The Office of the President (OP) said it views with extreme distaste the resort of Kaieteur News to defame the character of Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali in an article that sought to link his acquisition of a property with corruption.
The property today after four years of work
“The recent Kaieteur News headlines that targeted Minister Irfaan Ali are the latest in the series of yellow journalistic activities,” OP said in a statement Wednesday night.
“The Office of the President rejects such underhand tactics intended to demean and question the probity of the young minister. Minister Ali has made significant contributions to the development of Guyana, particularly in the Housing and Water sectors.”
OP said it also rejects the malicious effort and anticipates that Minister Ali’s disclosures would continue to justify the confidence of the administration and the Guyanese people in him.
“The public is warned that these examples of yellow journalism are now known to be a part of a dedicated plan to discredit government personalities, and thus the administration. The Office of the President will continue to expose the intellectual authors and their wicked designs,” the statement concluded.
On Monday, Ali had cause to clarify details of his acquisition of a former GuySuCo- owned property at Leonora, West Coast Demerara, and at the same time condemned the Kaieteur News for misrepresenting the facts of the purchase in a “devious and sensational” article on New Year’s Day.
In the article captioned “After two years as Minister… Irfaan Ali builds mansion with poolhouse,” KN described the construction of the house. The news- paper noted that the house appears to accommodate eight bedrooms, a large living room, a detached kitchen and a walkway that runs around the front of the building.
Kaieteur News said too that the cost of the construction which is nearing completion is estimated at more than Gy$ 300 million.
“One contractor, using the same government estimates, said that to fence the compound of that estate would be about Gy$ 50 million,” KN wrote.
However, in response to the article, Ali clarified that the property in question was acquired before he assumed office as a minister of the government, and it has been almost four years now since he has been struggling to complete work on the property.
“Thirdly, the house referred to as mansion house was an old wooden house owned by GuySuCo. After acquisition, it is the same property that was rehabilitated and retro-fitted.” Ali said that more 70 per cent of the house remained in the same material and style that was there on acquisition.
He noted that the only completely new piece of construction was that referred to as the poolhouse.
Additionally, the minister said that the acquisition of the house was no “secret or unscrupulous deal,” pointing out that the property was publicly advertised for sale before he became a minister.
“As any other Guyanese, I placed a bid for the property and my bid was the highest bid price offered. So what is secret and unscrupulous about this?” he asked.
Ali asserted that “This devious act by Kaieteur News was aimed at a personal attack to my family and I. When someone builds a house, it is meant to be their home, a personal sanctuary where they feel secured and private.
“It is clear that the motive of Kaieteur News was to mislead and expose myself and family to security and other harm.”
Ali said it is against this background that his lawyers would now look at the consequences of “this personal invasion based on lies and mischief”. Though the very essence of peace and security that my personal property was supposed to have offered me is destroyed, I will leave my faith in the hands of my lawyers and the judicial system so that justice can be done,” Ali asserted.
Ali noted too that the house actually consists of three bedrooms, not eight as stated in the article and worse of all, the fence which is chain-link and wallaba on the side and back, and concrete with grill work on the front is incorrectly and maliciously estimated to cost Gy$ 50 million.
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