Holder denies allegations of assault at his Ministry

Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder has denied allegations of assault against a woman at his Ministry. The bizarre allegations were made in a letter to the editor by a person in the name of Arnold Sanasie.

The letter alleges that a Minister, whose substantive office is in Kingston, Georgetown, assaulted a woman at the Agriculture Ministry on December 18. The letter states that the woman is the wife of a staffer at the Ministry, who was there at the time to conduct business. The letter was issued to the media this afternoon and immediately after, Minister Holder called an emergency press conference where he denied all allegations even though he is not the minister who is being accused.

“As far as the incident that was reported in the papers, I cannot see it involving this ministry. I have no reports either from the administration of the ministry or the security that incident of this nature occurred within this compound,” Minister Holder stated.

Mr Holder also denied that others minister visited his office on the day in question.

The Ministry even showed some footage to the media of the series of events which unfolded on the day in question. The media was unable to review all of the footage but the Ministry has undertaken to make copies available to the press.

As such, when asked why he felt the need to respond to these allegations, Holder said he wants to protect his reputation.

“I celebrated my birthday on Monday, I am 72-years-old. Things of this nature can sully a person’s reputation; I’ve had a good reputation all my life for 72 years and I certainly don’t want it tarnished now,” the Agriculture Minister explained.

Mr Holder also noted that matters of this nature have the potential to go viral and therefore he thought it best to nip the issue in the bud.

Head of the Department of Public Information (DPI) Imran Khan said he has made contact with a person named Arnold Sanasie who has denied penning the letter.