His firm warning came as he instructed that a senior officer of the Ministry of Housing and Water be immediately dismissed and investigated by the Police over allegations of bribery, corruption and sexual harassment.

Officials said the officer involved is Mr. Narine Siewdyal, the Chief Enforcement and Investigations Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority within the Ministry of Housing and Water.

"I have been hearing a lot about this man Siewdyal. I am fed up with hearing his name (and) about the corruption he is involved in. I am tired of hearing his name mentioned but I had one case and which I believed, on Friday last, when a young lady came to see me," President Jagdeo told the staff of the Ministry of Housing when he met them at the ministry's temporary location in Brickdam, Georgetown.

According to him, a young woman went to the Office of the President last Friday to see him and to expose Siewdyal and his alleged corrupt practice and to highlight her plight to get a house lot.

The 19-year-old single mother, Raywattie Gurcharran, claimed that Siewdyal took $30,000 from her in return for a house lot at 56 Phase Two, Goed Hope, East Coast Demerara. He also allegedly made sexual advances to her.

"She came and spoke to me and I believed her because she had supporting evidence," the Head of State said yesterday.

He pointed out that shortly after speaking to the young woman, he called Ms. Philomena Sahoye-Shury of the Housing Ministry asking her "to confirm a few things" which Sahoye-Shury did and which served to confirm that the young lady was telling the truth.

"And what he (Siewdyal) was doing is he took money from the person and he demanded sexual favours of her and then he even threatened to shoot her when she said she was going to expose him. Now she may be squatting but she has done it, I'm sure, with his concurrence because from what she told me he reallocated a plot (of land) to her, something that someone else didn't take up," the President related.

Mr. Jagdeo said too that Siewdyal even wrote on a piece of paper he gave to the young lady indicating who would be her neighbour.

"...and then he took the money and he tried to take her to some place close to the Embassy Club and she refused to go there with him. And then all her problems started," President Jagdeo told the staff members.

Describing this as "disgusting", President Jagdeo declared that he has no intention of having anyone like that in any place within the Government apparatus.

He, however, reiterated to the staff that many of them might be doing a decent job and in this regard he did not want to malign them.

He said, "if there are people like that around here I want them to get a clear message that they are not going to be staying in the Ministry of Housing and Water, whatever the outcome."

"How you deal with people too is very important and then to compound it we have people like these who take money from them - bribes - and then they want to harass them and if they don't give in then they face a ton of problems."

"I don't want that to happen. I will be watching closely and I hope that it doesn't happen again and if there are any persons like that in here then you better leave," he told the meeting.

"In fact I am going to ask the Police to look into this matter so we're not just sending home this gentleman but we want the Police to go after him and if there is anyone like that then they will suffer the same fate," he added.

The President thanked all of those who have been working hard in the ministry.

Mr. Jagdeo also noted that the housing sector, one of the strong points of the PPP/Civic Government, remains a priority of his.

"You will continue to get the full support, not just at the policy level but from the Treasury to ensure that all of our people are adequately housed. It is very important (since) housing is not just a physical structure; it brings with it dignity and self respect and it even changes people's outlook on life," President Jagdeo told the staff.

According to him, this is why he put so much attention and emphasis on the housing sector.

"We still have a very far way to go in addressing all the concerns of our people but there is one thing that concerns me tremendously, and I know that Minister (Shaik) Baksh has been dealing with this issue for some time...but I thought that at my level I would make sure that you understand this clearly - that while I am very anxious to have the housing programme go on and I am going to give it my full support, there are some things that I expect and one of the things is that the process must be carried out with the greatest integrity."

"I am just tired of hearing all of these stories. I have heard from time to time about the good things that people are doing and I don't want to, at this point in time, taint anyone with a broad brush but I have heard atrocious stories about some people within this ministry, terrible stories.

"And I don't want my Government to be tainted by anything that goes on, anywhere."

Housing Minister, Mr. Shaik Baksh, who was at yesterday's meeting recalled that at the Cabinet retreat held in January this year, he and Ms. Sahoye-Shury stressed the question of integrity and service to the public.

"We set up systems, we have a hotline in here and a suggestion box all aimed at enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the ministry and as the President has said this is a high profile ministry but we expect the very best of you," he told his staff.

He also echoed the call of President Jagdeo in urging those among his staff who cannot live up to expectations to leave. He noted that over the last year alone, eight persons had to be removed - either dismissed or having their services terminated.