Dear Editor,
I write in response to the rambling comments of Minister Bheri Ramsaran in the Stabroek News of April 24, 2012. I would expect someone who is a member of the government, albeit a minority government, to first be fully conversant with his facts before making public statements. Dr Ramsaran indicated in his comments to Stabroek News that “Ceres was invited because he was involved in the National Aquatic Centre a short distance away…” I would like to point out to Dr Ramsaran that neither I nor my company was involved with that project.
That project is a colossal engineering blunder. I would consequently like to request that Dr Ramsaran take immediate steps to correct this obvious falsehood. I however do not expect him to be as public with his retraction as he was in his charges of my being “unethical,” since I suspect he is attempting to buy engineering expertise to cover the failure of his government to effectively expend the valuable resources entrusted to them in the form of taxpayers‘ money, on what for all intents and purposes was an elementary engineering project. I suspect, and hope that I am wrong, he is also trying to link a successful African owned engineering consulting firm to his government to cover for the disclosures in the Freddie Kissoon-Bharrat Jagdeo libel case.
I would like to make it pellucidly clear to Dr Ramsaran that Ground Structures Engineering Consultants has had a policy, for at least the past 15 years, of not working on public sector projects in Guyana. He is free to seek clarification on this from Mr Anthony Xavier, who was the serving Minister of Public Works when we enunciated that policy. Since that time, Ground Structures has worked on three projects based on direct requests to us to do so. These projects were the National Stadium, the ESIA for the Georgetown Landfill at Haags Bosch and an evaluation of the suitability of different materials to serve as ballast for that facility. The last of these was done only because the funds were used to support the APNU election campaign.
As to Dr Ramsaran‘s claims that I “was “unethical” in revealing publicly that he had been invited to give a quotation…” I would like to respond that all projects undertaken by taxpayers‘ (myself included) money are within the public domain in all democratic countries. I was not aware that we were living under the dictates of a Soviet era regime where public domain projects are “private matters.” Further my intent was to engage my fellow engineers (not politicians or medical doctors) in a discussion of appropriate engineering practice.
I must however admit that I am impressed by Dr Ramsaran‘s statement, “He does not know what we wanted it for…” That was precisely my reason for pointing out that the document could not be responded to by any properly qualified geotechnical engineer. All geotechnical engineers need to know what the data is needed for to develop an appropriate scope of work for the exercise and to present a technically defensible engineering report. His argument, obviously unintended, reinforces and validates my point.
I attended the University of Guyana and consider his use of that institution to be quite a forward step. It would provide practical engineering exposure for the students of that institution. I would like to take this opportunity to wish the relevant persons at the institution success in this endeavour.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Ceres
