Moonilal condemns Express report on Berryhill’s housing

The Minister of Housing has condemned an Express Newspaper report which stated that Government is secretly housing computer forensic investigator Jon Berryhill at its Federation Park Villas.

Mr. Berryhill, a US engineering computer scientist with extensive experience in computer crime investigation, was hired by the Prime Minister’s attorney in the email probe, Senior Counsel Israel Khan.

In a statement in the Lower House on Friday, Dr. Roodal Moonilal put on Hansard that the front page headline story is untrue.

He believes it is designed to tarnish the reputation of the international expert. The Minister lamented that the HDC was not contacted on the allegation.

“Such statements are deemed malicious, mischievous and designed to taint public perception of ongoing current investigations into a matter of national concern. The Ministry of Housing deems as unfortunate that clarification of such information was not first sought directly from the HDC before being prominently printed on the front page.”

But Opposition MP, Mr. Colm Imbert, supported the media’s side in this affair: “I noticed the Member for Oropouche East was a bit uptight about a report in the papers that the computer expert hired by certain members of the Government to defend themselves was allegedly staying at a house in Federation Villas owned by the Government. But you see, the media does not always get it right. But sometimes they get it right.”

The Diego Martin North East MP was, at the time, bringing his Private Motion on Public Sector Procurement.