…says offers to resign from CCJ board of trustee
PRIVATE sector executive, Ramesh Dookhoo, has offered to resign from the Board of Trustee of the Caribbean Court of Justice after allegations surfaced of him trying to exert pressure on the court to rule in favour of the opposition. “I have brought the ‘News’ item to the attention of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees with an offer of my resignation. Congratulations to the author of the ‘News’ item you are succeeding,” Dookhoo said in a statement on Tuesday morning.
He said the Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund was set up in order that the court itself can never be compromised. “I consider it an honour and a privilege to sit as a trustee on this board. The rest of the board consist of members of various Caribbean Institutions whose integrity and distinction I do not wish to compromise at this time with this ‘News’ item.”
Dookhoo added that the representatives of the institutions that make up the Board of Trustees are highly esteemed and respected professionals across the Caribbean, it is ludicrous to even accuse one of its representatives of having some kind of influence on the CCJ judges. “The Board of Trustees is responsible for the management and administration of the Trust Fund and none of its members have or would dare attempt to exercise any kind of influence over the CCJ’s judges. Further, the judges of the CCJ are professionals of the highest integrity and professionalism all of whom possess unblemished character.”
According to social media post headlined: ‘Dookhoo, Gouveia plot to influence CCJ upcoming ruling leaked,” there is an alleged plot by Bharrat Jagdeo and Gerry Gouveia to get Ramesh Dookhoo to use his position as a trustee of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to influence the upcoming ruling on the PPP’s application for leave to appeal the decision of the Guyana Court of Appeal which expected on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. The post said that reliable sources have stated that there was a meeting at Dookhoo’s house recently attended by Gerry Gouveia, Paul James, Robert Persaud, Robin Singh, and other PPP/C members; where they discussed how they will use their connections to influence the court to make a decision in favour of the PPP/C.
One official stated that a Roraima Airways flight departed Ogle on Saturday July 4 to Trinidad and Tobago; on board was a team of PPP/C officials led by Bharrat Jagdeo and Gerry Gouveia. The source confirmed that they were heading to south Trinidad with the aim of colluding with their partners and other influential figures in Trinidad, to persuade them to use their influence with the CCJ to get a favorable ruling for the PPP on Wednesday. The PPP strategy involves Ramesh Dookhoo lending his voice as a member of the board of trustees.
Dookhoo in his statement sai,d “as I usually do as the Private Sector liaison on COVID-19 I contacted Larry London, Egbert Fields and a few others regarding a Roraima Airways flight to facilitate the return to Trinidad of two Trinidadian Nationals. I have done this many times before. I communicated on the cruise ship Guyanese after I was contacted by the cruise ship company and other such repatriations.” Dookhoo said that approval was granted by those named officials and that he was not on the flight. “In fact, I spent a quiet weekend at home in D’Aguiar’s Park where I reside. The incessant rain caused my round of Golf to be cancelled on Sunday. I have noted that my home is being observed as a few weeks ago I had a gathering of a few friends which was published on Facebook as a gathering ‘to destabilise GECOM’. All my guests left after that post and whoever is trying to inflict hurt is succeeding, congratulations! By the way the gathering was to discuss some stranded Guyanese and how we can assist them financially to return to Guyana.”
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_e-paper_7-8-2020