MotP probes racial slur by President’s Chief Press Officer

President David Granger’s Chief Press Officer, Lloyda Garrett is being investigated after leaked conversations surfaced of her using what many consider as racially derogatory remarks to describe the staff at the Ministry.

Head of the Press and Publicity Unit of the Ministry of the Presidency (MotP), Mark Archer told News Room today that he is aware of the incident and will take steps to determine the validity of the leaked conversation between Garrett and her colleagues.

“Yes I am aware and we are looking into it, we are investigating it. If what is there is true, then the Ministry of the Presidency does not condone the use of that type of language. But that is as much as I can say at this time because like I said, we are investigating,” he stated during an interview on the sidelines of an event at State House.

Screenshots of the conversation, which went viral on social media yesterday, show Garrett using a racial slur to describe employees at the Ministry.

She has since deactivated her Facebook account which had the name Lloyda Alicia and reports are that she did not report to work today.

When asked, Archer said Garrett remains a staff of the Ministry.

President David Granger, when approached at the sidelines of an event at State House today, declined to comment on the matter.

In fact, he declined to answer questions from the media, noting that his brother’s funeral was this morning.

News Room was reliably informed that the press officer also shared a confidential email of the President with her friends.

Garrett’s supervisor however denied having any knowledge of this but he said the entire incident will be investigated.

The screenshots were first posted on the Facebook page of Member of Parliament (MP) Nigel Dharamlall, who has also already been reprimanded and faced public condemnation for racially charged statements on his social media page.

Government’s cultural advisor to the Minister of Education, Ruel Johnson in a Facebook post, expressed that the incident is “particularly tragic considering the wealth of skills and otherwise integrity that she brings to her post.”

He further noted that if Nicholas-Garrett should be out of a job then there should be no place for Dharamlall in Parliament.