Dear Editor,
Despite their ideological and other shortcomings, Cheddi and Janet Jagan did not stand for certain things. Some things were sacrosanct. Some things were valued. So when I read that that Ed Ahmad had built a massive hardware store on the Mirror newspaper’s premises, I immediately wondered if this is what the PPP has turned to. What this party that was led by Cheddi Jagan, who refused to sell out in many ways, has become. This place where the PPP waged many battles for freedom. Why did the PPP either lease, gift or sell part of its Mirror premises to Mr Ahmad? A man who, before this store was constructed, was investigated by the US authorities and against whom allegations were made by the same US authorities for mortgage fraud.
There is no way the PPP could not have known of Mr Ahmad’s legal problems before he started building his super store. After all, this is the PPP’s land. Not the Government of Guyana’s land or a private owner’s land. This is the PPP’s property. The decision to lease, sell, gift or allow Mr Ahmad to build on it is the PPP’s decision and only the PPP’s decision. So when the PPP attempts to distance itself from Ed Ahmad, it does not make any sense. It looks funny. After allowing a guy to build a big store on your premises, you suddenly issue a statement claiming that this guy is not in any way part of the PPP structure. Well, his structure is sitting smack bang on the lands owned by one of the PPP’s greatest institutions, the Mirror. How do they separate themselves from this guy who has a gargantuan building sitting on their land. Nobody in the history of this nation ever got permission to build a store on the Mirror property. Except Ed Ahmad, of course.
Who in the PPP would ever allow for security reasons, someone to build a store right next to the party’s printing press and building? Mr Ahmad must have known some pretty powerful people in the PPP to get them to expose the Mirror in this manner in a country which is a safe haven of criminality. When the PPP says it “wishes to make it absolutely clear that Ahmad has not made any financial contributions to the PPP/C’s 2011 political campaign nor can he be considered in any way part of the PPP structure or the PPP/C Government,” I want to know whether Mr Ahmad has ever made any financial contributions to any past PPP/C campaign and to any of its candidates before the 2011 election. Further, the PPP should inform the nation whether Mr Ahmad has ever made any contributions to the PPP’s non-political arm or towards any non-political activities run by the PPP.
Yours faithfully,
M Maxwell
