The rush to accuse and to deny
July 28, 2013, By KNews, Filed Under Features / Columnists, My Column, Source
My classmate, friend and Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon told the media at his post-Cabinet media briefing on Wednesday that with the plethora of recording equipment it is impossible for someone to make a statement that is not documented.
His comments came in the wake of accusations leveled against President Donald Ramotar. The state-owned Guyana Chronicle and the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported that President Ramotar described the action of the parliamentary opposition as terroristic. Of course, the objects of the attack were incensed and they walked away from the very forum that is intended to ensure that Guyana is not sanctioned by the international community for a failure to pass anti-money laundering legislation.
These parliamentarians took as gospel what the Chronicle and the Government Information Agency said that President Ramotar said. I happened to see that the Alliance For Change said that President Ramotar was happy to ride on the comments by GINA and the Chronicle. In fact, I was at a press conference hosted by the People’s Progressive Party.
At that press conference senior party officials actually said that they endorsed President Ramotar’s claim that the opposition were akin to terrorists when it came to their vote on the two Bills pertaining to the Amaila Falls.
There are two things that I recognize in poor countries like ours. Some of these things I warn young reporters about. For one, the opposition parties should have secured a final transcript of the president’s statement. I was familiar with advance copies of speeches by both President Forbes Burnham and President Desmond Hoyte. On every speech there was the admonition to check against delivery.
When President Barack Obama delivered his inaugural address following his accession to the Presidency of the United States, the draft speech was posted on the internet.
My colleague Nigel McKenzie was reading it as Obama was delivering his address on television. Lo and behold, there were subtle changes. In one case the issue was race. Obama’s actual delivery was a joy to behold.
The political opposition should have checked against delivery. They did not; they say that President Ramotar should have sanctioned GINA; I do not agree, although he is the Minister of Information. But then again, perhaps he did, but the sanction was not made public.
I listened to the recorded message, and in all fairness, President Ramotar never describes anything as terroristic.
And so I come to the other episode. On Thursday, President Ramotar hosted a stakeholders’ forum on the Amaila Falls project. The moderator was Junior Finance Minister Juan Edghill. Everyone had an interest and they all had questions. Most of all, the media which represents the vast majority of stakeholders would be asking questions. Edghill simply said that he would not entertain any question from the media, but this was after Stabroek News had asked the first question.
Needless to say, Kaieteur News headlined this fact; Stabroek News reported the same thing in its pages. The next day Edghill denied ever putting a clamp on the media. He might have escaped with the denial, but he proceeded to cuss out Kaieteur News. I am aware that Kaieteur News is the target for any Government official who wants to cuss.
As I know, in this day of recording at the drop of a hat using a telephone, an electronic recorder and even iPads and iPods, Edghill had to know that his words would have been captured and possibly kept for posterity. His actual words were placed with his denial. Whether he is embarrassed is another matter. Like my advice to the political opposition, he should have sought out the recording.
There are other things that I cannot ignore. The Amaila Falls project is in the news. No one can deny that Guyana needs hydroelectricity, but the big question has to do with the cost being levied on the project. Another has to do with those things that need explanation, for example, the deadline for the road leading to the dam site.
The government took some reporters to the site of the Amaila Falls road and offered answers to some questions. One piece of information that was fed to keep hope alive was that Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall had completed 40 per cent of the road. It turned out that he had merely completed 28 per cent of the road in the two years that he had the project. He should have completed the project in less than a year.
But it is the Parliament that really grabbed my attention. The government side did not want to discuss something, so it remained silent through every question. The opposition did the same thing when it was time to debate the Amaila Bill. The government reacted that they were spiteful for not offering a reason for their vote.
Old people have a saying “Do so nah like so.” The British say tit for tat. I say childish and petty because while the political parties continue to be at each other’s throats, the nation is going nowhere and people like me get disgusted.