Where is the tape Jagdeo claimed he has about the PNC’s involvement in criminal activities at Buxton?

Dear Editor, A few years ago, then President Bharat Jagdeo made a startling declaration to the country that he had a tape in his possession to show that the PNC was involved in the criminal activities at Buxton. He also claimed that he knew the identity of those in the PNC and of the armed bandits who were involved in kidnapping, drug smuggling, murder and armed robbery and he would make the information public. If Jagdeo is telling the truth, then why he, as President, allowed the country to descend into such raw and inhumane criminal acts against innocent citizens. Which president in his right mind would have allowed criminals to take over the country? More than five years have elapsed and Jagdeo has not released the tape as yet. Where is the tape Mr. Jagdeo? You need to present it to the public in order to save the little credibility you have left? Although Jagdeo’s claim was a fabrication, a sham perpetrated by him and his cronies to scare the PNC, it nevertheless found currency in a population gullible enough to believe anything, even Jagdeo’s own fibs. I believe that there is simply no way that these criminals were anywhere smart enough to mastermind a crime wave that reaped havoc on the nation for almost four years without help from those in the authority. They did not have the intellect and were not barefaced enough to commit such massive crime and yet walk in public in the nation’s capital without disguise. The fact that the criminals did not even attempt to hide or evade the public clearly shows that they had the support of certain individuals in the administration. This is the reason why a former Minister of Home Affairs had to resign. This leaves the question then as to whether any tape existed at all and whether Jagdeo had ever told the truth on anything. It is easy to say that he did not, knowing the truth about his bogus marriage, all the corrupt practices that took place during his presidency and the secret deals he signed with the various foreign companies that benefited his wealthy friends and relatives at the expense of the poor and the working class. So whatever the genesis of the epidemic of crime, it has transcended those in Buxton. As the nation descended in criminality between 2002 and 2006, the people had lost trust in just about everything, including the leaders, and especially Jagdeo and his ruling cliche. During this period, Guyanese had lost their closeness, their serenity, civility and trust in the regime and the police force. These were replaced with a nation at war with itself which the PPP/C administration allowed. In every aspect of his political life, Jagdeo had embarrassed himself with unseemly pronouncements and approaches destined to elicit combative response. And his raw and unsolicited cuss-down of the media and those who challenged him proved that he was destined to fail as president. The upshot was a society seething with anger where everyday disagreements, inevitable in the society, turn murderous very quickly. It was a period in which armed bandits and organized gangs roamed the streets with impunity and with the blessings of those in authority. It is at this juncture that the convicted drug baron, Roger Khan’s loyalty to the regime fits in. He intimidated, kidnapped and murdered those who had opposed the regime with the promise of repayment. And it is here that the truth was unmasked, for he was the prime mover in the narco-trafficking activities in Guyana. The PPP unethical actions, put together, weave a tapestry of corruption, greed, extra-judicial killings and disrespect for the security forces and the people for all to gaze upon in awe. In panic, the nation was desperately in search for solutions to combat the crime wave. Not that the Police Force was unable to do it, it could have, but it was hampered by political interference, whereby Commanders were told who to prosecute and who not to prosecute. Well, not much has changed since and today we have a Force that is not only short of vehicles and qualified personnel but one that is unprofessional, corrupt and demands bribes from the citizens. Today, we have a Police Force that is incompetent to find the killers of the many unsolved murders. The families as well as the nation would like to know who killed Monica Reece, the former Minister of Agriculture Satyadeow Sawh, Alicia Foster, Seema Mangar and the more than four hundred extra judicial murders that occurred during Jagdeo’s horrible reign as the worst president of Guyana. Dr. Asquith Rose and Chandra Deollal, Esq.