The People’s Progressive Party (PPP), in a statement, stated that they “…notes the half-baked responses to the damning exposé about the massive land grab by persons who are linked to the hierarchy of the current APNU+AFC Coalition Government and, more concerning, linked to President David Granger’s office. The attempts to obfuscate the issue at hand have failed to undermine the facts of this matter.”
Notably, according to the PPP, “Since these facts were made public by the PPP General Secretary and Opposition Leader, Head of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), Mr. Trevor Benn, hosted a press conference on Friday, June 28, 2019. During his almost hour-long press briefing, Mr. Benn seemed more preoccupied with how the information was disclosed.”
“This preoccupation manifested itself into the latest call for whistleblowers to be targeted, following the path of Mr. David Hinds, who recently called for a Commission of Inquiry to identify whistleblowers. Mr. Benn expressed his intention to target and deal “condignly” with persons he believes are whistleblowers. Mr. Benn also disclosed that there will be a police investigation. His call for a police investigation exposes the priority of the current Administration – to take our security forces away from tackling crime to conduct a witch-hunt of whistleblowers, who are exposing massive levels of corruption. The PPP urges the Guyana Police Force (GPF) not to be caught up in politics of covering up corruption. If there is a police investigation, it ought to be an investigation of Mr. Benn’s actions in the GL&SC, as well as the massive corruption within the agency. Nonetheless, any lawsuit or police action will allow the Party to address this matter in greater detail in the future.”
Further, the PPP argued that it “…is obligated to call attention to the Kaieteur News publication of June 29, 2019. The newspaper article – headlined ‘Jagdeo in possession of stolen Land and Surveys documents…Police called in’ – clearly demonstrates the agenda of this newspaper. During the years that the PPP/C held office, the government was demonized by the Kaieteur News without documentary evidence. Yet, when evidence is provided to expose the current APNU+AFC Coalition Government, the Kaieteur News is more concerned about how the documents were accessed and not the fact that the documents expose a mad rush by a select few linked to the APNU+AFC cabal to grab land in strategic locations. Even the first article published by the Kaieteur News, on June 28, 2019, following the release of the documents by the PPP General Secretary referred to the disclosures as “fabrications” despite the fact that the entire media corps was presented with real, documentary, evidence. The Kaieteur News’ continued attempts to excuse the corruption and incompetence of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government has been demonstrated yet again.”
Below is the full statement from the PPP:
