Responding to allegations of corruption made by a VICE News reporter during an interview with Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo earlier this week, President Dr Irfaan Ali on Thursday joined in rubbishing the claims and reassured that his Government is operating above board.
President Dr Irfaan Ali speaking with reporters on Thursday morning
During the February 1, 2022 interview conducted by a foreign reporter from the United States-based VICE News, several allegations were put to VP Jagdeo about Chinese business practices in Guyana. The reporter also alleged that Chinese logger Su Zhi Rong in Guyana has claimed that the only way to do business in Guyana was to pay incentives, and that he acts as a middle man between the Vice President and other Chinese businesses.
While VP Jagdeo, the businessman in question, and even the Chinese Embassy in Georgetown have already criticised the media outlet over its “fabrications”, President Ali on Thursday also called out the news entity for sensationalising the allegations.
“It’s an allegation… My Government is above board but I’m saying that people are just doing things for sensational headlines… There is a lot of sensationalisation that is going on of news, and I’m not into that. I’m into facts – building ‘One Guyana’ based on honesty, integrity, based on hard work, based on facts,” the President told reporters on the sidelines of an event at the National Cultural Centre on Thursday morning.
According to the Head of State, he had also received information that the reporter had special interests and this was evident in the line of questioning during the interview.
“I heard, because we got intelligence gathering too, that the reporter had certain special interests. An allegation was made. As President, people called me and said this reporter was having special interest and was managed by a special group. That is information that people called [to tell] me. That allegation was made and I want the reporter to respond whether indeed this is true,” Ali asserted.
He went on to rubbish certain allegations made by the news entity during the interview such as the Constitution of Guyana being amended to suit certain companies.
“So, this person came and did not know what she was talking about with the Vice President changing the Constitution and he is planning to change the Constitution to help some company out, which is absolute rubbish… What nonsense that that is the allegation! Somebody could just wake up and change the Constitution? That alone and the misinformation discredits her and tells you that her only objective was in pursuing a special interest,” the Head of State stressed.
President Ali further pointed out that this agenda is even more glaring with the fact that the reporter did not even know much about some of the projects she was questioning the Vice President about. These, he outlined, include the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP), which she did not even know went out to public tender.
“The Amaila Falls was publicly advertised. It was a public process and it was done in accordance with the Public Procurement process. It was evaluated and a recommendation was done after the evaluation as to who was the best bidder. That is a separate process above board, beyond transparency,” the President stated.
China Railway First Group (CRFG) has emerged as the highest ranked bidder for the construction of the AFHP. However, Government has noted that negotiations are still ongoing to finalise the contract.
VP Jagdeo, in a specially-convened press conference on Tuesday evening after his interview aired, had castigated VICE News for its sensational reporting tactics.
He noted that the interviewer was more or less hunting for something spectacular hence the biased line of questioning.
In fact, the reporter’s line of questioning suggested that Guyana was taking financial incentives from the Chinese hence most of the contracts that are being awarded were given to Chinese contractors.
But Jagdeo highlighted that some of the projects that were listed by the interviewer were not awarded to Chinese companies including the Linden to Mabura Road project which was awarded to a Brazilian company.
Meanwhile, the Chinese logger who was quoted by the reporter in many of her insinuations against the Vice President on Wednesday refuted the allegations and categorically distanced himself from the reporter’s utterances.
“I, Su Zhi Rong, wish to state categorically that I have never solicited any inducement from any company or individual for either myself or any Government official including the Vice President. I have read the insinuations by the VICE News network and others and wish to deny any wrongdoing including influence peddling,” he said in a statement.
According to Su, he has been a local businessman for many years, during which he adhered to local and international laws and standards. He called VICE News’ insinuations “false reports and fabrications”.
“I wish to refute strongly any suggestion that I acted on behalf of any Government official, that I presented myself as a representative of anyone or that I promised any favour or business-related reward. I have already engaged with my legal representatives on these false reports and fabrications,” the Chinese businessman also said.
On the other hand, the Chinese Embassy has also slammed the distortion of the facts on Guyana’s bilateral relations with China, making it clear in a statement on Wednesday that relations between the two countries, inclusive of business relations, are founded on the law and international practices.
In April 2021, Reuters reported that Cambodia had condemned images published by US media group VICE featuring newly colourised photographs of the Khmer Rouge “killing fields” victims, saying the images were an insult to the dead because some mugshots had been altered to add smiles.
VICE removed the article and photos, saying they did not meet its editorial standards and it was investigating.
According to the Reuters report, the artist behind the work, Matt Loughrey, declined to comment.
The Reuters report stated that in the article published, Loughrey said his project to colourise images from the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, or S-21, aimed to humanise the 14,000 Cambodians executed and tortured there.
According to Reuters, however, the article caused a backlash on social media after comparisons with the original black-and-white photos showed that some subjects were smiling only in Loughrey’s colour images. The VICE article did not contain the original images. (G8)
