PORT-OF-SPAIN,
Trinidad (Express) -- THE wife of Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo
on
Saturday complained about discrepancies in bills submitted by a local
private medical institution and a specialist medical doctor to a charity
she chairs.
Varshnie
Uma Jagdeo made the claims during a media briefing at the law offices of
Port of Spain Attorney Odai Ramischand, and referred to several documents,
which now form part of a civil lawsuit.
She said
that while a lawsuit filed by the institution was settled after the Guyana
Government tried to protect the country from embarrassment, she was
willing to defend a second one filed by a doctor who was claiming
thousands of dollars for his services.
She
claimed the services cited by the doctor were already paid for in the
first lawsuit.
Ms.
Jagdeo, the founder and patron of the charity organization, Kids First
Fund, which was set up in Guyana to assist needy children afflicted with
medical ailments, said it was very difficult to raise funds and it was
worse to have to use those funds to pay bills not incurred by the
organization.
Attorney
Ramischand said he intended to hand over a copy of the file to the Fraud
Squad early this week and request a criminal investigation into the
alleged discrepancies and duplication of charges for the services rendered
in 2001.
Ms. Jagdeo said
it was not necessary for the Trinidad and Tobago Government to get
involved in the dispute since it involved a private arrangement with a
medical institution. She said she hoped, however, that at the end of the
day an inquiry would be launched into the operations of private medical
institutions.
Ms.
Jagdeo said she has made complaints to both the Medical Board of Trinidad
and Tobago and the Medical Association.
Mr.
Ramischand said in January 2001 Ms. Jagdeo had made last-minute
arrangements with the medical institution to treat six children after
previous arrangements with the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt
Hope, fell through.
The
lawyer said the charity organization entered into a contract with the
medical organization to treat the six children, but queried the bills
after some time and ceased payments.
Mr.
Ramischand said numerous attempts to get documents from the medical
institution to support the outstanding payments have proven
futile.
After a
payment of $238,000 to the medical institution, Mr. Ramischand said, he
thought that was the end of the matter.
However,
a doctor who had attended to the children filed another lawsuit, claiming
an almost similar sum, and they decided to defend the action.
Father of two
commits suicide
POLICE on the
Essequibo Coast are pursuing investigations into the reason or reasons why
a man in his early 40s ended his life by suicide in the Cinderella
County.
According to reports reaching the Chronicle, the deceased,
41-year-old Toolsiram Anandram of Cullen Old Road, was found by
relatives hanging from a tree last Wednesday afternoon at Perseverance
backdam.
Reports
said Toolsiram was an ex-policeman who returned almost two weeks ago from
neighbouring Venezuela.
It was
not clear what might have caused Toolsiram to hang himself - but that's
what police in the county are trying to determine.
The
deceased leaves to mourn his wife, two small children and other
relatives. (Rajendra Prabhulall).
