Abel Seetaram has no credibility to judge me or anyone else

Dear Editor,
No one takes seriously a person of whom credibility is not part of their DNA. And anyone with an ounce of brain or self-respect would know it is not wise to draw attention to oneself.
In a letter published on May 6, 2017, Abel Seetaram wrote, “MP Gill not fit enough to talk about Region Five”. This is funny coming from a person who has a reputation of being dishonest, drunk and disorderly. This is the dilemma that the AFC activist Abel Seetaram faces every time he voices his opinion publicly.
In May last year, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo terminated Seetaram’s services as his Regional Representative for Region Five after Seetaram had crashed an expensive Government SUV into a fence at Bath, West Coast Berbice. This occurred soon after he had left a wedding house, where he had been seen drinking heavily.
He was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital, and was later charged with dangerous driving and fined ,000 with an alternative of 32 days in jail; ,000 or 21 days in jail for being an unlicensed driver, and ,000 or 21 days in jail for breach of insurance. And had he not pretended to be asleep when the police visited his bedside at the hospital to take a breathalyzer test, he may have been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.
Recently, it was reported that he, along with Carol Joseph, were taken into police custody to answer charges of fraudulently taking millions of dollars from the Mahaicony/Abary Rice Development Scheme (MARDS).
Abel Seetaram has no credibility to judge me or anyone else. While it is true that I have lived many years of my life overseas, I returned to Guyana, at great sacrifice to my personal income and being away from my children, to give back something to the land of my birth and, hopefully, make a meaningful contribution by doing so. I am grateful to Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic for giving me this opportunity. Whatever “benefits” Seetaram believes I now receive as a Member of Parliament are insignificant to what I enjoyed in the United States for over 23 years.
In an effort to discredit me as a Member of the National Assembly, Abel Seetaram said I was chosen as an MP from the “left-over” and “scrape up votes”. Ironically, his name was on the APNU+AFC List of Candidates that contested the 2015 election, and the coalition selected another person to represent Region Five and rejected him. Doesn’t that send a message?
I am proud of the impeccable character I have built over the years. I have never been accused of misappropriating money from sports clubs across Region 5, nor have I ever been arrested for fraud. And no one can ever accuse me of being drunk and making a fool of myself in public. I doubt Abel Seetaram can say the same about himself with a straight face.
Sadly, I must decline Abel Seetaram’s challenge to walk with him in Region Five. He is trying desperately to gain some form of recognition as a “somebody”. I will not help his cause by being seen in his company.

Sincerely,
Harry Gill,
MP (PPP/C)