Hanoman resigns as MP
President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday announced that government back-bencher, Dr Hughley Hanoman, had tendered his resignation as a member of the National Assembly. He told a press conference at the Office of the President that Dr Hanoman, a member of his party's Civic component, was resigning to avoid any embarrassment to the PPP. In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal ruled that Dr Hanoman, who trades under the name of Hanson Import/Export, had participated in a scheme with a British company, Portmann Hill AD, to defraud the government of import duties. The President explained that he had spoken with Dr Hanoman on Thursday who had told him that he had already tendered his resignation as a member of the National Assembly. He said too that Dr Hanoman had informed him that he was to make a statement on the issue shortly. He noted too that in all the reports he had seen, no mention had been made of the fact that Dr Hanoman had committed the act in 1983, at a time when the PPP was still trying to get into government. He said that it was indicative of the permissiveness of the opposition when it was in government. The President did not say, although asked, if Dr Hanoman had been asked to resign from the boards to which he had been appointed by the government, or whether he would be prosecuted. Dr Hanoman is a member of the Council of the University of Guyana. At a press conference on Thursday, PNC leader, Desmond Hoyte, had called for Dr Hanoman to be prosecuted by the Commissioner General of the Revenue Authority, who has responsibility for the Customs and Excise Department. Before this incident came to light, a committee set up by the PPP and headed by Janet Jagan had cleared Dr Hanoman of any wrongdoing in what was described in media reports as the "milk scam" case. The investigation resulted from the Social Impact Amelioration Programme terminating a contract with Hanson Import/Export for the supply of milk for distribution to babies and nursing mothers. Its action was prompted by a report from the Government Analyst Department which had found that instead of full cream milk, which was specified, Hanson had supplied soy milk which was shipped in bulk here and repackaged in bags which Hanson had requested from the manufacturers. As a result of media coverage of the issue, a number of court cases were launched by Dr Hanoman against the Government Analyst and communications consultant, Kit Nascimento.
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