The father and mother of third-year agronomy student Rajkumar Tularam who died in a motorcycle accident in Cuba on February 23 this year say that recent media reports conveyed an untrue picture of what really transpired, and they are calling for an investigation into the matter.
The father Tularam and Bissoondai, the mother, were responding to reports in the media, particularly a Government Information Agency (GINA) May 12 report titled "PSM sets record straight on student's death".
The parents told Stabroek News last Friday that when they heard of their son's death they contacted Minister of the Public Service Ministry, Jennifer Westford who informed them that Rajkumar and some other students had gone to a university celebration in Cuba just before the accident occurred.
GINA had reported that "twenty-three-year-old Tularam was killed on February 23, while riding a rented motorcycle. He was under the influence of alcohol."
However, Rajkumar's parents pointed out that their son was not a frequent drinker although he would take a drink on special occasions.
The parents also emphasized that Tularam had an excellent character and was in good academic standing. They displayed letters of recommendation from lecturers who attested to Rajkumar's excellent character, friendliness, and readiness to assist anyone in need. The parents also showed a letter from Elsie A. Benfield, Manager, Scholarships Administration, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, dated August 21, 2002, congratulating Rajkumar on his performance for the 2001/2002 academic year.
The information agency had quoted Permanent Secretary Nanda Gopaul as saying that the Ministry was extremely disappointed with the statements made by the parents and relatives of Tularam who appeared on a programme on Channel Six which was hosted by C.N.Sharma. Claims of the government's lack of concern in returning the body to Guyana and the uncertainty of the identity of the body were made on the programme.
"We were terribly disappointed with the Channel that broadcast the programme without investigating the facts," Gopaul is reported as saying.
Regarding the student's death, the parents said that they received the news on February 25 and immediately went to Georgetown where they met Minister Westford who asked them to go to Cuba but they could not do so owing to many reasons. They said the Minister promised them that their son's body would have been flown to Guyana. According to the parents, up to March 3 the body had not arrived and the Minister then said the body would be flown here on March 10.
The parents related further that on March 8, Rajkumar's guarantor known as Ravi informed them that the body could no longer be flown to Guyana owing to its state of decomposition. He told the parents they should be prepared almost immediately to go to Venezuela to witness the cremation or the body would be disposed of in their absence.
On March 10 the parents left for Venezuela but had to overnight in Trinidad, depending on a family friend to take care of them. They said that on March 11 they were flown to Venezuela but they saw only the casket. According to them they beseeched the handlers to let them see the body but their request was refused. They dismissed the possibility of a foul odour being the reason since in their view the handlers never acted as if they were uncomfortable.
The parents are saying that officials from the Guyana Embassy in Venezuela should have made representation to satisfy their request to see their son's body. They're also saying that the way the whole exercise was hurriedly done left them believing that nothing was in the casket.
Some two months after returning from Venezuela, the parents said they returned to the Cuban Embassy in Georgetown and were told by an official that as far as he knew, the body had been dressed and sent to Guyana a few days after the accident so he was surprised to learn it never reached here.
Following this, Tularam and Bissoondai said they made efforts to meet with President Bharrat Jagdeo, Foreign Affairs Minister Rudy Insanally, Minister Westford and Permanent Secretary Gopaul, but they were never successful in meeting any of them.
Minister Westford had said that about US$9,500 was spent in an effort to return the body to Guyana, GINA reported. Westford had noted that owing to the difficulty in getting the body to Guyana, the parents were offered the option of going to Cuba to cremate the body, but they had declined, giving the explanation that Tularam had his relatives in Guyana.
Westford further pointed out, GINA said, that Tularam's body was flown from Cuba to Venezuela, then to Trinidad, and a hitch developed there. The Trinidad immigration refused to allow the body off the aircraft, saying that the document was in Spanish and no one could interpret it. And although the British High Commission in Cuba had stamped the document, the Trinidad officials refused entry of Tularam's body.
After being refused entry, the body was then returned to Cuba where arrangements were made to send it to Guyana. But the body was in Venezuela when officials detected a foul smell and they arrived at a decision to bury the body, GINA said.
The agency also quoted Gopaul as stating that the aircraft was grounded for four days and had to be fumigated.
The PSM Minister observed that with the assistance of the Embassy in Venezuela, plans were made to fly Tularam's parents to see the cremation. Westford also pointed out that monies needed by officials to visit the students in Cuba after reports about misconduct, were used to cover the airfares and allowances of the parents and interpreter Majeed Hussain for their stay in Venezuela.
Meanwhile, another GINA story titled "PSM will scrutinize applicants for scholarships", said "in the light of the recent death of Rajkumar Tularam who died because he was under the influence of alcohol," the Public Service Ministry (PSM) will be scrutinizing applicants for scholarships in an effort to ensure the highest conduct is upheld.