The deliberate destruction of two businesses belonging to the Hamid family in the space of two weeks could be the work of the destabilizers......
This topic is the subject of discussion on many of the other forums and blog sites and we decided to give our viewers to opportunity to join the debate.
The APNU+AFC is a corrupt cabal of racists. They did nothing that benefitted ordinary Guyanese, presided over the must corrupt and incompetent government Guyana has ever had and sought to rig their way back into office. Now in opposition lies and racism is their go-to mantra. Here we expose them ....
Saturday, October 31, 2009
A foreign government or agency lending money does not have the right to dictate the design.
Peeping Tom: What has happened with the Security Reform Project which was to be funded by the British Government should be a lesson for the Guyana Government who must now reassert the same rights to sovereignty over other foreign-funded projects.The fact that a foreign government or agency is lending or giving you money to undertake projects does not give that government or agency the right to dictate the design of that programme. For too long this has been happening and it is high time that a stop be put to this practice whereby sovereign governments are asked to rubber stamp projects designed by foreign consultants.Guyanese must design their own projects and must seek funding for such projects. If the funding agency feels that certain things need to be changed it should suggest this and if the sovereign government does not approve of the design changes, then the funding agency should make a decision as to whether it would wish to go ahead.For too long the government of Guyana has allowed foreign consultants to dictate the terms of institutional reform in Guyana. Often these consultants know little of local conditions, and about our institutional culture; more than often they are as qualified as locals yet they receive super salaries for writing reports, the contents of which are gleaned from their interviews and discussions with Guyanese personnel.Guyana has been awash with foreign funded projects over the past twenty years and there is one familiar characteristic. These projects give rise to a consultancy industry. So long as you have a little technical knowledge and good writing and research skills, you can rebrand yourself and secure a consultancy which pays big bucks.Most of the foreign funded projects utilise consultants from overseas and thus these foreign funded projects help to provide high paying jobs for consultants whose abilities are no better than local experts.The government should learn from this recent fallout with the British. They should now take steps to ensure that there is greater local input into the design and implementation of all foreign funded projects. They should insist that only when local skills are not available should foreign consultants be utilised and they should also review the work permit of some resident consultants who seem to hop from project to project. These persons should be asked to give way to local experts where the necessary skills are available.The government should do an audit of all foreign funded projects and report to the National Assembly on the percentage of the funds provided which go back overseas. For example, apart from the payment of foreign consultants, some projects insist that procurement must be done from the country supplying the funding.There should be a buy local and buy West Indian clause for every project that is externally funded. This clause should stipulate that where the goods in question can be coursed in Guyana or within the Caribbean then it should be so sourced. This would help local and regional industries rather than having the bulk of the funding go overseas.The government should not be afraid that by standing up to these foreign governments and agencies that Guyana would be deprived of resources.There should be no fear of this because the reality is that the foreign agencies themselves are always keen to lend money to governments because if they do not lend they cannot justify their existence and the many in house consultants and staff that they have. So it is in the interest of these foreign agencies to lend money.If the British feel that they were not being given satisfactory say in the design of the Security Reform Project that is their business. Since it is their money which was involved, they may have felt that they needed a greater say in having a management team in place.If the government of Guyana insisted that when it comes to security matters there is an overriding obligation on the host nation to exercise greater control of the reform process, then this position is consistent with the responsibilities of national sovereignty.Forty-three years ago, Guyana became an independent nation. No one has any right to impose on our conditions which we are not comfortable with. The British can keep their money; we will keep our self respect, however undervalued this is in today’s world.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Corbin refuses to hand over his lifetime's work to the police!
Investigators from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) visited the Office of Opposition Leader Robert Corbin twice in the past week seeking information on persons allegedly killed by drug trafficker Roger Khan.
PNCR MP Africo Selman yesterday said the CID officers requested a copy of the list of persons allegedly killed by Khan, as part of what is believed to be the special probe by police into murders allegedly committed by gangs controlled by Khan and now dead fugitive Rondell `Fineman’ Rawlins, among others.
She said he would provide the police with a list containing the names of four hundred and fifty citizens who were shot to death, unlawfully tortured and killed or died in suspicious circumstances between the period 1993 and 2009.
Parrot's Note: Notice how this list keeps growing and its dynamics changing with the tide? From 200 "Men" to 200 "Black Men", now to 450 "Citizens" For the past eight years this is what Corbin has done…taking down names of people were murdered.
PNCR MP Africo Selman yesterday said the CID officers requested a copy of the list of persons allegedly killed by Khan, as part of what is believed to be the special probe by police into murders allegedly committed by gangs controlled by Khan and now dead fugitive Rondell `Fineman’ Rawlins, among others.
She said he would provide the police with a list containing the names of four hundred and fifty citizens who were shot to death, unlawfully tortured and killed or died in suspicious circumstances between the period 1993 and 2009.
Parrot's Note: Notice how this list keeps growing and its dynamics changing with the tide? From 200 "Men" to 200 "Black Men", now to 450 "Citizens" For the past eight years this is what Corbin has done…taking down names of people were murdered.
Its a FACT!
Guyana just topped the entire Caribbean in the CSEC Exams. Our students did better than any other Caribbean country. Over 30% of our students got five subjects with grades 1-3. In Barbados the comparable figure is 13%. In Jamaica it is 17%. 400 of our students passed ten subjects at one sitting. We got the best overall result – 14 grade ones. We got the prize for the best science student. We got the prize for the best business student. No other Caribbean country comes close to that.
Benschop supporters in full swing!
Notice how quickly Benschop's surrogates have already began casting doubts on the search operation which unearthed an illegal transmitting device at Benschop's home. They have gone on full swing. Twitter, Prime News, Guyana Observer News, Stabroek News, Facebook et al.
Also during the police operation yesterday, bus loads of people from Albouystown, Tiger Bay, West Ruimveldt and Sophia were transported to the scene in an effort to undermine the search operation.
Also during the police operation yesterday, bus loads of people from Albouystown, Tiger Bay, West Ruimveldt and Sophia were transported to the scene in an effort to undermine the search operation.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Scenes from the Benschop Saga Today
Benschop's Lawyer Nigel Huges and an entourage of anti-government media operatives surround head of the NFMU Valmiki Singh in an effort to delay the search operation
Police break open Benschop's door after his refusal to allow them inside
Benschop sought to block the path, and even assaulted law enforcement officers carrying out their court directed duty.
Benschop's home. How lavish for a man who just got out of prison. Notice his SUV parked on the bridge. Persons speculated as to how he came about such a vast amount of wealth.
Benschop in trouble again! This time he's caught with illegal transmitting device!
Police ranks accompanied by the head of the NFMU and a search warrant this evening conducted a such on the home of treason accused Mark Benschop before he was arrested after they found what is said to be an illegal transmitting device. The raid stemmed from reports aired on the internet, including blog sites associated with Benschop, that he was broadcasting on an illegal frequency.
Guyana’s press is freer than some G8 countries
A few days ago, the prestigious international organisation, Reporters Without Borders, published their annual report which ranks countries for their adherence to press freedom, or lack thereof.
Guyana is ranked 39 out of 175 countries surveyed, moving up from the 88th position last year. This represents an upward jump of 49 places. What is interesting is that, by being ranked at position 39 this year, Guyana’s press is freer than that of two notable countries - France and Italy.
These two countries are members of the elite league of rich nations - the G8. The other members are Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Russia.
The fact that the report rated Guyana so high, speak volumes for this country’s adherence to the principles of press freedom. The fact that the donor countries, including those in the G8, continue to provide assistance to Guyana, speak volumes for its adherence to democracy and democratic principles.
Freddie needs urgent treatment.
Ralph Ramkarran: KLEPTOMANIA is compulsive stealing. Where a person steals persistently over a period of time when there is no apparent reason to do so, then the person can be deemed a kleptomaniac.
Where, for example, an article can be lawfully rented, hired or borrowed but a person chooses instead to steal the article, even though the person has no permanent use for it, then that can be a sign of kleptomania.
It is a mental disorder. Where the stealing starts from a young age and persists into adulthood, particularly in relation to a specific type of article, and then the person justifies it, one can be certain that one is dealing with a confirmed, determined and unrepentant kleptomaniac.
Whenever that person is around, then steps should be taken to protect goods with which the kleptomaniac has an affinity.
Such a person is in need of professional help because even if exposed, the person will not stop.
Still haunted by British legacy of imperialism and racism
MANY Guyanese were greeted late on Tuesday or early Wednesday morning with the news that the British Government has cancelled a 4.9 million pounds security sector reform project for Guyana.
What should we learn from this? The British has not abandoned its colonialist mindset, its demeaning portrayal of being the superior white race and the coloured being of an inferior race. This was so grotesquely manifested by the revelations emanating from the Office of the President that the decision by the UK Government is believed to be linked to this government’s refusal to allow the British Special forces to use live firing in an Amerindian community. Do they not have any regard for human life? Or are the Amerindians lesser human beings than the “white masters?”
Another point to be noted is that, such projects involve the hiring of foreign contractors who are chosen by the funding entity and more that 98% of the time those contractors are closely affiliated to the funding body. The fees for these contractors alone account for almost ¾ the cost for the entire project, thereby leaving the project incomplete and then the blame is cast upon the beneficiary country.
Importantly the British from time immemorial have sought to impose itself on other nations in the form of tied aid and this security reform project should be examined within this very context; they give with one hand but end up taking more with the other hand. Yes, the British are giving us money for this project but they want to dictate who must implement it, how it must be executed when and where and at the end of the day the government is left like a puppet.
This government first and foremost has to look after the interest of this country. If our sovereignty is being eroded or compromised whereby their role in the implementation of this project is subdued to the detriment of the country, then they have all right to protect the very sovereignty that we have fought for from these imperialists.
To understand what is being said here one just has to examine those countries in Africa where the British rule has left a brutal and nasty legacy of racism and imperialism. Guyana will not become one of its victims.
BALDEO MATHURA
What should we learn from this? The British has not abandoned its colonialist mindset, its demeaning portrayal of being the superior white race and the coloured being of an inferior race. This was so grotesquely manifested by the revelations emanating from the Office of the President that the decision by the UK Government is believed to be linked to this government’s refusal to allow the British Special forces to use live firing in an Amerindian community. Do they not have any regard for human life? Or are the Amerindians lesser human beings than the “white masters?”
Another point to be noted is that, such projects involve the hiring of foreign contractors who are chosen by the funding entity and more that 98% of the time those contractors are closely affiliated to the funding body. The fees for these contractors alone account for almost ¾ the cost for the entire project, thereby leaving the project incomplete and then the blame is cast upon the beneficiary country.
Importantly the British from time immemorial have sought to impose itself on other nations in the form of tied aid and this security reform project should be examined within this very context; they give with one hand but end up taking more with the other hand. Yes, the British are giving us money for this project but they want to dictate who must implement it, how it must be executed when and where and at the end of the day the government is left like a puppet.
This government first and foremost has to look after the interest of this country. If our sovereignty is being eroded or compromised whereby their role in the implementation of this project is subdued to the detriment of the country, then they have all right to protect the very sovereignty that we have fought for from these imperialists.
To understand what is being said here one just has to examine those countries in Africa where the British rule has left a brutal and nasty legacy of racism and imperialism. Guyana will not become one of its victims.
BALDEO MATHURA
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
British withdrawal from SSRP prompted by…
Guyana’s refusal of British request for ‘live firing’ at Amerindian border community
- Dr. Luncheon assures SSRP will be implemented at Gov’t expense
- Dr. Luncheon assures SSRP will be implemented at Gov’t expense
NEGOTIATIONS with the United Kingdom (UK) Government for a 4.9M pounds sterling security sector reform project have been abandoned by that Government.
The Press and Publicity Unit at the Office of the President late last night issued a brief statement on the situation, saying it has noted a report about the UK government’s withdrawal from the Guyana Security Sector Reform Project.
“This decision by the UK Government is believed to be linked to the administration’s refusal to permit training of British Special Forces in Guyana using live firing in an Amerindian community on the western border with Brazil and Venezuela,” the OP statement said.
And Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon, in an earlier statement last evening issued via the Government Information Agency (GINA), said the decision is regrettable and noted the project itself had attracted media attention in the past.
Dr. Luncheon pointed out that from the trend of the negotiations, it was expected that there would have been approval and implementation.
He recalled that as late as December 2008, the two parties, the Government of Guyana and the Government of the UK, had agreed in Georgetown on a design that was submitted to the principals in the UK for their blessings.
In April 2009, Luncheon said “Guyanese were advised about the re-design that was unilaterally carried out by the UK when they submitted their response to our joint December 2008 submission”.
He said this design “violated the sovereignty of Guyana” and “it was drawn to the attention of the British High Commission here in Guyana and after efforts it was agreed that the government would submit its revised version of the British design”.
President Bharrat Jagdeo was involved in the revision of the document after which it was presented to the British High Commission in detail which outlined Guyana’s version of the model to be used to design and ultimately implement the Security Sector Project.
“Lo and behold, the President was involved in the discussion surrounding the new design submitted by the Guyanese team when he was informed that the project itself had been halted and the UK Government had provided him with information saying that they were not interested in pursuing an agreement with the Government of Guyana,” Dr. Luncheon stated.
He further pointed out, “It is tempting to believe that this about-face from the December 2008 joint agreement to what happened in the middle of 2009 might have been associated with some decision that the Guyanese Government made with request for training by the UK Special Forces, on a Western Border location with live firing to which the Government was unprepared to support.”
The Cabinet Secretary stated it is possible that the UK Government is not aware of Guyana’s commitment and emphasis on the vision of non-violation of the sovereignty of Guyana.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Freddie Pregnant Fa Benschop!
We have just received word that Kaieteur News columnist, Freddie Kissoon is an expectant mother. It is being rumored that the father is former treason accused Mark Benschop as they have been seeing each other for some time now. They were spotted together on many occasions including outside of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and the office of the Police Commissioner. However, we have also learnt that Freddie planned to dash de baby pon another of his companions, namely Lincoln Lewis, whom he also was seeing at the same time.
Benschop has called for a paternity test as the saga continues..............
Mouth Open! Story Jump Out!
Further to this we received the following as a comment:
-
I can tell you how Glen Lall got his wealth because I was a former employee/drug mule.
1. He smuggled drugs from Brazil and ship it out to the USA.
2. He and the late Neville Sarjoo had a back track ring where they smuggled people to the USA.They had two other people in the gang, one man called Shell and Shawn Baldeo.
Henry Greene was head of the Immigration Dept at that time and he provided the blank passports.
DO YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO PUBLISH THE TRUTH? LET US SEE.
What Exactly is the Combined Opposition Hoping For?
Notwithstanding the fact that that hundreds of innocent men women and children were brutally murdered, raped and set alight, we are now once again hearing from the opposition parties that an enquiry must be held for those “innocent black men who were gunned down.”
It must first of all be made crystal clear that the opposition has used the race card (“black men”) once more to appeal to the masses who they believe will support this call. It is within this context we must comprehend that those who were neutralized were not Pastors, Pandits or Imaams. Most if not all of those “innocent black men” were criminals. Amazingly with them being neutralized crime was simultaneously dramatically reduced, and more alarmingly was the opposition’s call for an inquiry into their deaths. This could only lead one to conclude as has long been suspected that the opposition is bent on acquiring political office by any means necessary even if it means colluding with criminals to undermine the democratically elected government.
When Inspector Gadget, Ronald Waddell , Dale Moore, Shawn Brown et all were killed, no one cared how or why, in fact many were happy that they were no more a menace to society. Guyana had become a better place without them.
Now for the other side of the coin, if the opposition had called for an inquiry into the deaths of those police men who were brutally executed in the line of duty, the traffic cop at Regent and King Street comes to mind, then perhaps their current call would have been justified.
If they had requested an inquiry in to the deaths of the couple who was gunned down in Annanadale, or the father and son who shot in the backdam and the many more such examples then one would have understood that their current call falls within the context of comprehending what took place during that time.
This call for an inquiry is more so alarming since it wasn’t only “innocent black men” who were part of this notorious gang, they were Indians and Amerindians involved.
Such a call would suggest that these criminals were in fact strengthening the treasury of certain opposition parties and now that they have been neutralized, their treasury has also dried up, which leads me to ask again “What Exactly is the Combined Opposition Hoping For?”
Baldeo Mathura
It must first of all be made crystal clear that the opposition has used the race card (“black men”) once more to appeal to the masses who they believe will support this call. It is within this context we must comprehend that those who were neutralized were not Pastors, Pandits or Imaams. Most if not all of those “innocent black men” were criminals. Amazingly with them being neutralized crime was simultaneously dramatically reduced, and more alarmingly was the opposition’s call for an inquiry into their deaths. This could only lead one to conclude as has long been suspected that the opposition is bent on acquiring political office by any means necessary even if it means colluding with criminals to undermine the democratically elected government.
When Inspector Gadget, Ronald Waddell , Dale Moore, Shawn Brown et all were killed, no one cared how or why, in fact many were happy that they were no more a menace to society. Guyana had become a better place without them.
Now for the other side of the coin, if the opposition had called for an inquiry into the deaths of those police men who were brutally executed in the line of duty, the traffic cop at Regent and King Street comes to mind, then perhaps their current call would have been justified.
If they had requested an inquiry in to the deaths of the couple who was gunned down in Annanadale, or the father and son who shot in the backdam and the many more such examples then one would have understood that their current call falls within the context of comprehending what took place during that time.
This call for an inquiry is more so alarming since it wasn’t only “innocent black men” who were part of this notorious gang, they were Indians and Amerindians involved.
Such a call would suggest that these criminals were in fact strengthening the treasury of certain opposition parties and now that they have been neutralized, their treasury has also dried up, which leads me to ask again “What Exactly is the Combined Opposition Hoping For?”
Baldeo Mathura
For the Enemies of Our Nation
CAST THE STONES
- Only if you are sinless
BY PARVATI PERSAUD-EDWARDS
I love Oprah Winfrey. She is my hero. She epitomizes everything that I admire in a woman and a person and I am always uplifted and often inspired the rare times I get an opportunity to see her show.
On one of her programmes she featured an American astronaut, who escaped his penurious circumstances through his own efforts to reach the pinnacle of success – Jose Hernandez, I think his name was.
During the interview Hernandez remarked to the effect that if world leaders could look down from outer space to be privileged a panoramic view of the world as he had done, then they would have a clearer picture of the world as one human village, and maybe this would help them to make decisions to the benefit of the entire race of man, rather than skewed to the exclusive benefit of their own nation states.
New Global Human Order
Our own Dr. Cheddi Jagan had espoused this concept long ago and propagated the mechanism for this construct to be a global strategy for human development in his new Human Global Order, which has been adopted by the United Nations and is even now taking centre stage at various international fora. This vision is our Dr. Jagan’s gift to the world.
But each country is a microcosm of the wider world, with leadership portfolios in various spheres, and in a contextual way this observation by Hernandez could be applicable to leaders within nations. Thus many atrocities committed by leaders on their own peoples, causing much socio-economic dislocations and infrastructural devastation, could be avoided.
But then such leaders would need to have an inherent love for their fellow man, a commitment to the general advancement of society, and an approach to a national developmental paradigm based on integrity and honesty, instead of egomania driving self-aggrandizement.
The worst election rigging
Within the Guyana framework we have leaders and aspiring leaders, and their acolytes and satellites, including several media houses, who use every opportunity to denigrate and derail the developmental mobility of this nation, and to assassinate the characters of those involved in the developmental processes, merely to advance their own selfish causes and agendas.
We are a developing country – emerging from a history of a plethora of destructive elemental forces that devastated our nation, even to the point where even the more optimistic thought that we would never emerge from the quagmire in which we had been immersed for decades – to the point where even the more altruistic funding agencies had practically written us off as almost beyond redemption.
Until Jimmy Carter decided, in the interest of justice, and in light of the contention of Guyana’s supreme leader, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, that the PPP had been “cheated, not defeated” for decades during general elections in Guyana, that the Carter Centre should use its phenomenal power to force the Hoyte administration, which is recorded to have been responsible for the worst election rigging in the history of Guyana during general elections of 1985, to concede to having relatively “free and fair” general elections in our country after decades of PNC rule.
Dr. Jagan was vindicated and the reconfigured PPP/C undertook the gargantuan task of trying to restore some order out of the critical and chaotic national landscape then prevailing – in every area.
Debt Relief
One of the more pressing needs was to reduce the crippling debt burden - $2.1 billion, which was stymieing rehabilitation and developmental works.
Dr. Jagan and his brilliant and trusted young acolyte, junior Finance Minister, Bharat Jagdeo, went into overdrive, lobbying at every conceivable forum for a reduction and/or write-off of the albatross of Guyana’s debt. The international world responded favourably over the years and this, coupled with prudent fiscal management, has enabled Guyana to stabilise its economy, and even allowed some degree of growth, in less than two decades, to the extent where, in a recessional global environment where even the most developed nations are collapsing, Guyana has managed to maintain stability and sustain its macro-economic achievements.
Private Sector lauds President
The importance of this to the national economic health and the development of Guyana’s macro-economic fundamentals is being attested to by some big leaguers in the entrepreneurial fraternity, most of whom are not traditional PPP supporters, but whom are honest enough to publicly recognise and appreciate the Government’s policies and strategies, and its willingness to productively engage in interactive programmes that can assist the private sector’s initiatives, especially when these initiatives are adjunctive to Government’s developmental imperatives.
Kit Nascimento has been my friend for decades. He thinks I am somewhat foolish and abnormal, but he will defend my integrity (and often does) on the basis of this conviction. However, Kit and I, without disrespecting each other, have had some serious disagreements over what I considered to be his myopia over the PPP and its leaders.
I merely have time to skim newspapers and only read them properly when I am upset (which makes me dysfunctional), so it was weeks after publication in the Guyana Times that I saw Kit’s picture next to a headline “A conversation with the President”, which Kit informed me was a reproduction of a commentary he first presented on Channel 28.
That intrigued me, so I read on – in amazement, I may add, because he has made no bones about his dislike of the PPP administration in the past.
“The President’s address captured the attention, the respect and enthusiastic response it deserved from an appreciative and particularly well-integrated audience.
“He must have been pleased with the positive feedback he received from mainly the younger members of the audience.”
In my considered opinion, coming from Kit, who always unabashedly speaks his mind, this is extremely high praise.
Kit said “Judged by any standard, it was an extraordinary, if not brilliant, performance, not for its oratory, but rather for its substance and lucidity.”
Speaking at the ceremonials of the certification of the Ogle Airport as an international airport, Mike Correia said: “Today, I see a Guyana that has better economic prospects, over the next 5 – 10 years, than ever before.”
At the launch of Guyana’s premier trade fair, GuyExpo, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Capt. Gerry Gouveia, told an attentive audience that the PSC is looking forward with excitement to the future of Guyana and is working with all stakeholders.
Guyana on the Global Map
The powerbrokers of the world are lauding our President for his LCDS, and the courage and leadership qualities he is demonstrating – enough to position Guyana conspicuously on the global map, with all the initiatives he has driven – whether the LCDS, whether in agriculture, whether it is a lone stance against a draconian regime being forced on our region through an EPA propelled by the powerful EU, which would have severely dislocated our socio-economic imperatives.
Our performance indices are climbing – slowly but surely, on global graphs, and powerful world bodies are demonstrating their faith in the governance of this nation, notwithstanding the odd hiccup here and there, by the sustained, and even expanded, support over the years.
Lobbying against Guyana
Yet the doomsayers and the naysayers continue, unabated, their spiteful and jealous tirades. In their attempt to bring down the Government, they lobby internationally, and within the country, against initiatives that would help in the development of this country and its people – even to the extent of trying to derail our border talks.
In efforts to foster the fallacy that they, or the parties of their choice, would make better leaders for this nation, they are not above peddling lies and distortions in attempts to drive their point home, or to validate their arguments. But how solid is their personal integrity and credibility?
In normal Oprah lingo “Let’s take a look!”
And we will start with the Leader of the Opposition first.
Mr. Corbin was an integral component of the destructive PNC machinery, which laid waste this country to enrich a chosen few. While holding some important portfolios there were some serious allegations made against him, which included the barge fiasco and raping the young daughter of a colleague, among a multiplicity of other serious accusations.
Hijacking ballot boxes
I have always liked Raphael Trotman, mainly because his father, Justice Donald Trotman, is one of my dearest friends and an ardent proponent of peaceful conflict resolution.
However, there is no gainsaying that Raphael was also a part of the PNC hierarchy and has supported some of its deadliest policies during some of the most destructive years of that political entity.
One Prakash Persaud is making public accusations of fraud against Raphael’s legal firm and he has shown me legal documentation pertaining to the case bearing Raphael’s signature. The matter is currently engaging Persaud’s legal advisers.
In one of Raphael’s column he wrote that the GDF must return to being “people’s army”, not “people’s enemy”; but it was during the times Raphael’s party was in power that the army hijacked the people’s ballot boxes and killed the people who attempted to protect the people’s votes.
I will quote from Kaieteur News of July 31: “Leader of the Alliance for Change, Raphael Trotman, has reiterated his call for dialogue on governance, in light of the recent revelations by Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, that the fire that destroyed the Ministry of Health headquarters was politically-motivated.
According to Trotman, the issues bring into focus the whole notion of governance and management of the people of Guyana.”
Sorry, Raphael, this is a highly-opportunistic position. How is the Government responsible for the destructive mentality of opposition forces. Two suspects who admitted culpability implicated several members of the opposition and outlined a plan that was strategised to create terror in the land. Not so strangely, these suspects disappeared from a secure police facility for holding prisoners.
In the same newspaper that carried the news of that allegation was a picture of The AFC leaders with placards as they joined the PNC leader, Robert Corbin, calling for sanctions to be imposed on Minister Leslie Ramsammy, on the basis of accusations of a self-confessed murderer who had been granted immunity, with his entire family obtaining US citizenship status, yet no-one in the opposition cabal, including the rabid media reactionaries, called for investigations into the allegations of the Ministry of Health arson case.
Freddie Kissoon, writing in the Kaieteur News of 7th August, stated that PNC candidate Ronald Waddell’s indoctrination of the Buxton “freedom-fighters” consisted of instilling into the ears, hearts, and minds of the Buxton gunmen that East Indian people are racist, they used black people to get the PPP in power, and that the PPP will get rid of black people.”
In that same column he also wrote: “…He told me that a certain GDF officer (whom we all know) was in the company with Dale Moore celebrating Moore’s birthday on the line top.
“A number of media personnel know about the elements in the GDF that were assisting the escapees.
“The soldiers’ assistance was out of black solidarity.”
Yes, Raphael, the PNC’s call to sentiments of “kit and kin” (even while you were an integral part of that party) does have many mavericks from the joint services and other public institutions on their side, supporting their destabilising “slow fiah, mo’ fiah” activities, but how is the issue of governance related to the lack of integrity and patriotism?
Thank God, that for the miniscule percentage of unpatriotic forces who try to destroy the land and hurt the people of this land, there are overwhelming numbers of Guyanese citizens across all the divides who reserve their politics for elections day and work in harmonious co-existence with their fellow Guyanese in public institutions and offices, only intent on getting the job done honestly, and to the best of their ability.
Sheila Holder misrepresents (?) facts
AFC’s candidate Sheila Holder had a headline in the Kaieteur News stating “broad-based citizens’ initiative needed to tackle corruption”. Yet, is misrepresenting the facts, if not outright lying, not an aspect of a corrupt individual? Ms Holder was proven to have been, in diplomatic terminology, misrepresenting the facts over reports she made about a pollster after her return from an OAS conference, yet when found out she did not even have the grace, or even a pretence of regret, for her contentious and inflammatory but what has been proven to be baseless accusations against a public figure.
There is a terminology “causing public mischief”. Is that applicable here?
Kleptic newspaper columnist
A columnist in a local newspaper constantly harps on corruption, and relentlessly uses unverified statements and baseless arguments, criticises persons and situations, many times running counter to his own writings of the past. But how honest is this person?
There is documented proof that this columnist, as a schoolboy, stole approximately 150 volumes of encyclopedia from the National Library and was put in psychiatric care.
Reports emanating from sources in Canada said he did the same thing in that country, hiding the books under his loose apparel. Yet he has the temerity to take everyone against whom he has a grouse to task on largely unproven theories of corruption and a plethora of utter vileness.
One of his ploys is to damn with faint praise persons whom he had previously attacked ferociously if this subterfuge could lend doubtful credence to his destructive allegations against someone else. Witness the praises he heaped on David DeCaires in the 13th September edition of the Kaieteur News.
Ram wants to be President
Christopher Ram’s vitriolic essays against his professional competitors and the administration are legend in this country. The motives for the former need no explanation, and as for the latter, well, Mr. Ram thinks he is the best candidate to be president, even if in an indefinite interim capacity, of this country – a position he advanced – purporting to have purely altruistic motives, of course.
However, Mr. Ram has always sought power through the back door, whether as a member of the WPA, or advocating on his own behalf – and there is no holds barred in his destabilising tactics – which includes rabble-rousing, mainly done with intellectual precision, finely-honed and etched, which leaves his victims – mainly innocent persons or entities, suspect in the eyes of the public, because his dishonest hyperbole always has just enough facts to seem credible to the ill-informed.
Who really stole electricity?
Kaieteur News has all but dissipated its credibility, with Stabroek News following a close second, and while they may criticise the Chronicle for leaning toward the Government, the latter is a state newspaper after all, but check the contents. They are all factual. If that offends those antipathetic to the administration then so be it, but descending to gutter-press levels is not on Chronicle’s agenda, nor is exacerbating and sensationalizing human misery part of its strategy to sell newspapers.
Denigrating governmental institutions and public figures, without verifying facts – as a matter of fact, often creating a story out of myth, is their strategy for pretensions to espousing the people’s cause. Investigative journalism is challenging – but beyond the capacity of the multiple-challenged.
The latest salvo they fired was against the Guyana Revenue Authority – initially putting Kurshid Sattaur on the defensive.
However, when that gentleman investigated and the facts emerged, there was no truth to the allegations made by Kaieteur News. Did that newspaper have the grace to retract its story? I don’t think so. It is not on their agenda to tell the facts.
And one inescapable fact is that Kaieteur News is the entity that was caught stealing millions of dollars of electricity, yet the publisher was not charged, nor did his newspaper publish this fact, so much for impartiality and unprejudicial reporting.
This newspaper that is on a crusade against corruption is not above stealing millions from a public entity. And one wonders why GPL, which disconnects the average householder for merely owing that entity a few hundreds of dollars, did not take punitive action against the publishers of Kaieteur News.
When one’s own snake bites
Moses Nagamootoo once called me “sister” and expressed great concern for me when I sustained life-threatening head injuries in an accident, and he has been in the forefront of the struggle to restore democracy in this land.
He therefore knows first-hand the pervasive fear that infested every breath one took during the Burnham years, when one had to be guarded in a simple conversation with an associate because persons were afraid of informers and Burnham did not tolerate even the mildest of criticisms, so to say I was shocked at Moses’ remarks at a GPA event was to put it mildly.
The same goes for Rupert Roopnarine, who remarked elsewhere that detainees were not treated badly during the Burnham days. My God, are you two in your dotage? My house was burnt as a result of three attempts within two weeks. I was locked up, terrorized, my family was threatened, and this was not even a drop in the ocean compared to what you and other colleagues suffered – not excluding murder – open and secret. Moses, in which real world could someone repeatedly replay a threat to a President’s life without repercussions? When one’s own snake bites, the poison is deadly.
Voice of the People
When CN Sharma established his television station I was very supportive of him because of his programming. I was instrumental in diverting a lot of ads to his then Channel 12 in preference to other longer-established television and encouraged him to go live, even organising the first live telecast in Guyana on CNS Channel 12.
I liked him immensely because he had a genuinely good heart. He once rescued almost a dozen persons who were stranded in the country and took absolute care of them until they could return to their homes. If I remember correctly, he charged not one penny for religious ads or programmes in those days. I considered CN and Savitree friends and liked their sweet children very much.
However, when he told me of his intention to enter into politics I advised him against such a move, but he proved adamant so I drew away.
Over the years Sharma has helped some persons, and he has harmed some through his programmes; but someone I once considered a very nice human being has proven himself to be not so nice – certainly not sincere, nor honest.
Many times when I look at his programmes I am fooled by what he presents, only to discover subsequently that what he often projects as the truth is not necessarily the whole explanation, and the real situation mainly lies between what he has presented and the explanation of the complete scenario, but the harm he does is often incalculable.
He was seen on his television station criticising a panel comprising Gail Teixeira, Robert Persaud, and Roger Luncheon (the three straddle the divides of race and age) for their analysis of the PPP/C’s 17 years in Government, because he said that they should have focused on the negative things in the society.
These people had inherited a wasted nation and demoralised Guyanese people and, by dint of overwhelmingly hard work – and yes, mistakes have been made because they had no blueprint for governance, but they persevered against the overwhelming odds and today Guyana is being lauded both within and without for its many positive initiatives driving development and growth – not only in the nation, but also in the region, and with Dr. Jagan’s New Global Human Order and Bharat Jagdeo’s Low Carbon Development Strategy, internationally too; yet CN had a severe problem with their enumerating their many and varied achievements.
Yet he was a vibrant member of the Committee for the Re-election of President Hoyte, even while that President and that party had demolished this country and all that was good in it, even the peace and unity in the land.
He was not concerned then about the people – about the way Hoyte and his party had devastated every major industry in the country – rice, sugar, bauxite – everything. He was not championing the demoralised people then but his buddies in the PNC, and I think that this pretence of caring while pursuing his political career is abject hypocrisy on the part of CN.
The bandit pandit
Dharamkumar Seeraj and the Rice Producers Association have come under attack by a disgruntled rice miller who has robbed rice farmers of millions of dollars, but who has now assumed a new avatar as champion of the rice farmers, in collaboration with someone who ran away during the hard years to the land of plenty, only to return to covet and attempt to rob a young man and his associates of the fruits of years of unremitting toil, sacrifice, prudent management of resources, lobbying at various fora and a super-abundance of knowledge of the rice and agricultural sector.
But the real players behind them are a discredited politician from the West Coast and his bandit priest collaborator, who first erupted on the local scene in tandem with CN Sharma denigrating someone who has given a lifetime of service to society, Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud, who has been primarily responsible for making Hindus in this country stand tall after years of denigration and destabilization.
On one hand the bandit pandit says he is developing young persons to become role models in society, yet on the other hand he is joining forces with others to destroy young persons who have achieved by dint of much sacrifice and with sincerity of purpose – young Dharamkumar Seeraj and Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud.
Visionary leadership
The opposition cabal, including some media houses, continually attack the President and other Government functionaries, but if they refute the allegations levelled against them, no matter how blatantly untrue, then those very media houses and opposition elements cry foul, denying the President and others within the administration their fundamental and inalienable constitutional rights, which are guaranteed to every citizen in the land.
However, despite the downsizing of the world’s economy, the crisis has scarcely affected our nation, except for the prices being offered for some of our exports.
This is as a result of good macro-economic fundamentals, with a stable inflation rate.
The Executive Directors of the IMF noted in their report that, despite external shocks and social pressures, the Guyanese authorities have maintained macroeconomic stability in 2008 through the implementation of prudent fiscal and monetary policies.
Currently the humane President of the most powerful nation on earth is fighting for what little Guyana has long achieved – free healthcare for its citizens.
But the nitpicking continues; and in the interest of this nation this stone-throwing must stop and all must show genuine commitment to collaborative endeavour toward nation-building. It is the only way we will survive.
Gerry Gouveia has said: “We are all in this boat together. We fought for independence and we got it. It is no longer them and us. It is we, together.
“We have to learn the art of agreeing to disagree without burning down the house, the art of compromise and, particularly, the art of really working together in good faith always in the interest of Guyana.”
(Guyana Chronicle)
- Only if you are sinless
BY PARVATI PERSAUD-EDWARDS
I love Oprah Winfrey. She is my hero. She epitomizes everything that I admire in a woman and a person and I am always uplifted and often inspired the rare times I get an opportunity to see her show.
On one of her programmes she featured an American astronaut, who escaped his penurious circumstances through his own efforts to reach the pinnacle of success – Jose Hernandez, I think his name was.
During the interview Hernandez remarked to the effect that if world leaders could look down from outer space to be privileged a panoramic view of the world as he had done, then they would have a clearer picture of the world as one human village, and maybe this would help them to make decisions to the benefit of the entire race of man, rather than skewed to the exclusive benefit of their own nation states.
New Global Human Order
Our own Dr. Cheddi Jagan had espoused this concept long ago and propagated the mechanism for this construct to be a global strategy for human development in his new Human Global Order, which has been adopted by the United Nations and is even now taking centre stage at various international fora. This vision is our Dr. Jagan’s gift to the world.
But each country is a microcosm of the wider world, with leadership portfolios in various spheres, and in a contextual way this observation by Hernandez could be applicable to leaders within nations. Thus many atrocities committed by leaders on their own peoples, causing much socio-economic dislocations and infrastructural devastation, could be avoided.
But then such leaders would need to have an inherent love for their fellow man, a commitment to the general advancement of society, and an approach to a national developmental paradigm based on integrity and honesty, instead of egomania driving self-aggrandizement.
The worst election rigging
Within the Guyana framework we have leaders and aspiring leaders, and their acolytes and satellites, including several media houses, who use every opportunity to denigrate and derail the developmental mobility of this nation, and to assassinate the characters of those involved in the developmental processes, merely to advance their own selfish causes and agendas.
We are a developing country – emerging from a history of a plethora of destructive elemental forces that devastated our nation, even to the point where even the more optimistic thought that we would never emerge from the quagmire in which we had been immersed for decades – to the point where even the more altruistic funding agencies had practically written us off as almost beyond redemption.
Until Jimmy Carter decided, in the interest of justice, and in light of the contention of Guyana’s supreme leader, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, that the PPP had been “cheated, not defeated” for decades during general elections in Guyana, that the Carter Centre should use its phenomenal power to force the Hoyte administration, which is recorded to have been responsible for the worst election rigging in the history of Guyana during general elections of 1985, to concede to having relatively “free and fair” general elections in our country after decades of PNC rule.
Dr. Jagan was vindicated and the reconfigured PPP/C undertook the gargantuan task of trying to restore some order out of the critical and chaotic national landscape then prevailing – in every area.
Debt Relief
One of the more pressing needs was to reduce the crippling debt burden - $2.1 billion, which was stymieing rehabilitation and developmental works.
Dr. Jagan and his brilliant and trusted young acolyte, junior Finance Minister, Bharat Jagdeo, went into overdrive, lobbying at every conceivable forum for a reduction and/or write-off of the albatross of Guyana’s debt. The international world responded favourably over the years and this, coupled with prudent fiscal management, has enabled Guyana to stabilise its economy, and even allowed some degree of growth, in less than two decades, to the extent where, in a recessional global environment where even the most developed nations are collapsing, Guyana has managed to maintain stability and sustain its macro-economic achievements.
Private Sector lauds President
The importance of this to the national economic health and the development of Guyana’s macro-economic fundamentals is being attested to by some big leaguers in the entrepreneurial fraternity, most of whom are not traditional PPP supporters, but whom are honest enough to publicly recognise and appreciate the Government’s policies and strategies, and its willingness to productively engage in interactive programmes that can assist the private sector’s initiatives, especially when these initiatives are adjunctive to Government’s developmental imperatives.
Kit Nascimento has been my friend for decades. He thinks I am somewhat foolish and abnormal, but he will defend my integrity (and often does) on the basis of this conviction. However, Kit and I, without disrespecting each other, have had some serious disagreements over what I considered to be his myopia over the PPP and its leaders.
I merely have time to skim newspapers and only read them properly when I am upset (which makes me dysfunctional), so it was weeks after publication in the Guyana Times that I saw Kit’s picture next to a headline “A conversation with the President”, which Kit informed me was a reproduction of a commentary he first presented on Channel 28.
That intrigued me, so I read on – in amazement, I may add, because he has made no bones about his dislike of the PPP administration in the past.
“The President’s address captured the attention, the respect and enthusiastic response it deserved from an appreciative and particularly well-integrated audience.
“He must have been pleased with the positive feedback he received from mainly the younger members of the audience.”
In my considered opinion, coming from Kit, who always unabashedly speaks his mind, this is extremely high praise.
Kit said “Judged by any standard, it was an extraordinary, if not brilliant, performance, not for its oratory, but rather for its substance and lucidity.”
Speaking at the ceremonials of the certification of the Ogle Airport as an international airport, Mike Correia said: “Today, I see a Guyana that has better economic prospects, over the next 5 – 10 years, than ever before.”
At the launch of Guyana’s premier trade fair, GuyExpo, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Capt. Gerry Gouveia, told an attentive audience that the PSC is looking forward with excitement to the future of Guyana and is working with all stakeholders.
Guyana on the Global Map
The powerbrokers of the world are lauding our President for his LCDS, and the courage and leadership qualities he is demonstrating – enough to position Guyana conspicuously on the global map, with all the initiatives he has driven – whether the LCDS, whether in agriculture, whether it is a lone stance against a draconian regime being forced on our region through an EPA propelled by the powerful EU, which would have severely dislocated our socio-economic imperatives.
Our performance indices are climbing – slowly but surely, on global graphs, and powerful world bodies are demonstrating their faith in the governance of this nation, notwithstanding the odd hiccup here and there, by the sustained, and even expanded, support over the years.
Lobbying against Guyana
Yet the doomsayers and the naysayers continue, unabated, their spiteful and jealous tirades. In their attempt to bring down the Government, they lobby internationally, and within the country, against initiatives that would help in the development of this country and its people – even to the extent of trying to derail our border talks.
In efforts to foster the fallacy that they, or the parties of their choice, would make better leaders for this nation, they are not above peddling lies and distortions in attempts to drive their point home, or to validate their arguments. But how solid is their personal integrity and credibility?
In normal Oprah lingo “Let’s take a look!”
And we will start with the Leader of the Opposition first.
Mr. Corbin was an integral component of the destructive PNC machinery, which laid waste this country to enrich a chosen few. While holding some important portfolios there were some serious allegations made against him, which included the barge fiasco and raping the young daughter of a colleague, among a multiplicity of other serious accusations.
Hijacking ballot boxes
I have always liked Raphael Trotman, mainly because his father, Justice Donald Trotman, is one of my dearest friends and an ardent proponent of peaceful conflict resolution.
However, there is no gainsaying that Raphael was also a part of the PNC hierarchy and has supported some of its deadliest policies during some of the most destructive years of that political entity.
One Prakash Persaud is making public accusations of fraud against Raphael’s legal firm and he has shown me legal documentation pertaining to the case bearing Raphael’s signature. The matter is currently engaging Persaud’s legal advisers.
In one of Raphael’s column he wrote that the GDF must return to being “people’s army”, not “people’s enemy”; but it was during the times Raphael’s party was in power that the army hijacked the people’s ballot boxes and killed the people who attempted to protect the people’s votes.
I will quote from Kaieteur News of July 31: “Leader of the Alliance for Change, Raphael Trotman, has reiterated his call for dialogue on governance, in light of the recent revelations by Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, that the fire that destroyed the Ministry of Health headquarters was politically-motivated.
According to Trotman, the issues bring into focus the whole notion of governance and management of the people of Guyana.”
Sorry, Raphael, this is a highly-opportunistic position. How is the Government responsible for the destructive mentality of opposition forces. Two suspects who admitted culpability implicated several members of the opposition and outlined a plan that was strategised to create terror in the land. Not so strangely, these suspects disappeared from a secure police facility for holding prisoners.
In the same newspaper that carried the news of that allegation was a picture of The AFC leaders with placards as they joined the PNC leader, Robert Corbin, calling for sanctions to be imposed on Minister Leslie Ramsammy, on the basis of accusations of a self-confessed murderer who had been granted immunity, with his entire family obtaining US citizenship status, yet no-one in the opposition cabal, including the rabid media reactionaries, called for investigations into the allegations of the Ministry of Health arson case.
Freddie Kissoon, writing in the Kaieteur News of 7th August, stated that PNC candidate Ronald Waddell’s indoctrination of the Buxton “freedom-fighters” consisted of instilling into the ears, hearts, and minds of the Buxton gunmen that East Indian people are racist, they used black people to get the PPP in power, and that the PPP will get rid of black people.”
In that same column he also wrote: “…He told me that a certain GDF officer (whom we all know) was in the company with Dale Moore celebrating Moore’s birthday on the line top.
“A number of media personnel know about the elements in the GDF that were assisting the escapees.
“The soldiers’ assistance was out of black solidarity.”
Yes, Raphael, the PNC’s call to sentiments of “kit and kin” (even while you were an integral part of that party) does have many mavericks from the joint services and other public institutions on their side, supporting their destabilising “slow fiah, mo’ fiah” activities, but how is the issue of governance related to the lack of integrity and patriotism?
Thank God, that for the miniscule percentage of unpatriotic forces who try to destroy the land and hurt the people of this land, there are overwhelming numbers of Guyanese citizens across all the divides who reserve their politics for elections day and work in harmonious co-existence with their fellow Guyanese in public institutions and offices, only intent on getting the job done honestly, and to the best of their ability.
Sheila Holder misrepresents (?) facts
AFC’s candidate Sheila Holder had a headline in the Kaieteur News stating “broad-based citizens’ initiative needed to tackle corruption”. Yet, is misrepresenting the facts, if not outright lying, not an aspect of a corrupt individual? Ms Holder was proven to have been, in diplomatic terminology, misrepresenting the facts over reports she made about a pollster after her return from an OAS conference, yet when found out she did not even have the grace, or even a pretence of regret, for her contentious and inflammatory but what has been proven to be baseless accusations against a public figure.
There is a terminology “causing public mischief”. Is that applicable here?
Kleptic newspaper columnist
A columnist in a local newspaper constantly harps on corruption, and relentlessly uses unverified statements and baseless arguments, criticises persons and situations, many times running counter to his own writings of the past. But how honest is this person?
There is documented proof that this columnist, as a schoolboy, stole approximately 150 volumes of encyclopedia from the National Library and was put in psychiatric care.
Reports emanating from sources in Canada said he did the same thing in that country, hiding the books under his loose apparel. Yet he has the temerity to take everyone against whom he has a grouse to task on largely unproven theories of corruption and a plethora of utter vileness.
One of his ploys is to damn with faint praise persons whom he had previously attacked ferociously if this subterfuge could lend doubtful credence to his destructive allegations against someone else. Witness the praises he heaped on David DeCaires in the 13th September edition of the Kaieteur News.
Ram wants to be President
Christopher Ram’s vitriolic essays against his professional competitors and the administration are legend in this country. The motives for the former need no explanation, and as for the latter, well, Mr. Ram thinks he is the best candidate to be president, even if in an indefinite interim capacity, of this country – a position he advanced – purporting to have purely altruistic motives, of course.
However, Mr. Ram has always sought power through the back door, whether as a member of the WPA, or advocating on his own behalf – and there is no holds barred in his destabilising tactics – which includes rabble-rousing, mainly done with intellectual precision, finely-honed and etched, which leaves his victims – mainly innocent persons or entities, suspect in the eyes of the public, because his dishonest hyperbole always has just enough facts to seem credible to the ill-informed.
Who really stole electricity?
Kaieteur News has all but dissipated its credibility, with Stabroek News following a close second, and while they may criticise the Chronicle for leaning toward the Government, the latter is a state newspaper after all, but check the contents. They are all factual. If that offends those antipathetic to the administration then so be it, but descending to gutter-press levels is not on Chronicle’s agenda, nor is exacerbating and sensationalizing human misery part of its strategy to sell newspapers.
Denigrating governmental institutions and public figures, without verifying facts – as a matter of fact, often creating a story out of myth, is their strategy for pretensions to espousing the people’s cause. Investigative journalism is challenging – but beyond the capacity of the multiple-challenged.
The latest salvo they fired was against the Guyana Revenue Authority – initially putting Kurshid Sattaur on the defensive.
However, when that gentleman investigated and the facts emerged, there was no truth to the allegations made by Kaieteur News. Did that newspaper have the grace to retract its story? I don’t think so. It is not on their agenda to tell the facts.
And one inescapable fact is that Kaieteur News is the entity that was caught stealing millions of dollars of electricity, yet the publisher was not charged, nor did his newspaper publish this fact, so much for impartiality and unprejudicial reporting.
This newspaper that is on a crusade against corruption is not above stealing millions from a public entity. And one wonders why GPL, which disconnects the average householder for merely owing that entity a few hundreds of dollars, did not take punitive action against the publishers of Kaieteur News.
When one’s own snake bites
Moses Nagamootoo once called me “sister” and expressed great concern for me when I sustained life-threatening head injuries in an accident, and he has been in the forefront of the struggle to restore democracy in this land.
He therefore knows first-hand the pervasive fear that infested every breath one took during the Burnham years, when one had to be guarded in a simple conversation with an associate because persons were afraid of informers and Burnham did not tolerate even the mildest of criticisms, so to say I was shocked at Moses’ remarks at a GPA event was to put it mildly.
The same goes for Rupert Roopnarine, who remarked elsewhere that detainees were not treated badly during the Burnham days. My God, are you two in your dotage? My house was burnt as a result of three attempts within two weeks. I was locked up, terrorized, my family was threatened, and this was not even a drop in the ocean compared to what you and other colleagues suffered – not excluding murder – open and secret. Moses, in which real world could someone repeatedly replay a threat to a President’s life without repercussions? When one’s own snake bites, the poison is deadly.
Voice of the People
When CN Sharma established his television station I was very supportive of him because of his programming. I was instrumental in diverting a lot of ads to his then Channel 12 in preference to other longer-established television and encouraged him to go live, even organising the first live telecast in Guyana on CNS Channel 12.
I liked him immensely because he had a genuinely good heart. He once rescued almost a dozen persons who were stranded in the country and took absolute care of them until they could return to their homes. If I remember correctly, he charged not one penny for religious ads or programmes in those days. I considered CN and Savitree friends and liked their sweet children very much.
However, when he told me of his intention to enter into politics I advised him against such a move, but he proved adamant so I drew away.
Over the years Sharma has helped some persons, and he has harmed some through his programmes; but someone I once considered a very nice human being has proven himself to be not so nice – certainly not sincere, nor honest.
Many times when I look at his programmes I am fooled by what he presents, only to discover subsequently that what he often projects as the truth is not necessarily the whole explanation, and the real situation mainly lies between what he has presented and the explanation of the complete scenario, but the harm he does is often incalculable.
He was seen on his television station criticising a panel comprising Gail Teixeira, Robert Persaud, and Roger Luncheon (the three straddle the divides of race and age) for their analysis of the PPP/C’s 17 years in Government, because he said that they should have focused on the negative things in the society.
These people had inherited a wasted nation and demoralised Guyanese people and, by dint of overwhelmingly hard work – and yes, mistakes have been made because they had no blueprint for governance, but they persevered against the overwhelming odds and today Guyana is being lauded both within and without for its many positive initiatives driving development and growth – not only in the nation, but also in the region, and with Dr. Jagan’s New Global Human Order and Bharat Jagdeo’s Low Carbon Development Strategy, internationally too; yet CN had a severe problem with their enumerating their many and varied achievements.
Yet he was a vibrant member of the Committee for the Re-election of President Hoyte, even while that President and that party had demolished this country and all that was good in it, even the peace and unity in the land.
He was not concerned then about the people – about the way Hoyte and his party had devastated every major industry in the country – rice, sugar, bauxite – everything. He was not championing the demoralised people then but his buddies in the PNC, and I think that this pretence of caring while pursuing his political career is abject hypocrisy on the part of CN.
The bandit pandit
Dharamkumar Seeraj and the Rice Producers Association have come under attack by a disgruntled rice miller who has robbed rice farmers of millions of dollars, but who has now assumed a new avatar as champion of the rice farmers, in collaboration with someone who ran away during the hard years to the land of plenty, only to return to covet and attempt to rob a young man and his associates of the fruits of years of unremitting toil, sacrifice, prudent management of resources, lobbying at various fora and a super-abundance of knowledge of the rice and agricultural sector.
But the real players behind them are a discredited politician from the West Coast and his bandit priest collaborator, who first erupted on the local scene in tandem with CN Sharma denigrating someone who has given a lifetime of service to society, Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud, who has been primarily responsible for making Hindus in this country stand tall after years of denigration and destabilization.
On one hand the bandit pandit says he is developing young persons to become role models in society, yet on the other hand he is joining forces with others to destroy young persons who have achieved by dint of much sacrifice and with sincerity of purpose – young Dharamkumar Seeraj and Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud.
Visionary leadership
The opposition cabal, including some media houses, continually attack the President and other Government functionaries, but if they refute the allegations levelled against them, no matter how blatantly untrue, then those very media houses and opposition elements cry foul, denying the President and others within the administration their fundamental and inalienable constitutional rights, which are guaranteed to every citizen in the land.
However, despite the downsizing of the world’s economy, the crisis has scarcely affected our nation, except for the prices being offered for some of our exports.
This is as a result of good macro-economic fundamentals, with a stable inflation rate.
The Executive Directors of the IMF noted in their report that, despite external shocks and social pressures, the Guyanese authorities have maintained macroeconomic stability in 2008 through the implementation of prudent fiscal and monetary policies.
Currently the humane President of the most powerful nation on earth is fighting for what little Guyana has long achieved – free healthcare for its citizens.
But the nitpicking continues; and in the interest of this nation this stone-throwing must stop and all must show genuine commitment to collaborative endeavour toward nation-building. It is the only way we will survive.
Gerry Gouveia has said: “We are all in this boat together. We fought for independence and we got it. It is no longer them and us. It is we, together.
“We have to learn the art of agreeing to disagree without burning down the house, the art of compromise and, particularly, the art of really working together in good faith always in the interest of Guyana.”
(Guyana Chronicle)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Glen Lall fuels the corruption he rails about daily
He brings himself across as a paragon of virtue..........yet he offers bribes in an effort to get almost anything done, thereby contributing to the corruption his newspaper rails about daily.
Police are offered brides to leak info related to matters under investigation. It is known by almost everybody in the know-how that Kaieteur News offers a raise in an effort to obtain the scoop on most of its stories, that's how they are able to stay ahead of the competition........isn't this an indication of Glen Lall's double standards?
Glen seh deh ent got 'Middle Class' in Guyana. But he shud tell we how he jump from de lowest class to de highest one in only a few years.
Glen Lall: I have no comment on the middle class other than to say that there is no such thing in Guyana. There is a hustling class at the apex (closely attached to that ineradicable menace mentioned earlier) that positions itself to grasp at everything in sight, and a massed class desperately striving for any occasional crumb trickling its way. By and large the former has it so good that they will not relocate elsewhere.
That said, perhaps Glen might want to share the secret of his success with others.
He could start by telling us how could a simple shoe seller in the Stabroek amass so much wealth in the matter of a few years.
That said, perhaps Glen might want to share the secret of his success with others.
He could start by telling us how could a simple shoe seller in the Stabroek amass so much wealth in the matter of a few years.
Disgruntled Octogenarians and Septuagenarians
Ya eva notice how some people wuk is jus fuh siddung and cuss de govament whole day? Most of these senior citizens have nothing else to do but, growl and growl.
We decided that we should compile a list
Here is a list of disgruntled octogenarians and septuagenarians:
Clarence Ellis
Clive Thomas
Malcom Parris
Emile Mervin
Llewellyn John
Hamley Case
Boyo Ramsaroop
We decided that we should compile a list
Here is a list of disgruntled octogenarians and septuagenarians:
Clarence Ellis
Clive Thomas
Malcom Parris
Emile Mervin
Llewellyn John
Hamley Case
Boyo Ramsaroop
For the PNC: No One Cares When a Criminal Dies
THE ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE
October 26, 2009 | By KNews |Columnists, Peeping Tom
It is expected that opposition parties are going to take the moral high ground when it comes to abuses of human rights, inclusive of the use of death squads and paramilitary militias to deal with enemies of the State. When the PPP was in opposition it soundly condemned the activities of the Death Squad which wiped out many criminals.
The fact is that the PPP, the Working People’s Alliance and the human rights community were the only voices railing against the excesses of the State. The ordinary citizens were not that concerned because Guyanese in the main really do not care much about what happens to persons who engage in criminal conduct.
As far as they are concerned, those criminals who met their ends through extrajudicial means got what was coming to them. This attitude on the part of the vast majority of citizens explains why when someone is caught stealing within a community and that person is given a sound beating, there are not too many persons pleading for the criminal not to be subject to this form of abuse.
An ordinary citizen does not feel as bad about misplacing a valuable item or even about gambling it away as he does about having that item stolen from him. For the average citizen, a criminal taking the citizens’ possessions, however invaluable, constitutes a violation. This is why people get worked up when they are robbed and this is why they show little mercy to those who steal and commit other crimes.
The joint opposition in this country has to understand how ordinary citizens feel about crime. If they understand how the people treat crime, they will be in a better position to appreciate why they are not being taken seriously in this call for an investigation into the extra judicial killings by alleged phantom squads.
If it were the case that the phantoms were wiping out innocent citizens going about their peaceful business, there would have been a greater outcry. But the people of Guyana know that the “phantoms” was a response to the “Talibans” who were robbing, killing and raping people in this country and who had virtually brought this country to a state whereby its citizens were defenseless against the marauders which included Inspector Gadget, Andrew Douglas, Dale Moore, Shawn Brown, Mark Fraser and Troy Dick.
The vast majority of the people of this country could not give a hang about how these dreadful men reached their end because these men instigated a reign of fear in this country.
It was a dread time for all Guyana but more especially for members of the Police Force. There were policemen in this country who were afraid to hang their clothes out on the line, for fear of being identified as belonging to the Police Force and thus face recrimination from the “Talibans”.
There was a time in this country when mini buses were stopped and police ranks shot simply because they belonged to the law enforcement agency. There was time when Inspector Gadget was on the rampage and when women were afraid of being raped by him.
When he died, not too many people shed tears. Not too many people complained that he was victim of the phantom squad. The situation was so dread that if the devil had come and offered to help Guyanese, I believe they would have accepted that offer because the police were locking their gates at night.
This is not, as stated before, to condone what happened. It is simply to explain the psychology that is behind the attitude of the Guyanese people towards this call for an investigation into extra judicial killings.
The Guyanese people are looking at all of those who are making a lot of noise now about investigation and asking what about the time when the “Talibans” were on the loose. Where were the voices then? A great many persons, including the opposition, could have spoken out earlier and more stridently against what was taking place. But they waited until the last moment before they condemned what was taking place.
Mr. Hoyte, in fact, told the people of Buxton that they had a right to self defense. He did not tell them though that this right did not include harbouring criminals. Well, did the people of Guyana also not have a right to self defense against the “Talibans”? So, the joint opposition must not be surprised at the poor attendance at their meetings calling for an international investigation. They must also not be surprised that people are not going to turn up to give any evidence to the police. Even if there was an independent investigation, the same situation will arise.
October 26, 2009 | By KNews |Columnists, Peeping Tom
It is expected that opposition parties are going to take the moral high ground when it comes to abuses of human rights, inclusive of the use of death squads and paramilitary militias to deal with enemies of the State. When the PPP was in opposition it soundly condemned the activities of the Death Squad which wiped out many criminals.
The fact is that the PPP, the Working People’s Alliance and the human rights community were the only voices railing against the excesses of the State. The ordinary citizens were not that concerned because Guyanese in the main really do not care much about what happens to persons who engage in criminal conduct.
As far as they are concerned, those criminals who met their ends through extrajudicial means got what was coming to them. This attitude on the part of the vast majority of citizens explains why when someone is caught stealing within a community and that person is given a sound beating, there are not too many persons pleading for the criminal not to be subject to this form of abuse.
An ordinary citizen does not feel as bad about misplacing a valuable item or even about gambling it away as he does about having that item stolen from him. For the average citizen, a criminal taking the citizens’ possessions, however invaluable, constitutes a violation. This is why people get worked up when they are robbed and this is why they show little mercy to those who steal and commit other crimes.
The joint opposition in this country has to understand how ordinary citizens feel about crime. If they understand how the people treat crime, they will be in a better position to appreciate why they are not being taken seriously in this call for an investigation into the extra judicial killings by alleged phantom squads.
If it were the case that the phantoms were wiping out innocent citizens going about their peaceful business, there would have been a greater outcry. But the people of Guyana know that the “phantoms” was a response to the “Talibans” who were robbing, killing and raping people in this country and who had virtually brought this country to a state whereby its citizens were defenseless against the marauders which included Inspector Gadget, Andrew Douglas, Dale Moore, Shawn Brown, Mark Fraser and Troy Dick.
The vast majority of the people of this country could not give a hang about how these dreadful men reached their end because these men instigated a reign of fear in this country.
It was a dread time for all Guyana but more especially for members of the Police Force. There were policemen in this country who were afraid to hang their clothes out on the line, for fear of being identified as belonging to the Police Force and thus face recrimination from the “Talibans”.
There was a time in this country when mini buses were stopped and police ranks shot simply because they belonged to the law enforcement agency. There was time when Inspector Gadget was on the rampage and when women were afraid of being raped by him.
When he died, not too many people shed tears. Not too many people complained that he was victim of the phantom squad. The situation was so dread that if the devil had come and offered to help Guyanese, I believe they would have accepted that offer because the police were locking their gates at night.
This is not, as stated before, to condone what happened. It is simply to explain the psychology that is behind the attitude of the Guyanese people towards this call for an investigation into extra judicial killings.
The Guyanese people are looking at all of those who are making a lot of noise now about investigation and asking what about the time when the “Talibans” were on the loose. Where were the voices then? A great many persons, including the opposition, could have spoken out earlier and more stridently against what was taking place. But they waited until the last moment before they condemned what was taking place.
Mr. Hoyte, in fact, told the people of Buxton that they had a right to self defense. He did not tell them though that this right did not include harbouring criminals. Well, did the people of Guyana also not have a right to self defense against the “Talibans”? So, the joint opposition must not be surprised at the poor attendance at their meetings calling for an international investigation. They must also not be surprised that people are not going to turn up to give any evidence to the police. Even if there was an independent investigation, the same situation will arise.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Joint Opposition takes Khan inquiry call to Le Repentir Cemetery!
The Joint Opposition Political Parties (JOPP) continued its campaign for an inquiry into criminal activities which have plagued Guyana since 2002, the campaign being in the form of a series of public meetings in and around the Georgetown.
The group, which includes the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR),the Alliance For Change (AFC) the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and a few other political parties, yesterday afternoon assembled at Le Repentir Cemetery as the group called for an international inquiry into what it calls ‘a failed justice system‘ on these shores. The group said that there is the need for answers into the 400 plus(oh skunt de numbers jump from 200 to 400) deaths which resulted from murders, drugs and gun-related activities and kidnappings in Guyana since 2002.
AFC party member, Desmond Moses speaking to a scattered crowd which gathered close to the tombs and densely forested area to get a glimpse of ‘the Horror Boards’, (boards displaying newspaper articles and photographs of dozens of black persons who died over the past several years, falling victim to violent activities), stated that there is the need for a total boycott of parliamentary activities by the opposition parties until the government fix the issues at hand.
He said that the government of the day should pay keen attention to developing Guyana, providing jobs for young people, many of them qualified, who walk the streets every day in search of jobs. However, the evidence at hand clearly dispelled such a notion as very few of the dead turned up to listen to the opposition ramblings. One curios onlooker suggested that it was because they were too busy wukking.
According to the JOPP, the government has refused on many occasions to carry out investigations into the numerous unnatural deaths which occurred over the years. The group stated that when the administration decides to act, such investigations are compromised since those carrying out the investigations cannot be trusted.
PNCR Member of Parliament, Clement Corlette, while addressing those gathered, stated that the situation at hand is serious. He said that the Joint Opposition parties are working as a disjointed team in order to prostitute the deaths of these persons even though we had absolutely no time with such issues durign the reign of the 'Freedom Fighters'.
The group will continue its campaign by carrying out public meetings over the next several days, with meetings slated for the Pslams, Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Center, the Observation Ward, GPHC, Mandela Avenue Dumpsite and the Good Hope Crematorium.
Canadians hail Jagdeo as ‘World Leader’ in climate change battle
IN recent years, President Bharrat Jagdeo has spoken frequently of the need for developing countries to be at the fore in identifying solutions to avert the worst extremes of climate change, and has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations and summits of Latin America and Commonwealth Heads of Government.
Dwarka Persaud - Guyanese residing in Canada
I think President Jagdeo’s presentation was simply spectacular. You can see he is very knowledgeable about what he is talking about and advocating and he is an excellent speaker at any public gathering.
I think too many political leaders are playing it socially safe and not really stepping out and it is really encouraging to see somebody like President Jagdeo who is actually doing that (speaking out and raising awareness). I believe other leaders in the world generally have to start supporting innovative proposals such as the LCDS being proposed by the President of Guyana. There will always be flaws with the proposals and you will always be able to pick apart bits and pieces but unless you start somewhere, you will never get anywhere. You require the first steps to get there and President Jagdeo has already taken those first steps. He might falter, but he can pick himself up and try again. He is young enough and committed enough and I think he has the right attitude and drive that will see him make progress in the future.
Mrs. Anna Punit – Trinidadian-born Canadian resident who is married to a Guyanese
I am just so overwhelmed by the attendance here today (at Trent University), particularly seeing that the majority of the gathering here are non-Guyanese and non-West Indian. I think this is indicative of the interest that the population here at Trent University and in Peterborough has in listening to the President speak on the issue of climate change. Their interest with this whole issue of global warming and climate change and the intensity with which they expressed themselves today and responses by the President to their queries…I am very impressed. His speech was just phenomenal.
Fitz Bharath – Trinidadian-born Canadian
I thought President Jagdeo’s presentation was very informative…and, as a born Trinidadian, I didn’t realise that so much could come out from a relatively small developing country like Guyana. I think President Jagdeo and Guyana are setting a trend for the world.
Neil Widlak - Canadian
I was very impressed with his (Mr. Jagdeo) presentation and what he is trying to do, I think, is very encouraging and very refreshing. I think the Guyanese President is very knowledgeable in the area of climate change…and, as I said before, I am very impressed.
I think President Jagdeo is doing a wonderful job with this in really putting Guyana on the map. For me, as an eco-tourism operator, the low carbon development strategy is really a big, big boost for eco-tourism in Guyana and anybody in Guyana who is interested in doing business with a social conscience and with a high level of responsible management will find the low carbon strategy as a great asset to them – to both Guyana and the world.
Donna Workman - Manager of Programme and Partnership Development at the Centre for Environment, University of Toronto
I thought that his (President) Jagdeo’s presentation was very insightful, intelligent and inspiring…I hope that we can do a session together at Cophenhagen where we can, in partnership, push his ideas forward. I believe that he is doing a great job and I wish we had more leaders like him. I wish him great momentum and that he gets the ears of the communities as he continues to push forward the agenda for the benefit of all.
As a consequence of President Jagdeo’s consistent advocacy for urgent action on climate change, Time Magazine and CNN last year named the President as one of their ‘Heroes of the Environment’.
He has been recognized around the world for his leadership role in the area of climate change, with praise raining-in from persons such as Prince Charles, British Prime Minister Gordon Browne, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Hollywood superstar Harrison Forde.
That recognition of President Jagdeo’s leadership on the world stage on the issue of climate change has spread further afield in Canada over the past two days as hundreds of persons from mainly the academic fraternity, a significant majority of whom are Canadians, packed the halls of three of Canada’s best universities – Trent, York and Toronto – to listen and interact with him as he drummed-up crucial support in his widely-acclaimed international lobbying efforts at explaining the devastating effects of climate change, the myriad intricacies surrounding the catastrophic phenomenon, and the impact it will have on small developing countries like Guyana.
The Chronicle newspaper spoke with several persons who listened to the Guyanese Head of State during his lectures at Trent University on Wednesday evening and at York and Toronto Universities yesterday.
The following are snippets of their comments to this journalist:
Thaddeus Bolton – Student, Trent University
It is a great pleasure and privilege to listen to President Jagdeo, and we at the university would like to thank him for being here with us today. We would also like to thank him for the numerous years of dedication and commitment that he has demonstrated on behalf of our natural environment. Today, we are all called upon to respond to the global environmental crisis but few have demonstrated the courage and vision to take a leadership position like President Jagdeo. And for that I want to thank him for being an example of what is possible. I would also like to wish that he continue to lead and inspire students and communities around the world to be advocates and visionaries for the millions of species across the world.
 Dwarka Persaud | |
I think President Jagdeo’s presentation was simply spectacular. You can see he is very knowledgeable about what he is talking about and advocating and he is an excellent speaker at any public gathering.
Dr. Don Lush – former graduate at Trent University
I thought it was a very good presentation. It is very encouraging to see leaders such as him making in-roads in this area and really trying to make things happen and there has been an awful lot of political talk and a awful lot of social feet dragging and until we actually get things happening and on the ground and working and seeing the products of that activity, we are not going to be moving ahead. We have a lot of big issues ahead of us and it takes courageous world leaders like President Jagdeo to step out and take a political chance and take the risk.
 Dr. Don Lush | |
 Anna Punit | |
I am just so overwhelmed by the attendance here today (at Trent University), particularly seeing that the majority of the gathering here are non-Guyanese and non-West Indian. I think this is indicative of the interest that the population here at Trent University and in Peterborough has in listening to the President speak on the issue of climate change. Their interest with this whole issue of global warming and climate change and the intensity with which they expressed themselves today and responses by the President to their queries…I am very impressed. His speech was just phenomenal.
 Fitz Bharath | |
Fitz Bharath – Trinidadian-born Canadian
I thought President Jagdeo’s presentation was very informative…and, as a born Trinidadian, I didn’t realise that so much could come out from a relatively small developing country like Guyana. I think President Jagdeo and Guyana are setting a trend for the world.
 Neil Widlak | |
I was very impressed with his (Mr. Jagdeo) presentation and what he is trying to do, I think, is very encouraging and very refreshing. I think the Guyanese President is very knowledgeable in the area of climate change…and, as I said before, I am very impressed.
Capt. Gerry Gouveia – Prominent businessman and Head of Guyana’s Private Sector Commission
The President’s presentation here at Trent University, first of all, made me very proud as a Guyanese. When you listen to the people respond to President Jagdeo as a world leader and the last comment that we have heard here tonight, that if other world leaders was as knowledgeable like him about the details of his own country and the history of climate change then the world would be a better place - this made me very, very proud. I think also this is going to make the world be a lot more aware because universities like this (Trent) are going to be paying special interest –in terms of research, for instance, in environmental practices…so I believe that the President’s presentation here this evening and again tomorrow (Thursday) is going to move the LCDS process even further.
| Gerry Gouveia | |
Also, I want to say that I cannot, as the leader of the private sector in Guyana and when I look deep in my heart and I sat through the consultation process that has been going on across the country, I cannot understand why anyone would be against the strategy. This is not politics; this is good sense. So when I see people being negative about this strategy, it hurts me.
Mr. Meric Gertter - Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University of Toronto
I want to thank President Jagdeo for gracing this university with his presence.
We really appreciate him taking the time to teach us more about climate change and Guyana’s visionary plan to preserve its tropical rainforest to combat climate change.
 Donna Workman | |
I thought that his (President) Jagdeo’s presentation was very insightful, intelligent and inspiring…I hope that we can do a session together at Cophenhagen where we can, in partnership, push his ideas forward. I believe that he is doing a great job and I wish we had more leaders like him. I wish him great momentum and that he gets the ears of the communities as he continues to push forward the agenda for the benefit of all.
President wins crucial climate change support from Canadian academia.
Hundreds of persons from mainly the academic fraternity, a significant majority of whom are Canadians, packed the halls of three of Canada’s best universities – Trent, York and Toronto – to listen and interact with Guyanese Head of State President Bharrat Jagdeo over the past two days as he drummed-up crucial support in his widely-acclaimed international lobbying efforts on the crucial issue of climate change.
They offered him unreserved encouragement and hailed his bold climate change leadership battle on the world stage.
Speaking to a packed hall at the Trent University on Wednesday evening, the President fielded a number of questions on issues such as REDD, women and gender involvement in the consultation process on the LCDS model, monitoring and evaluation systems, and even expectations at Copenhagen.
The same interactive pattern continued at York University yesterday morning and the University of Toronto yesterday afternoon.
Director of the Centre for Environment at the University of Toronto, Professor Ingrid Leman Stefanovic, in introducing President Jagdeo during his lecture in the University of Toronto Great Hall (Hart House), disclosed that the Guyanese Head of State is the very first “genuine” Head of State in the world to have visited and delivered a lecture at the university’s Centre for Environment.
Noting that the University has hosted lectures by persons of the ilk of former US Vice- President Al Gore, a Nobel prize winner for his efforts in climate change, Professor Stefanovic said that “this is the very first time that a genuine head of state of a country has come here to the University of Toronto to deliver a lecture…and this is a very big first for the university and we are all extremely proud to be a part of this.”
She hastened to add, “But we are hosting more than just another Head of State as His Excellency President Jagdeo is making waves internationally on the issue of climate change…and growing in his stature as a world leader on this important issue.”
President Jagdeo noted that one of the reasons why he decided to accept the invitation to speak at these Canadian universities is to raise awareness among academia and the public at large on the dangers of climate change and to raise awareness about Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy.
The President spoke at length at all three universities on the genesis of climate change and how it is now an accepted fact globally that there is climate change; the first time that the whole issue was discussed in the Brasilian city of Rio in 1992 and then on to the Kyoto Protocol right through to the expectations at the upcoming major climate change summit in Copenhagen in December.
Noting that over the past 40 years, some 50% of the world’s forests was lost or degraded, in spite of a lot of philanthropy – however well intentioned – from NGOs and some amount of overseas development assistance directed to forest conservation, President Jagdeo said the cause of this is because the model being used failed to address the drivers of deforestation and degradation.
The President said what is needed now, as a matter of priority, is for political leaders to demonstrate a will to act, and for a new method of accountability at the global level.
“What I believe is crucial now is the political breakthrough…and this can only come from the people who have the will to act,” the President stated.
The more than hour-long sessions at the universities were very interactive in nature with President Jagdeo responding to numerous questions and queries about issues surround climate change and the Guyana LCDS model.
Freddie's castigation of others & unsubtle threats falsely propels him to the peak of the moral pedestal, therefore he should not should not steal!
A popular store in Georgetown has a stringent policy to monitor potential shoplifters. If caught, the shoplifter is not only handed over to the police, but his/her photograph is taken and placed prominently in the store. The mounting of the photograph serves as a form of embarrassment to the perpetrator and a deterrent to others. The bottom line is that shoplifting, which is prevalent in many societies, is a crime which can result in imprisonment. Theft of any kind can result in similar punishment.
An incident relating to the theft of books from the National Library by a columnist of a local newspaper is attracting much attention. Last week a former staff member of the Library, who claimed to have witnessed the incident, wrote a letter documenting the details. According to the said staff, the columnist stole eighty-eight books some years ago. The incident was well documented both in the courts and at least one newspaper then.
The incident has since attracted much debate to the point where some, in defence of the columnist, say, to the effect, that the incident is trivial and should be dismissed. They also see it as revisiting the past. What they fail to understand is that when someone is found to be a thief, he/she is a thief rregardless on what is stolen and when it was stolen. Theft is theft. If for example, a lad is caught shoplifting from any store, regardless of what was stolen, it’s theft. That lad can be handed over to the Police and can be charged.
Some may argue whether compassion by the proprietor could prevent court action in such cases. That could be a consideration. But what about the basic moral principle of when one is in need of something, he/she must ask? If every proprietor who loses as a result of frequent shoplifting shows compassion on every occasion, then the severity of such offences would be tremendously diluted. A parallel can be drawn on compassion by law enforcement for traffic offences. In most cases, many unsuspecting persons have lost their lives as a result of careless drivers.
Over the years, many societies have clamoured for drastic action to be taken against errant drivers. Of recent much debate was centred on stringent laws to curb drunk driving. The point is that if things are ignored then they fester and either become acceptable or extremely difficult to control. The fatal consequences of drunk driving are excruciatingly painful. In the case of the book theft mentioned, some have written that the perpetrator, the columnist, must be emulated. Those who have ventured to make such reckless statements in the public domain are directly encouraging others to blatantly break the law.
If those who would have read such irresponsible comments and were to do as advised, then theft from stores and other public places would become a fad and would pose a serious challenge to the law enforcers. What about the financial loss proprietors would incur as a result? Is this the message those who have access to newspaper and television spaces want to send to others, especially young people? The columnist committed a crime by his own admission in his article that followed the revelation of his actions years ago. Why is it then that others are glorifying such a crime?
The current value of the eighty-eight books would be somewhere in excess of two hundred thousand dollars. This amount can be categorised as grand larceny! Is it that those who defend such actions are supporting such larceny? This is ludicrous and must be condemned. Some cohorts of the columnist are questioning the timing of this incident being brought back into the public domain. Given the time that has elapsed since it was perpetuated, they posit that it should be forgotten. Herein lies my reason to differ. The columnist in question goes daily on a rampage in personally attacking officials of government and those who are associated with the administration.
His misrepresented and inaccurate venom-filled tirades spare no one whom he sees as articulating favourably on government policies. Conversely, if anyone is to articulate an anti-government position, he sees that person as his compatriot. His bias and sometimes libellous rants are facilitated unabated in a newspaper which is known for its sensationalism and anti-government position. It is therefore not a coincidence that the newspaper’s editorial policy is similar to the columnist’s writings. They have formed a focused alliance in denigrating government and those favourable towards it.
The way this columnist crafts his writings one would never doubt his high moral standings and adherence thereto. His open castigation of others and his unsubtle threats serve to falsely propel him to the peak of the moral pedestal. He skilfully ensures that the belief of his high moral adherence is not a figment of anyone’s imagination. As a result, none who were unaware of his past book theft incident would believe he was capable of such a crime. If the former Library staff was not meticulous in his detailed description of the incident and was unable to substantiate what actually took place, many would have dubbed the statement a fabrication.
The staff in question was present and was able to debunk the subsequent inaccuracy the columnist peddled. This staff must be commended for exposing such an incident committed by someone who professes to be an advocate for high moral standing and decency. Here is a columnist who daily falsely accuses pro-government persons of being immoral and to be involved in shady activities. His immorality has been exposed. His proclivity to steal books has been exposed. This is not an accusation. How then can he have the gall to accuse others when he has been guilty of theft?
What is even more laughable is that two particular persons have been vehemently trying to defend such immorality. Maybe this is not surprising given that one has been accused of defrauding hard-working Guyanese of their hard-earned money in a scam to get them to a foreign country. He was arrested and subsequently sued the said newspaper that publishes the columnist’s tirades! The other was fired from his position on the Fraud Squad for reasons not known to the general public. Is this a coincidence that three with a questionable past are in unison in their anti-government thrust? Is it a coincidence that their “voice” is being facilitated by a known anti-government publication?
Corbin chose to shun the Hindu community of this nation. Yet he wonders why the average Indian Guyanese distrusts him.
Opposition Leader, Robert Corbin, was invited to participate in the function, named the “Rashtra Jyoti” (lighting of a symbolic national diya), held at the Promenade by the Indian Arrival Committee (IAC), and sponsored by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T).
He never turned up. What a glorious opportunity he missed to bond with Guyanese of Indian descent, especially from the Hindu community. Robert Williams’ delivery touched the heart. The tranquil, beautiful ambience provided a perfect opportunity for a shared experience of camaraderie between Guyanese of every culture, because this holy festival of the Hindus was the perfect platform to promote healing of our national wounds.
Instead, Among many negatives, he has no magnanimity of spirit, so essential for bridging the divides in the nation.
But this ideal is certainly not on his agenda, as all his actions and his utterances have proven. The rare occasion he has reached out to the collective Indian community was palpably superficial, because he can only hold on to the remnants of his supporters by inciting hatred in their hearts – and supporting an Indian initiative; moreso a Hindu initiative, is not on his agenda, because he has to propitiate his support base – such as Kean Gibson, et al.
On the other hand, the leaders of three of the most powerful nations in the world have embraced the Hindu citizens of their land and their culture, because they are astute enough, and humane enough, to recognise that the universe is configured of a diversity of peoples and cultures, and in the unity and appreciation of that diversity lies the strength of their respective nations.
The respect they have accorded the Hindu communities of their respective countries should set an example for leaders in third-world states to follow, especially in places like Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana.
American President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, by their magnanimous actions in according respect to their Hindu citizens, have won the loyalty and respect – and the financial support and votes of their Hindu communities for all time to come.
They have not only lit their national diyas, but the light that will transform their nations into havens of cordiality and progressive actions.
Here in Guyana flames are being lit – at the Ministry of Health, with fire starters razing public structures, business and residential buildings in quick succession, leaving Guyanese entrepreneurs and their employees – some of whom are the supporters of the architects of the X-13 Plan and the “Slo’ fiah, mo fiah” strategies, bereft of jobs and agonized at the loss of the acquisitions after lifelong strivings and struggles.
Recently the Hindu community in Alexander Village, was able to celebrate Diwali for the first time in eleven years.
This community was a statistic in the campaign to derail the PPP-administration post-1997 elections, when PPP supporters were being robbed, assaulted, raped and slaughtered like animals in their homes and at places where they had to pursue their various activities. Police were also being targeted, with many policemen killed, even in police stations. Large sections of the city went up in flames as the Opposition succeeded in making the nation ungovernable, as they successful did in the 60’s to force a PPP-Government out of office.
The government was unable to protect its supporters, because it was powerless against the destructive forces, which was aided and abetted by the CARICOM bloc, which forced a truncation of the PPP administration.
When fire struck on Regent Street the first time those who know the history of this country know well who were the architects of this latest plan fostering mayhem and murder. Revelations of witnesses after the second Regent Street fire solidified this belief.
Adam Harris wrote that Indians see Roger Khan as their saviour and spoke of the division in this country; but the division is not of race against race. It is the division of the dark forces of evil as opposed to those who have provided some degree of protection for a helpless and vulnerable section of the Guyanese community – and criminals who discover the path of easy wealth-acquisition are like rabid animals that taste blood. They become ravenous, and then they do not care whose blood they consume, even if it is the blood of members of their own pack.
An opposition cabal that drapes the body of a notorious murderer and thief like Linden (Blackie) London with the National Flag would obviously see killers of innocent and helpless persons, once they further their cause and agenda, as “innocent young men.”
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