Buzz: Rohee’s rogue diplomats
You have to love the Chronicle for headlines such as this “Political Gridlock a Guyanese problem, requiring a Guyanese solution …as British Govt. pledges continued assistance in holding General Elections.”
That’s their take away from yesterday’s press conference where British HC Andrew Ayre basically said hold the effin elections or face a halt in all development aid and censure by the Commonwealth, B^&*$!!! It’s the optimism at the Chronicle which is so inspiring: that they could see the bright side amidst this unfortunate gridlock. The Times takes another route putting Rohee’s response first: The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) on Monday blasted the United Kingdom for raising concerns about the prorogation of Guyana’s Parliament, dubbing the call interference in Guyana’s affairs.” Yes, another Ayre-rant diplomat just like that Brent Hardt, both of them gone rogue! To which they might reply, rogues in a rogue state.
Despite all Rohee’s bluster he hints that Ramotar may announce a date if not at the airport as soon as he touches down then shortly after: “The president is overseas at the moment…We have to wait for him to return to this jurisdiction… I don’t think we can expect him to announce it midair” (SN)
Finally on the subject Blue Caps’ Clinton Urling chimes in with a pithy letter: “Now that the Christmas season is over and as the days go by, I’m beginning to think that the President is going to treat the calling of general and regional elections in the same manner in which his administration has dealt with local government elections, that is, make excuses as to why it is not feasible to do so now. Or perhaps we might simply hear of another reading of the ‘mood’ of the people, in which we are not ready for GE.”
Off to Aishalton we go..to the little village in the South Rupununi that is the unlikely epi-centre of Guyanese politics at the moment… Ex Toshao and leader of the militant Amerindian Peoples Liberation Front Tony James writes a letter to SN debunking the claim there is any consensus to have the abused and slapped John “Quincy” Adams turfed out of the community. He notes that “Toshao Bernard also is not from Aishalton. Does he think then that it is just to say that he should be sent back to his village for his misbehaviour?…I said before and I will say again, there are followers and there are leaders; unfortunately, based on my experience and conclusion our Toshao is a follower.” Aye Papi!
Once again the police are skewing the crime statistics to make themselves look better but no one is fooled. Including break and enter and larceny, burglary as serious crimes helps them offset the increase of the really serious crimes such as 5% in armed robberies and 11% for armed robberies with a firearm. And keep in mind there were still 147 murders last year, the fourth highest in ten years:
2004 131
2005 142
2006 `163
2007 115
2008 158*
2009 117
2010 139
2011 130
2012 137
2013 154
2014 147
(*23 deaths in 2008 were related to the Lusignan and Bartica massacres)
And let’s not even get into the traffic deaths…that were up 30%. Let’s just ponder what Minister of Home Affairs Rohee said re crime in 2014: “a relatively successful year for law enforcement agencies…peace and good order in our society prevailed”
In Brief…
The Guyana government has yet to fork over to $1.2B to Suriname beverage company Rudisa as ruled in May by the Caribbean Court of Justice for charging them the environmental tax on bottles. This was discriminatory as the products came from within Caricom. AG Nandlall says the government “has no money to pay the judgement.” He said they sent a request to the Parliament for the funds but the place suddenly got shut down.
The government is giving a sneak peek of the goodies to be placed in its 2015 budget. Region 2 is to get a new secondary school and a new power station with three new engines, reveals Regional Chairman Parmanand Persaud. But alas, the anti-development opposition will block these too.
And iNews is hot on the trail of a missing police file investigating the death of West Coast resident Asif Rahman who died after an alleged beating by police at the Leonora Police Station.