September 21, 2020
Dear Editor,
How many more times will Minister Edghill be allowed to lie without any evidence and have his lies printed uncensored by the media? I would like to challenge some right- minded, non-partisan, entrepreneurial Guyanese to establish a fact checking business that will do research and analyses to expose lies as they continue to be perpetuated in the name of politics. We are wasting time on constructing deception when the focus should be on development.
While in opposition Minister Edghill spouted several lies with the excuse that he did not have access to the relevant documents despite the fact that I personally provided them to him. Now that he is the sitting minister, access cannot be the excuse. Why do we allow these lies to be circulated unabated when evidence to the contrary exists? It is truly unfortunate that the various media houses who continue to print these misrepresentations; both refuse to utilize the evidence that I have given and have not requested evidence to support the claims they print. The media needs to take their charge of professionalism and creditability more seriously.
I want to highlight that every time I was asked for an explanation on this project, I provided evidence to support my statements. I am once again providing undisputable, factual evidence and comments on the subjects raised during the Minister’s budget presentation. By way of prefacing my response, I am stating that the evidence is clear, and the record must show that the number of airbridges to be installed at CJIA was reduced by the PPP/C government before May 2015. Below is a summary of the size of the total areas of the project, also attached are reports as well as detailed drawings confirming these areas and other project related information. I challenge Minister Edghill to provide any evidence to support his fictitious version of this project.
The table below illustrates a comparison between the original contracts (before 2015) compared with the final product (after 2015).
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND FINAL SCOPE
It is my hope that after my response along with all the evidence provided that no reputable, professional, credible media house will carry such stories without supporting evidence. Everything else is propaganda, rumours, lies or worse, racism, after looking at all the evidence, I can find no other explanation.
Yours faithfully,
David Patterson
