Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Chief Executive Officer Paul Cheong has filed a libel claim against Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, seeking damages of more than $10 million over a Facebook post and video published on August 11.
According to the Statement of Claim filed in the High Court on August 17, Mohamed published the post and video on the “Team Mohamed’s” Facebook page. Cheong is also seeking an injunction preventing Mohamed from republishing the alleged defamatory statements and an order requiring their removal from the page.
The claim concerns statements made by Mohamed about the proposed Versailles-to-Parika four-lane highway. According to the court document, the Facebook post carried a caption stating that $121 billion was being spent on 23 km of road and described the expenditure as “corruption” and “blatant skullduggery”.
In the accompanying video, Mohamed alleged that the highway had been divided into 17 lots and claimed that the contracts were intended for friends and family of President Irfaan Ali. He also compared the reported cost with that of the Eccles-to-Great Diamond highway.
Mohamed further referred to several companies and individuals in connection with bids for the highway project. Among them, he said L’Heureuse Construction Services, which he described as being owned by Cheong, had submitted a bid of more than $6.8 billion. He also referred to Cheong’s position as GuySuCo chief executive and questioned his involvement in government construction work.
Cheong’s claim states that Mohamed’s statements were understood to mean, among other things, that Cheong owned L’Heureuse Construction Services, was involved in and financially benefiting from a corrupt government contract award system, was corrupt and had a conflict of interest as GuySuCo chief executive.
Cheong denies those claims, stating that he is not the owner of L’Heureuse Construction Services or L’Heureuse Construction Services Inc. and that he has neither made a bid for nor been awarded a government road contract. He describes the publications as false, untrue and defamatory.
The claim says the publication had received more than 7,800 likes and 1,300 comments by August 14 and continued to be viewed, shared and commented on. Cheong alleges that it damaged his reputation and caused him embarrassment and distress.
Cheong is seeking damages exceeding $10 million, an injunction, removal of the publications, costs and any further orders the court considers appropriate. The court document states that Mohamed must file a defence within 42 days after being served.
