The leading US based Freedom Newspaper,  has been threatened with court action by the Management of Gam Petroleum  for what the firm calls "Your articles are intent on tarnishing the good name of our group which has carried out, in the past few years, very important infrastructural projects which impacted very positively on the country and its people." The Gam Petroleum Manager in a protest letter sent to the Editors of the Freedom Newspaper said" We are writing in relation to the two articles posted by your newsletter on the 15th and 25th of October concerning Gam Petroleum. We would like to point out that the contents of your articles are completely and utterly false and unfounded and would like to take this opportunity to outline the hard facts that confirm the false contents of the said articles.  Furthermore, we will take legal action against your organisation in the event that you do not take immediate action to withdraw these false statements and publish the facts.  Your articles are intent on tarnishing the good name of our group which has carried out, in the past few years, very important infrastructural projects which impacted very positively on the country and its people." The Management of the Freedom Newspaper in a counter reaction maintained that the said pieces were reported in good faith without malice. The paper's Editors say they look forward to seeing the aggrieved parties in court as the courts were  there for everyone. Below is the full text of the Gam Petroleum letter. Please read on...
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From:    Gam Petroleum – The Gambia

 

To:        Freedom Newspaper

 

We are writing in relation to the two articles posted by your newsletter on the 15^th and 25^th of October concerning Gam Petroleum.

 

We would like to point out that the contents of your articles are completely and utterly false and unfounded and would like to take this opportunity to outline the hard facts that confirm the false contents of the said articles.  Furthermore, we will take legal action against your organisation in the event that you do not take immediate action to withdraw these false statements and publish the facts.  Your articles are intent on tarnishing the good name of our group which has carried out, in the past few years, very important infrastructural projects which impacted very positively on the country and its people.

 

1) Mr. Mohamed Bazzy is not the Chief Executive Officer of Spectrum and is not affiliated to Spectrum in any way.  In fact Mr. Mohamed Bazzy is a shareholder in the telecommunications company, Comium, which is a competitor Gamcel, the national operator in The Gambia, in which Spectrum is a major shareholder.

 

2) Mr. Mohamed Bazzy is the major shareholder and managing director of a group of companies in The Gambia, namely Gam Petroleum, GEG, the new power plant in Brikama which brought 24 hour electricity to country, in addition to Gam Veg, an edible Oil refinery and Royal Residence, a prime real estate developer.  The head office of the group is located in Europe.

 

3) Mr. Amadou Samba is a partner in Gam Petroleum, Gam Veg and Royal Residence and has always had an excellent relationship with Mr. Bazzy.  All talk of any "rifts" or "firing" is complete nonsense and the relationship is as strong as ever.

 

4) The Storage Terminal of Gam Petroleum has not yet been commissioned and is not in operation.  Therefore, the statement "Gas gifts to The Gambia, by Iran are trafficked through the said site" is completely and utterly untrue and unfounded. In fact, all fuel purchases from day 1, stored at Shell depot in Banjul, have been exclusively imported from Total International Limited, Paris, and there was never any supply from Iran or any other source other than Total International at any time. The project was financed, in its majority, by Total International Limited, and partly by International Banks in Europe in addition to local banks in The Gambia.

 

5) Mr. Mohamed Bazzy has never been involved in the diamond business, directly or indirectly, and was invited to Sierra Leone on numerous occasions by the Government to help solve the electricity problem in the country as he has done in The Gambia.  In fact, Mr. Bazzi visited Sierra Leone recently and met with the new President and initiated talks to set up a power plant in the country. Consequently, Mr. Bazzy's group was just awarded an international tender to supply a power station to Sierra Leone.

 

6) None of the personnel working for Mr. Bazzy in the Gambia is directly or indirectly associated with Hezbollah or any other political group. The workforce of Mr. Bazzy's Group in The Gambia comes from different origins and religious orientations with the management of the Power Plant in Brikama being exclusively European expatriates from Germany, Belgium and France.

 

7) Mr. Bazzy does not have any personal security by the paramilitary or any other security force.  Like most other businessmen in the country, he has security guards for his residence and offices.  He moves around in Banjul with his driver only.  Furthermore, Mr. Bazzy and all the employees of his group are law abiding residents.  He has never officially or unofficially claimed that his life was threatened at any time.

 

8)Mr. Bazzy and his group have always compensated all employees in the group for their work.  In fact all salaries are paid on time and are generally higher than the average going rate in the country.  Furthermore, all employees who have proved themselves have been paid bonuses on top of their basic salary.

 

9)The main contractor of the Gam Petroleum project, Capital Gas, has been on the project from day1 and there has never been any firing or replacement of contractors at any time. In fact, the project is due to be successfully completed and commissioned in the next couple of months.

 

 

All the above-mentioned facts are backed by hard evidence which can be easily cross checked.  Consequently, and after cross checking the facts, unless you publish a clear statement withdrawing all the false allegations published in the said articles, we will take legal action through our international law firm for tarnishing the good name of Mr. Bazzy and his group of companies.

 

Our Contact Details are as follows:

 

Email:   manhal@eagl.gm           

 

Telephone No.:     00 220 660 660 1    or   00 220 776 76 11

 

 

  Manhal  Oueidat