With the Audit Office preparing to investigate suspected procurement abuses at the state-owned Guyoil, resigned General Manager Trevor Bassoo on Friday distanced himself from a new claim that he had been negotiating with firm Aaron’s Royality Inc. (ARI) to supply fuel, while saying that his decision to step down preceded the company’s corruption allegations.
Bassoo issued a statement through public relations firm Tagman Inc. in the wake of Guyoil Director Akanni Blair, who was implicated by ARI as one of two officials from whom it received commitments for a fuel supply contract, naming him as a person who was separately negotiating with the company.
“I reiterate that at no time did I negotiate any fuel purchases with Aaron Royalty and that my issues with the BOD [Board of Directors] and Chairman Paul Cheong never included the issue of this fuel purchase,” Bassoo said in his new statement yesterday, although he admitted that ARI representatives had reached out to him and he had directed them to the relevant Guyoil officials.
On Tuesday, ARI’s principal, Jayson Aaron, claimed that the company has been left with a large quantity of fuel on hand after commitments were made by company officials that Guyoil would buy it. He claims that he has evidence of the commitments by officials of the company who also tried to solicit kickbacks in return.
On the same day, Bassoo notified that he had resigned. The next day, he told this newspaper that it was not he who entered into any agreement with ARI, and he was only made aware of the matter when ARI complained of non-payment. Bassoo, who has welcomed an investigation into the matter, has also said that it was he who alerted the board regarding the issue. He has said his immediate resignation is unrelated to the situation.
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, who has requested that the Auditor General investigate the alleged irregularities at the entity, yesterday reiterated that if any wrongdoing is found, action will be taken. “We have absolutely no tolerance in this government for any corrupt practices…we would be guided by the results of the Auditor General. I assure you that we will take combined action against any parties, who might have been, in the event of any inappropriate practices being identified,” he said.
Meanwhile, Auditor General Deodat Sharma yesterday told this newspaper that his office has received the Minister’s request and it is currently planning how the exercise will be executed as it follows a process where documents and other material have to be requested.
Guyoil will have to show who eventually got the contract when the agreement was entered into and the sums paid for the fuel. It would also have to explain how the company chosen was selected and what process was used.
Blair, who is a representative of A New and United Guyana (ANUG) on the board, claims that it was he who notified the Chairman of the Board Cheong that he learned from ARI that two other company
officials were negotiating the supply of fuel. His version of how the issue unfolded contradicted what Bassoo had told the Stabroek News on Tuesday.
Blair yesterday said he had an objection with this newspaper’s headline but maintained that the Chairman gave him permission to find a fuel dealer. “I said to you that at a full board meeting, that the Chairman asked me to… even though the board had no objections, I would rather for it to go the way I said it,” he said. He would subsequently cut the call when told of what he was recorded saying the day before.
Sources close to the company have told Stabroek News that the minutes for the March 26th Guyoil board meeting do not reflect the directive to Blair by the board to seek out an oil company. The sources told Stabroek News that it was Blair himself who raised the approach by a Trinidadian oil company and he was told to refer the matter to the Chief Finance Officer.
‘Resigned before’
Bassoo yesterday maintained his version of events and expanded on how the issue was brought to light.
He gave a sequence of events and said that he had email evidence to share with the media that would substantiate his claims that he resigned before news of the matter went public and of prior complaints from the firm alleging contract breaches.
Bassoo, in the release, related that on the night of Wednesday, April 14, at 20.24 pm he emailed the BOD of Guyoil “to advise that representatives of [ARI] reached out to me expressing their dissatisfaction with specific officers of GUYOIL, and of their intention to go to the media to expose corruption. In that email (a copy of which could be obtained), I also advised that I suggested to the Aaron representatives that they should reach out to GUYOIL BOD first to seek redress. I forwarded to the BOD the email that I had received from Aaron representatives (a copy of this email could also be obtained).”
On the morning of the following day, Thursday, April 15, he said that he was called to the Charlotte Street office of the Chairman of the GUYOIL BOD, Cheong, where he was handed a letter sending him on administrative leave. “The letter further stated that the BOD will conduct a performance review of my tenure as General Manager. He informed me that the Company Secretary, Shawn Persaud, will be acting as General Manager in the interim (a copy of this email could also be obtained),” he stated.
“In the afternoon of the following day, Friday April 16, I was invited to a meeting with the BOD to discuss my job performance. During the meeting specifics of my actual performance were not discussed, however, I was asked to relate the matters that are of concern to me and I took the opportunity to raise with the BOD, matters that I felt required the full Board’s attention. At the same meeting, I indicated to the BOD my intention to submit my resignation in light of the recent work environment. On the evening of Monday, April 19, I tendered my resignation by email,” he added.
He said that on Tuesday morning, April 20, at 10.17 am, the Company Secretary, who was also at the time General Manager (acting), forwarded to him by email two scanned documents, one of which was a letter signed by the Chairman, indicating acceptance of his resignation and rescinding the letter which had directed him to proceed on administrative leave.
After that event, he said that the issue went public with allegations made against him.
Said Bassoo, “It was only after this sequence of events that stories began circulating on social media later on Tuesday, April 20. Someone, apparently deliberately, conflated the issues of my discussions with the Chairman and the BOD and the emerging matter of the dispute between [ARI] and GUYOIL, resulting from Aaron’s arrangements with specific officials of GUYOIL. In the interest of full disclosure, I must mention that representatives of Aaron had reached out to me before April 14 and at that time I had advised them to try and resolve the matter with the officers who had engaged them to supply fuel to GUYOIL,” he added.
