Bachan, Seetaram were cut from the same bolt of cloth 

Dear Editor,
I write in reference to a letter written by an AFC member, captioned “PPP Parliamentarian Harry Gill is out to score cheap political points”, in which he courageously but foolishly tries to defend a former APNU+AFC RDC Councillor.
I am amazed that shady characters are the ones most willing to risk exposure to defend the indefensible. And I wish to thank Pradeep Bachan for keeping the Carol Joseph drug-abuse issue alive in the public domain, for Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence needs to put aside her loyalty to a PNC comrade and have this case thoroughly investigated by SARA or the Guyana Police Force, to recover the millions of dollars of public funds reported to have been fraudulently spent on feeding Carol Joseph’s drug addiction with the full knowledge of those in authority at the Fort Wellington Hospital, West Coast Berbice.
But before I debunk the nonsense written by this latest Carol Joseph apologist, let me repeat what I told his ‘buddy friend,’ Abel Seetaram, in a previous letter: When credibility is not part of one’s DNA, no one takes that one seriously. And anyone with an ounce of brain or self-respect would know it is not wise to draw attention to oneself if one is known to have a bad character.
Just so everyone knows who we are dealing with here, Pradeep Bachan is a former pastor of the Church of Christ, but he is far from being a saint. It is alleged that, years ago, he “ripped off” the church before he was thrown out. During the drought that affected parts of Region 5 last year, Bachan visited residents in the Mahaica Creek and presented himself as a Member of Parliament. And he allegedly took money from a number of persons there, promising to get them firearm licences.
He also allegedly took a bribe from a businessman and his wife who operate on Stelling Road in Rosignol when their stocks of alcoholic beverages were seized by agents of the Guyana Revenue Authority last year, promising to use his contacts to get the stocks released from the GRA. It took months and an embarrassing public confrontation with threats to take the matter further for the businessman and his wife to finally recover the money they had paid to Pradeep Bachan for a service he failed to deliver.
He is also known to be promoting himself as the Chairman of the ‘Diamond Board’. Someone very close to Pradeep Bachan admitted, “If you know Pradeep, he is chairman for a lot of boards… The man tries to impress everyone that he has contacts… He and Seetaram were cut from the same bolt of cloth.”
Seems like the AFC are so hard-up for members that there is no vetting process in place to reject the scum who constantly embarrass the party. The AFC will have to decide whether they would allow the likes of Abel Seetaram and Pradeep Bachan to define the image of that party, or take the high ground and cut them loose now, in order to protect what little image the AFC has left.
In his letter, Pradeep Bachan wrote, “MP Harry Gill has beguiled the media houses and Nurse Sheriyn Marks to score political points for himself and the PPP/C, and used both to his advantage in the Carol Joseph medical issue.” He also added, “His manipulation is baseless, because the medical history of the patient Carol Joseph and the various surgeries of Carol Joseph are strictly confidential from the various private hospitals. Her medical procedures also remain confidential. Also psychological treatment from Government institutions for her physical illness over the years remains confidential.”
Well, here are some known facts that I assume Bachan is not aware of.
FACT: From 2008 to April 2017, Carol Joseph has been getting 100mg of the highly addictive drug Pethidine almost every day, and occasionally twice a day, as is documented in the Dangerous Drugs Act book at the Ft Wellington Hospital. And although this book is now replaced and is likely to disappear in an effort to cover up her history of addiction, the hard evidence that is in my possession will be made public at the appropriate time if I am forced to defend my actions.
FACT: Pethidine is a restrictive drug that is similar to morphine. It is used only when a patient is experiencing severe pain, such as in child-birth. It is not recommended for long-term use, and it is highly unusual for a doctor to prescribe Pethidine for Dysmenorrhea.
FACT: Staff Nurse Sheriyn Marks is a highly trained and certified midwife who is familiar with the proper use of Pethidine. In any event, it does not take a rocket scientist to know that Carol Joseph is addicted to Pethidine when she turns up at the hospital almost every day to get her “fix”.
FACT: If anyone closely associated with the PPP/C was found to be using their position to extort a highly addictive drug from any hospital for as often as Carol Joseph has done over a period of 9 years, this vindictive Government would have had them and their doctor arrested to face criminal charges for the misappropriation of public funds and state assets.
FACT: Carol Joseph is a sick woman who needs professional help to wean her off her drug addiction; something her close friends and party comrades had known for many years but did nothing about. Perhaps that will change now.
FACT: Had the RHO, Dr Cheefoon, and the Minister of Public Health addressed the concerns of Staff Nurse/Midwife Sheriyn Marks as articulated in her letter, Carol Joseph’s addiction and abuse of state assets would not have been made public. Instead, they arrogantly covered up this abuse, and allowed Carol Joseph to intimidate and harass the poor nurse with threats of transferring her to Monkey Mountain and reporting her to Minister Joseph Harmon.
Even now, there is no investigation on this highly controversial issue, and Minister Volda Lawrence has not commented on Joseph’s abuse and misuse of Pethidine from her hospital stock. Nurse Marks, on the other hand, has been transferred from the hospital for doing what is right and honourable. She is being targeted and victimized for being a model civil servant.
I call upon Minister Volda Lawrence to do the right thing and reverse this injustice done to Staff Nurse/Midwife Sheriyn Marks. She is not the criminal here, and should not be punished.

Harry Gill