– says OLPF was a political gimmick that is turning into a pay to pay game where everyone is getting big moneyFormer Office of the President consultant on the One Laptop Per Family, Jud Lohmeyer said he is surprised by the response of OP to his request for his emoluments following his resignation from the position.Lohmeyer, in an exclusive interview with Mark Benschop on his Guyanaobservernews.org internet radio, said that he was under no obligation to not disclose aspects of the programme.The Guyana government has accused Lohmeyer of attempting to blackmail them,Wholesale Football Jerseys, by threatening to disclose information regarding President Bharat Jagdeo’s One Laptop Per Family programme,NFL Jerseys Authentic China, unless he receives his severance pay.Lohmeyer, a former Peace Corps Volunteer,Cheap Jerseys Supply, who was attached to the Ministry of Education, served as Senior Project Manager in the Office of the President for the OLPF Project for a year, starting in November 2009. He was hired to manage the distribution of 90,000 laptops to Guyanese families to foster Information and Communications Technology skills development in Guyana.The Office of the President said that he was hired based on his US Peace Corps credentials and ICT experience.“This foolish attempt by this individual is unlikely to impair the administration’s commitment to the One Laptop per Family initiative,” the Office of the President stated.While a consultant at the Office of the President,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, Lohmeyer also doubled as IT and Renewable Energy Consultant with the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation.According to Lohmeyer, following his resignation late last year, he had written to his former direct supervisor at the Office of the President, Steven Grin, requesting payment in full as per the consulting agreement he signed with the Office of the President.“That agreement stipulated that I would be paid thirty days upon giving my thirty days notice…whether I resigned or was terminated by the Office of the President. That did not happen and I was paid for approximately five days after I gave notice to Dr. Luncheon on November 16 (last year),” Lohmeyer stated.The former OP Consultant said that he is under no non disclosure agreement, since he was never asked not to disclose any of his work and discussions as it related to the OLPF.“So I’m not sure why they have termed this a blackmail attempt. I’ve made available…a copy of my resignation letter , a copy of the contract with the Office of the President, a copy of the e-mail I sent to Steven Grin, a copy of the e-mail that Dr. Gopaul sent me and a copy of the e-mail that I responded to Dr. Gopaul,” Lohmeyer said.He said that all of the discussions he has had with the Office of the President were made public and it is for the Guyanese nation to decide whether or not it is blackmail on his part.Lohmeyer said that he commenced work on the OLPF in 2009 under Edward Dreyfus, who was at the time the head of the project management office.As part of his work he held discussions with stakeholders on the President’s vision to provide computers to families across Guyana.During this period he was still a Peace Corps Volunteer and when that assignment ended,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, he was officially contracted by the Guyana government as a project manager.Jud Lohmeyer“I put together a number of documents, budgets for how to proceed with the President’s vision of distributing 90,000 laptops to Guyanese,” he explained.However, there appears to be a stumbling block with regards to the plan established by Lohmeyer for the OLPF.This had to do with a change of plan by Steven Grin to have another contractor take over the management the OLPF from August this year.According to Lohmeyer, the plan was to have the contractor take over the OLPF free of cost, in exchange for the management of all the other LCDS projects in which the government hoped to draw down on US$250M from Norway.He said that the challenge that now faces the new planners of the OLPF programme is that they never met with the stakeholders and basically they are back to square one.Lohmeyer confirmed that he was paid a whopping US$100,000 per year by the government when he joined the OLPF project, a figure he considers quite a hefty sum.“I came to Guyana as a Peace Corps Volunteer for two years and lived and worked on G$40,000 a month, so I’m not unfamiliar with what it’s like to live in Guyana. I did not come from Manhattan for those types of salaries. Frankly I was shocked at the amount of money they offered me to run the project. However, I accepted the project and the position, and I did my best to further something that was a