Should the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Dr. Rajendra Singh, make good on his threat to take the government to court for wrongful dismissal, then he would be in for a good fight. The State stands ready to defend its position.This was articulated to the media by Minister of State,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, Joseph Harmon, during a post cabinet press briefing, yesterday.Harmon was asked to say why Government did not pay the former CEO his benefits,Cheap Stitched Jerseys, given that his five-year contract with the state-owned company was terminated prematurely.He was also asked whether Government is prepared to defend its position in a court of law should Singh choose to go in that direction if settlement is not reached.The Minister of State said,Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic, “As a lawyer myself, I know that when you have claims in a civil matter you have counter claims and the counter claim is sometimes bigger than the claim. The CEO can proceed in a manner which best suits him. But just be assured that the State will respond in a firm manner in this case.”Kaieteur News subsequently asked the Minister to say whether Dr. Singh was informed by the government of all the grounds for which he was being dismissed. Documents recently surfaced citing various infractions that were committed by the former CEO.“You only have to be aware of sometimes one matter. As you are aware, there is an inquiry into GuySuCo and it is turning up several other infractions of the law, of the regulations, and even of (Dr Singh’s) own contract. These things are coming up and you will know more of them,” the Minister of State said.The politician added that given that the inquiry has started, and given the absence of Dr. Singh, several persons feel more at ease to divulge information.He said that the information may just end up proving that what was initially known by the government was just the tip of the iceberg.On Wednesday, documents surfaced that Dr. Singh was dismissed for various reasons, some of which include the violation of GuySuCo’s procurement procedure for equipment,Cheap Jerseys, spares and other items, the infringement of the corporation’s disciplinary procedure and the contravention of the corporation’s procedure regarding recruitment, promotion and remuneration of employees.But Dr. Singh is threatening the government with legal action over his dismissal which he claims is without cause.According to those documents, Singh deviated from a decision handed down by the previous Cabinet and authorized the sale of 2.6792 acres of land at Plantation Good Hope, East Coast Demerara to one Kelvin Gobin.The former CEO also engaged in the procurement of one whole stalk harvester for mechanized harvesting at the cost of $19.2M despite technical advice to the contrary from the corporation’s technical personnel.“This machine is a wasted asset wholly unsuitable for operation throughout the entire cultivation,” one document stated.Dr. Singh also entered into management agreements with Global Casetech and Global Cane Sugar services out of India for the management services on a number of estates at unreasonably high cost, and without approval of the Board of Directors.Research into the financial accounts of GuySuCo, found that Dr. Singh had “deliberately misled” Agriculture Minister,cheap jerseys, Noel Holder, on the true financial state of the company prior to the passing of the 2015 budget.He had said that GuySuCo only had sufficient cash flow to sustain it until the end of May and subsequently informed the unions that due to inadequate funds, the corporation was on the brink of closure by the end of May 2015 when it would be unable to pay employees.In a bid to defy the odds and criticisms from various quarters that GuySuCo was ailing, poorly mismanaged and could not reach its production targets, Dr. Singh did the unthinkable.He instructed operational management to bring forward unprecedentedly high acreages of cane to achieve the revised production targets in 2014 and first crop for 2015 ast year,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, 5,272.5 hectares of cane averaging 48.3 tonnes of Cane per Hectare (TCH) were brought forward.The former CEO through his Attorney-at-law, Ashton Chase, S.C is hoping to settle the matter with GuySuCo. If this route is not successful, they will move to the courts.Dr. Singh is suing for wrongful dismissal. He said that his contract which came into effect in May 2013, allows him to be employed for a period of five years.In a letter addressed to GuySuCo, the lawyer outlines that Dr. Singh’s contract had about three more years to run and that he should be paid six months’ remuneration in lieu of notice would not be unreasonable.Chase said, too, that his client’s “complementary benefits” should not be overlooked. These include coverage for telephone, electricity and water services and the provision of a vehicle and a driver.In addition, Chase said that Singh is due six weeks’ leave, leave passage entitlement of $1,168,081 and a gratuity every six months. They are hoping to reach an agreement on his basic net salary which was US$12,530 per month and $70,000 for other allowances. |
