was the owner.
Again the truth sealed Lall’s fate, when it was revealed that neither Dr Ramroop nor Jagdeo had anything to do with Ezjet, or its business operations here in Guyana. He then went on to claim that the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion was being embarked on for Dr Ramroop and Jagdeo to land their private aircraft.
Dr Ramroop does not think the personal vendetta against him from KN and SN will stop.