Christopher Ram resigns from NICIL Board

Chartered Accountant and transparency advocate, Christopher Ram, has resigned from serving as a director on the Board of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL).
Ram is not divulging details regarding what prompted his resignation, but confirmed that he had resigned. The confirmation was made when Kaieteur News reached out to him yesterday afternoon.
Ram would be the second to resign from the NICIL Board since the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) took office in August.

In fact, Kaieteur News had reported on October 17 that another accountant, Nigel Hinds, had resigned from the NICIL Board with immediate effect over what he claimed to be the continued inhumane treatment being meted out to the squatters at Success, East Coast Demerara.
Kaieteur News had reported that the Guyana Sugar Corporation Incorporated (GuySuCo) decided to flood a large section of lands on the East Coast being occupied by the squatters.

While a majority had opted to vacate the lands on the premise that it was a calculated move by GuySuCo to force them to leave, a significant number of squatters still remained, insisting that the flood will not “hamper their existence.” Things had escalated after actions by law enforcement officers resulted in a number of squatters being shot and injured with rubber pellets.

These “inhumane actions” taken by GuySuCo and the onslaught on Guyanese is what Hinds had stated he wished to disassociate himself from. According to reports, in his resignation letter to NICIL Chairman, Paul Cheong, Hinds had made it explicitly clear that the lands at Success are owned by NICIL, and not GuySuCo.

Furthermore, Hinds had stated that the actions taken by the police resulting in injuries on the residents of Success “are crude, cruel and callous actions,” ones that cast a gloom over Guyana, while indicating that his continued presence on NICIL’s Board would insinuate that he throws his support behind the actions taken.

NICIL is state company that is charged with handling investments for Government.
It manages shares in companies that belong to the state.
NICIL would have come under fire for its handling of a number of large scale projects including Marriott Hotel and the Berbice River Bridge.