Former Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) head, Joseph O’Lall died yesterday afternoon at the Georgetown Public Hospital following a brief illness. He was 66 years old.

Stabroek News understands that O’Lall, a resident of Duncan Street, Lamaha Gardens, had been diagnosed with an advanced stage of Leukaemia earlier this week and at the time of his death was receiving treatment at the medical institution for the condition. He died around six yesterday afternoon.

Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy told Stabroek News last evening that O’Lall was feeling unwell earlier in the week and sought medical attention. He said that he was admitted as a patient of the hospital’s High Dependency Unit (HDU) and some time during yesterday morning he fell into a coma. The minister said that when he visited him at the hospital, he was already in a coma and the doctors were working hard on him all day. However, he passed away later that day, Dr Ramsammy told this newspaper.

When contacted, his reputed wife, Laura Singh, was too distraught to speak with this newspaper. Relatives later said that the family will not be giving a comment to the press at this point in time.
Meanwhile, members of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), in which O’Lall had been a long-serving member, expressed their shock at his sudden passing.

Donald Ramotar, General Secretary of the party said, “Since I have known him he is a person of life and enthusiasm. I spoke to him only yesterday and I got no impression that he was ill. I never expected news like this because it seemed as though death was far away even though he sometimes spoke of death.”

Ramotar recalled that O’Lall was always full of energy and was a live wire at every party he attended.
He added that O’Lall “really loved life and tried to make it better for everyone especially the less fortunate.”
O’Lall served as GEA head from the early ’90s shortly after the PPP was re-elected in 1992.
His son who is overseas is expected in country shortly.