Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter by Mr Malcolm Alli captioned “I replaced Lawrence Charles as the project engineer for the east coast sea defences” (08.04.09). My comment is restricted to the penultimate paragraph stating that I “was the soil consultant supervising the construction on the west coast Demerara by the Italian contractor in the 1990s”.

I was invited by a local consultant to assess the soil testing programme prepared and executed by the contractor. This I did but had no involvement in design or supervision of the works.
That was the responsibility of an English engineer recruited for that purpose.

If Mr Alli was genuinely unaware of the circumstances he may be excused; but if he was aware then he has allowed a professionally trained mind to lapse into a condition approaching a state of irresponsibility. When a matter falls to that level I consider it unworthy of further response.
Yours faithfully,
Philip Allsopp