I believe there is money in Switzerland
April 12, 2010 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2010/04/12/i-believe-there-is-money-in-switzerland/
The country’s population is small. In such an environment, things can hardly be kept as permanent secrets. We will come to that subject below, but first; the inscrutable nature of corruption. The elusive role of corruption is contained in its invisible dimensions.
A company gets a whopping contract for pharmaceuticals. The payment is absurdly high. You know that big, big officials in the ruling cabal will secure a few millions from that dirty transaction and bank it outside. The cash is deposited in the name of a sister who carries her married name. How does the press prove that? It cannot.
You will end up being found guilty for libel if you say that the pharmaceutical company secured a higher payment and gave Mr. Powerful a cutback, who then put the money in a bank account in his sister’s name in Europe. When the judge asks for proof, you better have it.
This is the invisibility of corruption in Guyana. The only way the exposure can come is when the press, using complex, subtle but leading sentences writes about these things. For example, read my fictional example above then think about it deeply.
Let’s return to corruption in a small society. Guyana’s population is just above 700,000 with a large percentage being babies, small children, unemployed labourers and ordinary folks who have no contacts with the world of power in Guyana.
That leaves us with a small percentage of people who actually comprise what we call the “real society” (for want of a better sociological description) and who because of their roles and placements in that society would have knowledge of what goes on in Guyana. It means secrets will come out.
They have to come out because the auditors at the Guyana Revenue Authority have sisters, brothers, cousins that know people in the media and elsewhere. The guys who catch people staling electricity have cousins, friends, brothers and sisters who have contacts in the society.
A simple example should suffice. Mary does business management at UG, graduates, takes a work at the GRA as an auditor and is off on her audit missions. She is sent to one of Guyana’s largest companies where she discovers evasions and manipulations that are glossed over by her superiors. She meets her lecturer at the City Mall, tells him what goes on. And there comes out there and then, facts on corruption.
The kings of corruption in this country cannot hide their venalities. People know about foreign bank accounts, particularly in Switzerland. The exasperating thing for us in the media is that we cannot procure the facts, so the libel laws confine us to sophisticated grammar.
I hope my Switzerland reference tells you something you need to know. With every passing day, Guyana moves at the top into the category of one of the world’s most egregiously corrupt countries in the context of powerful members of the political cabal stealing and taking kick-backs. What needs to be mentioned is the barefacedness of these elites in how they pursue their transactions.
Did you know a man got approval to buy state lands for G$1.5M? He then sold it for G$34M. Then a pattern emerges with this guy. People aren’t stupid. This man (who was in the news recently along with a so-called critic) cannot just go around buying state lands, getting state land grants, and selling the stuff making thousands and thousands of percentage profits just like that.
And to crown it all, one powerful name crops up all the time when this guy buys his lands and gets his concessions. This buyer (a junior politician) is actually the front for this powerful figure. Money ends up in foreign bank accounts.
Guyanese in the “real society” know about this monster of corruption that has devoured the ruling circles (don’t tell me Mama Janet and Papa Cheddi didn’t see it coming; they did). The corruption is ubiquitous. Guyanese encounter it all the time.
Do you know two young men in their early thirties are close to becoming billionaires with the companies they own? Do you know who their fathers are? I will give you a clue. Both fathers wouldn’t mind seeing a change in the Constitution that will do away with term limits.
As I told Christopher Ram in a conversation on Saturday, this Government is so bestially corrupt that we should no longer speak about the era and times of the Burnham Government. When we talk about dictatorship in Guyana, Burnham’s name has faded, gone from the records. The PPP Government is the only dictatorship this country knows.
Showing posts with label democratic centralism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label democratic centralism. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Jagdeo insists his travel expenditure is minimal…says he worries for Guyana if AFC gains power
Kaieteur News news item, Saturday 27 March 2010. Jagdeo insists his travel expenditure is minimal…says he worries for Guyana if AFC gains power.
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2010/03/27/jagdeo-insists-his-travel-expenditure-is-minimal/
March 27, 2010 | By KNews | Filed Under News
Head of State Bharrat Jagdeo is insisting that the annual cost of the travelling for the entire Government is on average $200M. He said that it is not accounted for at the Office of the President but rather with the Accountant General at the Ministry of Finance.
According to Jagdeo, there is one travel vote for the entire government.
The President also responded to Leader of the Alliance for Change, Raphael Trotman, who had told media operatives that the cost of the President’s overseas travel over the past 2 ½ years was nearing $1B.
“If the entire Government is $200M, I worry for this country if they (AFC) get into power…Mathematics is important.”
The President insists that his allowances are the same as a Minister or a regular staff or a Permanent Secretary.
He added that official visits such as his recent trip to Iran are paid for by the host country.
He said that as the issue of his trips was the source of queries, he would reluctantly let it be known that the one trip for the Leader of the Opposition, Robert Corbin, when he was medevaced to the US, “is equivalent to three years of my travel.”
The President added also that when he travels overseas he travels with the smallest delegation, namely his Aide de Camp, Ambassador Elizabeth Harper and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.
This is nothing like the previous administration where routine trips would see a delegation of some 15 persons.
Jagdeo said that when he travels overseas he does not use expensive hotels. “I could because am eligible.” And he has made this clear to his staff that they should not either.
Responding to comments on his travels by the political opposition, President Jagdeo, said that while he was reluctant to mention this fact, Opposition Leader Robert Corbin’s medical bill to an overseas medical facility cost enough money to cover his travel expenses for three years.
ENDS
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2010/03/27/jagdeo-insists-his-travel-expenditure-is-minimal/
March 27, 2010 | By KNews | Filed Under News
Head of State Bharrat Jagdeo is insisting that the annual cost of the travelling for the entire Government is on average $200M. He said that it is not accounted for at the Office of the President but rather with the Accountant General at the Ministry of Finance.
According to Jagdeo, there is one travel vote for the entire government.
The President also responded to Leader of the Alliance for Change, Raphael Trotman, who had told media operatives that the cost of the President’s overseas travel over the past 2 ½ years was nearing $1B.
“If the entire Government is $200M, I worry for this country if they (AFC) get into power…Mathematics is important.”
The President insists that his allowances are the same as a Minister or a regular staff or a Permanent Secretary.
He added that official visits such as his recent trip to Iran are paid for by the host country.
He said that as the issue of his trips was the source of queries, he would reluctantly let it be known that the one trip for the Leader of the Opposition, Robert Corbin, when he was medevaced to the US, “is equivalent to three years of my travel.”
The President added also that when he travels overseas he travels with the smallest delegation, namely his Aide de Camp, Ambassador Elizabeth Harper and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.
This is nothing like the previous administration where routine trips would see a delegation of some 15 persons.
Jagdeo said that when he travels overseas he does not use expensive hotels. “I could because am eligible.” And he has made this clear to his staff that they should not either.
Responding to comments on his travels by the political opposition, President Jagdeo, said that while he was reluctant to mention this fact, Opposition Leader Robert Corbin’s medical bill to an overseas medical facility cost enough money to cover his travel expenses for three years.
ENDS
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Stabroek News Editorial. 21 March 2010. Self image.
Stabroek News Editorial. 21 March 2010. Self image. http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/editorial/03/21/self-image/
By Stabroek staff | March 21, 2010 in Editorial
Political arrangements in Guyana are complicated, and have been made even more complicated by the new provisions for local government elections which contain elements of both a constituency and a proportional representation system. Those new provisions have already been passed by the National Assembly (albeit not with the backing of the opposition), and would technically make possible the holding of local government elections whenever the government so decides. However, should such elections be held at this point, for example, it would be in a context where the actual form of local government which we will eventually end up with has not yet been fully clarified.
The story behind the proposals to reform local government is a long and convoluted one. However, it has two consistent threads: one is the determination of the ruling party to maintain central government control over local authorities, and the other, is the insistence of the opposition that power should be devolved from the centre to the various local bodies. The PPP are obviously not seized of the notion that at some point in the future they might be voted out of office, and that if that came to pass, a decentralized system would be to their advantage. As such, therefore, they have proved quite obdurate in their approach, if not manipulative, and it will not be easy for them to persuade anyone that they have been acting entirely in good faith in the last few years.
The story begins in 2001, when President Jagdeo and then Leader of the Opposition Desmond Hoyte agreed on the setting up of a Local Government Task Force, to be jointly chaired by the two major parties. The principle to which these two parties, as well as those which came into Parliament after the 2006 election, committed themselves, was that local government elections which had been postponed since 1997 should be held under a reformed system. While the meetings (originally intended to last only a year) were not without their periods of interruption, the task force did get under way, and went on to sit for around eight years without achieving accord in certain critical areas.
Now it might be thought by the casual observer that the way for them to have proceeded would have been to create a single omnibus piece of legislation covering all aspects of local government. In fact, what was done was to negotiate the provisions of five separate bills, or amendments to existing acts. These were the Fiscal Transfers Bill, the Local Government (Amendment) Bill, the Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Bill, the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill and the Local Government Commission Bill. (The last two have since been passed by the National Assembly without opposition support.) This approach with its implications for logical order has allowed room for all kinds of manoeuvrings, to which we will return later.
Particularly in its latter phases, the task force was subject to various delays, the key ones of which could be laid at the door of PPP Co-Chair Clinton Collymore. Whatever his intentions, he conveyed the distinct impression that first, he was attempting to stall proceedings, and then that he wanted to transfer the deliberations to a forum where his party exercised greater control. In October 2008, for example, he had written a memorandum recommending that owing to a deadlock on the task force, the remaining issues should be taken up by Cabinet. The opposition objected vehemently, not least because he had no authority to do this, and was acting in defiance of the terms of reference under which the task force had been set up. He was forced to retreat on that occasion; however, undaunted, in April of last year he unilaterally ended the discussions, because, he said, members were split on the agenda for their work.
While he was on no more solid ground than he had been on the first occasion, nevertheless, thereafter, the President moved local government reform to the parliamentary theatre where three of the bills are now mired in Select Committee. In brief, the opposition are not represented on the committee because they have refused to take up their seats there. They have said that the understanding with the ruling party was that the Local Government (Amendment) Bill, which as explained above would make possible the holding of elections, was intended to reflect all of the amendments to the different local government bills when the work on these had been completed.
The government, however, did not table all the bills in the National Assembly simultaneously; they tabled the above-mentioned bill first. According to the opposition, they then used this as an excuse to depart from the agreed agenda for the consideration of the bills in the Select Committee, arguing that they should be reviewed in the sequence in which they had been tabled in Parliament. Since they have a majority, this deviation from the agenda presented no problem for them. After the PPP/C members in the Select Committee had finished with the bill, it went to the House, where government members alone passed it without, as said above, support from the opposition.
The same fate befell the Local Government Commission Bill, which had always been a matter of contention. Under the existing law, the Minister of Local Government has considerable direct control over local authorities, and the proposal was, among other things, to transfer various of those powers to a commission. Under the new legislation, that has been done; the problem is that the government, to all intents and purposes, is responsible for the appointment of all six members of the new commission. Whereas previously, therefore, there was direct control by central government (through the agency of the Local Government Minister), now there is indirect control (mostly through the agency of the President) – a small change of emphasis, perhaps, but certainly not one of substance.
We are now left with three bills outstanding for the Select Committee’s consideration, one of which is of a particularly contentious nature, and that is the Fiscal Transfers Bill. As things stand central government has a great measure of control over the purse strings of the local authorities, and for obvious reasons, the ruling party has shown no enthusiasm for relinquishing this. Financial independence on the part of the regions and councils, etc, would imply some degree of independence of decision-making, something which has always been anathema to the ruling party. In its current format in the Select Committee, the new bill would still allocate the Minister of Local Government considerable discretion.
It is at this point that it might just have crossed the minds of the PPP/C, that their intractability may have a price which is too high to pay. If they use their majority in the House to ram through the remaining legislation, or if they hold local government elections with the Fiscal Transfers Bill especially still outstanding, they run a very real risk of presiding over a flawed election in some sense, particularly if it were held without the co-operation of all segments of the opposition. This would reflect badly in the international arena, not on the opposition, but on the government. We reported an unnamed PPP official last week as saying that the party wanted to avoid “controversy” in relation to the election. We can read this, no doubt, as meaning that they do not want to be bracketed in a category which has a less than democratic patina. A controversial election, in other words, would undermine their own self image.
Perhaps this is the reason the President met with the Leader of the Opposition the week before last, and undertook to have his concerns discussed at the level of the PPP Central Committee. One can only hope that PPP General Secretary Ramotar’s disingenuous remarks about who was responsible for the delays notwithstanding, the rest of the Central Committee has a better grasp of what is at issue, and even at this late stage commits itself to genuine devolution.
By Stabroek staff | March 21, 2010 in Editorial
Political arrangements in Guyana are complicated, and have been made even more complicated by the new provisions for local government elections which contain elements of both a constituency and a proportional representation system. Those new provisions have already been passed by the National Assembly (albeit not with the backing of the opposition), and would technically make possible the holding of local government elections whenever the government so decides. However, should such elections be held at this point, for example, it would be in a context where the actual form of local government which we will eventually end up with has not yet been fully clarified.
The story behind the proposals to reform local government is a long and convoluted one. However, it has two consistent threads: one is the determination of the ruling party to maintain central government control over local authorities, and the other, is the insistence of the opposition that power should be devolved from the centre to the various local bodies. The PPP are obviously not seized of the notion that at some point in the future they might be voted out of office, and that if that came to pass, a decentralized system would be to their advantage. As such, therefore, they have proved quite obdurate in their approach, if not manipulative, and it will not be easy for them to persuade anyone that they have been acting entirely in good faith in the last few years.
The story begins in 2001, when President Jagdeo and then Leader of the Opposition Desmond Hoyte agreed on the setting up of a Local Government Task Force, to be jointly chaired by the two major parties. The principle to which these two parties, as well as those which came into Parliament after the 2006 election, committed themselves, was that local government elections which had been postponed since 1997 should be held under a reformed system. While the meetings (originally intended to last only a year) were not without their periods of interruption, the task force did get under way, and went on to sit for around eight years without achieving accord in certain critical areas.
Now it might be thought by the casual observer that the way for them to have proceeded would have been to create a single omnibus piece of legislation covering all aspects of local government. In fact, what was done was to negotiate the provisions of five separate bills, or amendments to existing acts. These were the Fiscal Transfers Bill, the Local Government (Amendment) Bill, the Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Bill, the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill and the Local Government Commission Bill. (The last two have since been passed by the National Assembly without opposition support.) This approach with its implications for logical order has allowed room for all kinds of manoeuvrings, to which we will return later.
Particularly in its latter phases, the task force was subject to various delays, the key ones of which could be laid at the door of PPP Co-Chair Clinton Collymore. Whatever his intentions, he conveyed the distinct impression that first, he was attempting to stall proceedings, and then that he wanted to transfer the deliberations to a forum where his party exercised greater control. In October 2008, for example, he had written a memorandum recommending that owing to a deadlock on the task force, the remaining issues should be taken up by Cabinet. The opposition objected vehemently, not least because he had no authority to do this, and was acting in defiance of the terms of reference under which the task force had been set up. He was forced to retreat on that occasion; however, undaunted, in April of last year he unilaterally ended the discussions, because, he said, members were split on the agenda for their work.
While he was on no more solid ground than he had been on the first occasion, nevertheless, thereafter, the President moved local government reform to the parliamentary theatre where three of the bills are now mired in Select Committee. In brief, the opposition are not represented on the committee because they have refused to take up their seats there. They have said that the understanding with the ruling party was that the Local Government (Amendment) Bill, which as explained above would make possible the holding of elections, was intended to reflect all of the amendments to the different local government bills when the work on these had been completed.
The government, however, did not table all the bills in the National Assembly simultaneously; they tabled the above-mentioned bill first. According to the opposition, they then used this as an excuse to depart from the agreed agenda for the consideration of the bills in the Select Committee, arguing that they should be reviewed in the sequence in which they had been tabled in Parliament. Since they have a majority, this deviation from the agenda presented no problem for them. After the PPP/C members in the Select Committee had finished with the bill, it went to the House, where government members alone passed it without, as said above, support from the opposition.
The same fate befell the Local Government Commission Bill, which had always been a matter of contention. Under the existing law, the Minister of Local Government has considerable direct control over local authorities, and the proposal was, among other things, to transfer various of those powers to a commission. Under the new legislation, that has been done; the problem is that the government, to all intents and purposes, is responsible for the appointment of all six members of the new commission. Whereas previously, therefore, there was direct control by central government (through the agency of the Local Government Minister), now there is indirect control (mostly through the agency of the President) – a small change of emphasis, perhaps, but certainly not one of substance.
We are now left with three bills outstanding for the Select Committee’s consideration, one of which is of a particularly contentious nature, and that is the Fiscal Transfers Bill. As things stand central government has a great measure of control over the purse strings of the local authorities, and for obvious reasons, the ruling party has shown no enthusiasm for relinquishing this. Financial independence on the part of the regions and councils, etc, would imply some degree of independence of decision-making, something which has always been anathema to the ruling party. In its current format in the Select Committee, the new bill would still allocate the Minister of Local Government considerable discretion.
It is at this point that it might just have crossed the minds of the PPP/C, that their intractability may have a price which is too high to pay. If they use their majority in the House to ram through the remaining legislation, or if they hold local government elections with the Fiscal Transfers Bill especially still outstanding, they run a very real risk of presiding over a flawed election in some sense, particularly if it were held without the co-operation of all segments of the opposition. This would reflect badly in the international arena, not on the opposition, but on the government. We reported an unnamed PPP official last week as saying that the party wanted to avoid “controversy” in relation to the election. We can read this, no doubt, as meaning that they do not want to be bracketed in a category which has a less than democratic patina. A controversial election, in other words, would undermine their own self image.
Perhaps this is the reason the President met with the Leader of the Opposition the week before last, and undertook to have his concerns discussed at the level of the PPP Central Committee. One can only hope that PPP General Secretary Ramotar’s disingenuous remarks about who was responsible for the delays notwithstanding, the rest of the Central Committee has a better grasp of what is at issue, and even at this late stage commits itself to genuine devolution.
GAPA has been resuscitated to misinform farmers and create confusion
Kaieteur News letter. 21 March 2010. GAPA has been resuscitated to misinform farmers and create confusion. http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2010/03/21/gapa-has-been-resuscitated-to-misinform-farmers-and-create-confusion/
March 21, 2010 | By KNews | Filed Under Letters
Dear Editor,
The article appearing in newspapers of 16 March, 2010, based on a press release from GAPA, describes the Guyana Agricultural Producers Association as a non-governmental group, when in fact it was launched as a PPP front group in the latter part of the 1070’s.
I was one of the leading members of the group. At the time I was also the General Secretary of the Guyana Cane Farmers Association and shared the same office facilities with GAPA and the Guyana Rice Producers Association. We were also a PPP front organisation, but we offered vibrant mass support to all cane farmers in the country, backed by the PPP and its organ, the Mirror newspaper.
Under the instruction of Dr Jagan, in the latter part of the 1970’s, the group was headed by the veteran PPP Organiser, Pariag Sukhai, who later became a Member of Parliament. The sole intention of GAPA was to assist small farmers engaged in cash crop farming to demand better prices and farming conditions from the PNC dictatorship.
Pariag, who is still alive, can attest to this fact, since he became its first President. It was not legally incorporated, as the Guyana Rice Producers Association and was therefore not held accountable by law.
GAPA was resuscitated by the Ameridian Minister Pauline Sukhai and Robert Persuad last year to enhance the image of the Jagdeo- Persaud regime, to actively misinform farmers and create confusion among the farming community.
This current outfit has become part of the Stalinist method of misrule and control by the powers that be. It does not matter which vehicle the Jagdeo regime uses to spread its lies and misinformation, people will not buy its propaganda. The reality is - a major crisis is going to face the country soon and no amount of smoke screen will blow things away.
Already the cost of living is reaching a high point and the blame is solidly placed on the arrogant and talkative Minister of Agriculture and those officials in the Ministry of Agriculture due to their failure to pump water in all the conservancies in the latter part of last year, which would have prevented the current hardships facing all farmers and consequently all workers and all citizens.
We do not have the same crisis in neighbouring Suriname, why? Because of the level of importance shown by those who are in government. Where – then - does the buck stops? Certainly the Jagdeo administration must be held to account and specifically his inexperienced relative, Montgomery Robert Persaud. All will agree that such levels of incompetence will not be tolerated in other countries. The Minister would have been out of a job, but here, the person is promoted to higher office.
The unwarranted attack on the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) General Secretary Norris Witter, claiming that he has been attempting to politicize the national response to the global El Nino phenomenon, is a vain attempt to divert the nation’s attention from the appalling mishandling of the current weather situation. The workers will be faced with severe food shortages and high prices and it is the role and duty of the trade union leaders to defend the welfare and well-being of its members and society at large.
M. Jinnah Rahman
March 21, 2010 | By KNews | Filed Under Letters
Dear Editor,
The article appearing in newspapers of 16 March, 2010, based on a press release from GAPA, describes the Guyana Agricultural Producers Association as a non-governmental group, when in fact it was launched as a PPP front group in the latter part of the 1070’s.
I was one of the leading members of the group. At the time I was also the General Secretary of the Guyana Cane Farmers Association and shared the same office facilities with GAPA and the Guyana Rice Producers Association. We were also a PPP front organisation, but we offered vibrant mass support to all cane farmers in the country, backed by the PPP and its organ, the Mirror newspaper.
Under the instruction of Dr Jagan, in the latter part of the 1970’s, the group was headed by the veteran PPP Organiser, Pariag Sukhai, who later became a Member of Parliament. The sole intention of GAPA was to assist small farmers engaged in cash crop farming to demand better prices and farming conditions from the PNC dictatorship.
Pariag, who is still alive, can attest to this fact, since he became its first President. It was not legally incorporated, as the Guyana Rice Producers Association and was therefore not held accountable by law.
GAPA was resuscitated by the Ameridian Minister Pauline Sukhai and Robert Persuad last year to enhance the image of the Jagdeo- Persaud regime, to actively misinform farmers and create confusion among the farming community.
This current outfit has become part of the Stalinist method of misrule and control by the powers that be. It does not matter which vehicle the Jagdeo regime uses to spread its lies and misinformation, people will not buy its propaganda. The reality is - a major crisis is going to face the country soon and no amount of smoke screen will blow things away.
Already the cost of living is reaching a high point and the blame is solidly placed on the arrogant and talkative Minister of Agriculture and those officials in the Ministry of Agriculture due to their failure to pump water in all the conservancies in the latter part of last year, which would have prevented the current hardships facing all farmers and consequently all workers and all citizens.
We do not have the same crisis in neighbouring Suriname, why? Because of the level of importance shown by those who are in government. Where – then - does the buck stops? Certainly the Jagdeo administration must be held to account and specifically his inexperienced relative, Montgomery Robert Persaud. All will agree that such levels of incompetence will not be tolerated in other countries. The Minister would have been out of a job, but here, the person is promoted to higher office.
The unwarranted attack on the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) General Secretary Norris Witter, claiming that he has been attempting to politicize the national response to the global El Nino phenomenon, is a vain attempt to divert the nation’s attention from the appalling mishandling of the current weather situation. The workers will be faced with severe food shortages and high prices and it is the role and duty of the trade union leaders to defend the welfare and well-being of its members and society at large.
M. Jinnah Rahman
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Government refuses to disburse to the Critchlow Labour College monies budgeted and approved by Parliament
Stabroek News Letter to the Editor, September 25, 2009. There should not be double standards. http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/09/25/there-should-not-be-double-standards/
Dear Editor,
I am prompted to reply to public statements made by Mr Norman Faria, Guyana Honorary Consul to Barbados condemning several positions I have taken on contemporary issues and more so those pertaining to Guyana. I wish to reiterate my position that I stand on the side of justice and fair play regardless of who heads the government. I stood against what I perceived to be the unjust actions of all former governments, and I shall continue to stand against any form of injustice at this time when it is clear that those who are given the privilege to lead consider the country their personal property and the citizens their subjects.
As Honorary Consul to Barbados it is Mr Faria’s responsibility to, among other diplomatic tasks, represent the rights and dignity of Guyanese citizens in Barbados.
This is however not without noting my serious concern about his willingness to export and advance the partisan politics of the PPP government, whose disregard for human rights is being exposed daily.
I am concerned that while he seeks to tell us about the transgressions in respect of Guyanese rights in Barbados, at the same time he remains silent on rights violations by the Government of Guyana in relation to some Guyanese. This is a double standard.
I am sure as Honorary Consul he is aware the Government of Guyana continues to refuse to disburse to the Critchlow Labour College monies budgeted and approved by Parliament, and moreso seeks to deny the college any future allocations. The funding that I am referring to belongs to the taxpayers and was given to the college from its inception in 1968. This college provides training and education for taxpayers, some of whom are prepared to upgrade their skills and desire a second chance to complete a high school education. The fact that this denial affects a student population which is predominantly African, feeds the Social Sciences programmes at the University of Guyana, raises questions about the partisan nature of the government’s decision. Additionally, the government has also refused to disburse to the Guyana Trades Union Congress a grant approved by Parliament, and has since established a parallel trade union federation which validates its human rights abuses. This grant was in place since independence and was never denied even though there were instances when the trade unions and former governments were at logger-heads.
The Consul is also aware of the many state agencies that employed a dominant African labour force, which over the years were either closed, or significantly downsized and no efforts made to create employment opportunities for those affected or protect their pension plans, despite the fact that proposals have been offered by the trade union community and other interest groups. Juxtapose this with the government’s continued investments in the Indian dominated economic sectors, such as in sugar and rice, among others, and the impact of our concerns becomes even more disconcerting.
Repeated attacks on Dr Kean Gibson, UWI Lecturer, to the extent of writing the General Manager, Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, Television, was nothing short of attempting to deny her the right to freedom of speech in sharing her understanding of the racial and political oppression in Guyana. Similar attempts have also been made to silence or demonise others in and out of Barbados who have spoken out against the transgressions inflicted on Guyanese at home. This assumed role is inconsistent with the mandate of Honourary Consul since no government should be involved in attacking its citizens’ rights regardless of where they are located.
Within recent years law and order in Guyana have been under siege. There have been many murders where the guilty parties and the reasons for such actions remain a mystery. Many have fallen victim to murder, drive-by shootings, profiling, single executions, violence and robberies, but justice is yet to be served. Persons deemed to be criminals have been murdered by the police and army and no inquest held consistent with the law. Hundreds have died at the hands of the death/phantom squad(s) supported by rogue elements in the Guyana Police Force and Guyana Defence Force, and without being discountenanced by officialdom. Had a civilized approach been taken the appropriate investigations would have been conducted; those identified would have been charged; evidence presented in court; found guilty; and the victims’ families would have received justice, having been clear in their minds who was responsible for the death of their loved ones. The society too would have been better served from these experiences.
Guyana is in crisis. As a Guyanese I share the concerns of those desirous of seeing the country return to normalcy, where our laws are respected and everyone, regardless of race, sex, creed or political persuasion, can have equal access to the country’s resources. Every citizen who believes in a just society has a responsibility to uphold the constitution and laws. It should however be noted the government and its representatives have a greater responsibility and as such Mr Faria’s voice is needed to speak out against the lawlessness, injustices and inequity committed daily.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis
General Secretary (on leave)
Guyana Trades Union Congress
18 Comments (Open | Close)
18 Comments To "There should not be double standards"
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/09/25/there-should-not-be-double-standards/
Dear Editor,
I am prompted to reply to public statements made by Mr Norman Faria, Guyana Honorary Consul to Barbados condemning several positions I have taken on contemporary issues and more so those pertaining to Guyana. I wish to reiterate my position that I stand on the side of justice and fair play regardless of who heads the government. I stood against what I perceived to be the unjust actions of all former governments, and I shall continue to stand against any form of injustice at this time when it is clear that those who are given the privilege to lead consider the country their personal property and the citizens their subjects.
As Honorary Consul to Barbados it is Mr Faria’s responsibility to, among other diplomatic tasks, represent the rights and dignity of Guyanese citizens in Barbados.
This is however not without noting my serious concern about his willingness to export and advance the partisan politics of the PPP government, whose disregard for human rights is being exposed daily.
I am concerned that while he seeks to tell us about the transgressions in respect of Guyanese rights in Barbados, at the same time he remains silent on rights violations by the Government of Guyana in relation to some Guyanese. This is a double standard.
I am sure as Honorary Consul he is aware the Government of Guyana continues to refuse to disburse to the Critchlow Labour College monies budgeted and approved by Parliament, and moreso seeks to deny the college any future allocations. The funding that I am referring to belongs to the taxpayers and was given to the college from its inception in 1968. This college provides training and education for taxpayers, some of whom are prepared to upgrade their skills and desire a second chance to complete a high school education. The fact that this denial affects a student population which is predominantly African, feeds the Social Sciences programmes at the University of Guyana, raises questions about the partisan nature of the government’s decision. Additionally, the government has also refused to disburse to the Guyana Trades Union Congress a grant approved by Parliament, and has since established a parallel trade union federation which validates its human rights abuses. This grant was in place since independence and was never denied even though there were instances when the trade unions and former governments were at logger-heads.
The Consul is also aware of the many state agencies that employed a dominant African labour force, which over the years were either closed, or significantly downsized and no efforts made to create employment opportunities for those affected or protect their pension plans, despite the fact that proposals have been offered by the trade union community and other interest groups. Juxtapose this with the government’s continued investments in the Indian dominated economic sectors, such as in sugar and rice, among others, and the impact of our concerns becomes even more disconcerting.
Repeated attacks on Dr Kean Gibson, UWI Lecturer, to the extent of writing the General Manager, Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, Television, was nothing short of attempting to deny her the right to freedom of speech in sharing her understanding of the racial and political oppression in Guyana. Similar attempts have also been made to silence or demonise others in and out of Barbados who have spoken out against the transgressions inflicted on Guyanese at home. This assumed role is inconsistent with the mandate of Honourary Consul since no government should be involved in attacking its citizens’ rights regardless of where they are located.
Within recent years law and order in Guyana have been under siege. There have been many murders where the guilty parties and the reasons for such actions remain a mystery. Many have fallen victim to murder, drive-by shootings, profiling, single executions, violence and robberies, but justice is yet to be served. Persons deemed to be criminals have been murdered by the police and army and no inquest held consistent with the law. Hundreds have died at the hands of the death/phantom squad(s) supported by rogue elements in the Guyana Police Force and Guyana Defence Force, and without being discountenanced by officialdom. Had a civilized approach been taken the appropriate investigations would have been conducted; those identified would have been charged; evidence presented in court; found guilty; and the victims’ families would have received justice, having been clear in their minds who was responsible for the death of their loved ones. The society too would have been better served from these experiences.
Guyana is in crisis. As a Guyanese I share the concerns of those desirous of seeing the country return to normalcy, where our laws are respected and everyone, regardless of race, sex, creed or political persuasion, can have equal access to the country’s resources. Every citizen who believes in a just society has a responsibility to uphold the constitution and laws. It should however be noted the government and its representatives have a greater responsibility and as such Mr Faria’s voice is needed to speak out against the lawlessness, injustices and inequity committed daily.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis
General Secretary (on leave)
Guyana Trades Union Congress
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18 Comments To "There should not be double standards"
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/09/25/there-should-not-be-double-standards/
the President’s friend Dr Bobby Ramroop benefits from State concessions
Stabroek News Letter to the Editor, 26 September 2009. No level playing field
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/09/26/no-level-playing-field/
Dear Editor,
In November 2006 the Jagdeo administration suddenly and arbitrarily withdrew all state advertisements from the privately-owned Stabroek News. Mr Jagdeo, after being persistently press-ed for a reason, explained to a non-believing public that the decision had been made on the grounds of readership and economics.
When President Jagdeo on April 8, 2008, equally suddenly and arbitrarily, announced that he was relaxing the ban, some saw it as the result of the tireless struggle for just such a removal, by the late Editor-in-Chief of Stabroek News, Mr David de Caires and others. Others saw in it, to use an elegant term, a sleight of hand. Among the latter group were those who were aware that the Presi-dent’s friend Dr Bobby Ramroop, already the recipient of improper contracts from the Ministry of Health, was about to set up a newspaper under a package of unlawful concessions for his business which also benefited the newspaper.
That cynicism and suspicion were justified in a most glaring manner last Wednesday when the Ramroop newspaper, the Guyana Times, with a modest circulation, had state advertisements equivalent to those of the Kaieteur News and Stabroek News combined measured in terms of column inches. Undisputedly, these newspapers have a total circulation of approximately ten times that of the Guyana Times.
Of the many implications of this state of affairs, I find the following three most disturbing:
1. The extent to which the President is prepared to give away state resources in the form of government-owned property and taxes to favoured persons.
2. That like the Guyana Chronicle and the NCN, the Guyana Times is being subsidised by taxpayers to promote the partisan interests of the government and the private interests of the same favoured persons.
3. That the PPP/C, a self-described working class party, is prepared to divert the taxes paid by the working class to those who already have.
Instead of those in the private sector and the Private Sector Commission heeding the not too subtle call by President Jagdeo to boycott the Kaieteur News, all Guyanese should be thankful to the Stabroek News and the Kaieteur News for their resoluteness in the face of this increasingly undemocratic and pernicious onslaught.
Yours faithfully,
Christopher Ram
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URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/09/26/no-level-playing-field/
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/09/26/no-level-playing-field/
Dear Editor,
In November 2006 the Jagdeo administration suddenly and arbitrarily withdrew all state advertisements from the privately-owned Stabroek News. Mr Jagdeo, after being persistently press-ed for a reason, explained to a non-believing public that the decision had been made on the grounds of readership and economics.
When President Jagdeo on April 8, 2008, equally suddenly and arbitrarily, announced that he was relaxing the ban, some saw it as the result of the tireless struggle for just such a removal, by the late Editor-in-Chief of Stabroek News, Mr David de Caires and others. Others saw in it, to use an elegant term, a sleight of hand. Among the latter group were those who were aware that the Presi-dent’s friend Dr Bobby Ramroop, already the recipient of improper contracts from the Ministry of Health, was about to set up a newspaper under a package of unlawful concessions for his business which also benefited the newspaper.
That cynicism and suspicion were justified in a most glaring manner last Wednesday when the Ramroop newspaper, the Guyana Times, with a modest circulation, had state advertisements equivalent to those of the Kaieteur News and Stabroek News combined measured in terms of column inches. Undisputedly, these newspapers have a total circulation of approximately ten times that of the Guyana Times.
Of the many implications of this state of affairs, I find the following three most disturbing:
1. The extent to which the President is prepared to give away state resources in the form of government-owned property and taxes to favoured persons.
2. That like the Guyana Chronicle and the NCN, the Guyana Times is being subsidised by taxpayers to promote the partisan interests of the government and the private interests of the same favoured persons.
3. That the PPP/C, a self-described working class party, is prepared to divert the taxes paid by the working class to those who already have.
Instead of those in the private sector and the Private Sector Commission heeding the not too subtle call by President Jagdeo to boycott the Kaieteur News, all Guyanese should be thankful to the Stabroek News and the Kaieteur News for their resoluteness in the face of this increasingly undemocratic and pernicious onslaught.
Yours faithfully,
Christopher Ram
6 Comments (Open | Close)
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/09/26/no-level-playing-field/
Sunday, September 20, 2009
GOOD MEN AND WOMEN MUST ACT!
Kaieteur News Editorial, Sunday 20 September 2009 - "GOOD MEN AND WOMEN MUST ACT!" - http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/09/20/good-men-and-women-must-act/
The State and government both have an obligation in free societies to support the media by allowing access to public officials and information. The availability of this information contributes to an enlightened polity and thus informed choices. The ability to make such choices strengthens democracy and creates conditions whereby citizens feel that their views will not only be known but acted upon, thereby reducing the chasm between politicians and the people and brining the latter closer to the decision-making process. In this regard, the media acts as a conduit between the policymaker and the citizens, allowing a flow of information and feedback.
The media is also the watchdog for citizens, guarding against excesses and incompetence, corruption and ineptitude. The media as a watchdog serves a function that benefits the people, the State and government.
In Guyana today, it would seem as if there is a lack of appreciation by the government for the important role the media plays as a watchdog. The trials and tribulations that this newspaper has been subjected to simply for reporting on matters of public concern has reached the stage whereby it is being forced to defend a slew of libel cases, but even more tragically, is having grave difficulties in obtaining matters which any government ought to have been willing to provide readily to the media.
After this newspaper broke certain stories in the media, one minister actually encouraged the media to continue its work, by asking for the help of the media in monitoring all government contracts falling under his portfolio.
However, despite repeated requests to government officials for information on certain contracts, this newspaper remains empty-handed, thereby making a mockery of that minister’s invitation to the media. This newspaper has also sought additional information concerning contracts in the education sector. We are still waiting.
How then is the public interest served? How can we provide the necessary investigative journalism when there is a virtual embargo against us when it comes to obtaining information on government tendering, something that has been the subject of major controversy in this country?
We shall continue to persevere and keep the nation informed as to our frustrations in obtaining details of government projects. We however remain open to exploring all avenues so as to bring matters of public importance to the people. As such, if the doors of officialdom continue to be slammed shut in our faces, we shall pursue our cause through the international financial institutions that fund public works since all of these institutions and also the donor countries are, we believe, firmly committed to openness and transparency in the award of contracts funded by these countries and international financial institutions.
Not all contracts are, of course, funded by the international financial institutions. As we have seen there is significant work being undertaken using resources obtained from taxpayers. These taxpayers have an obligation to know how every cent of their money is being spent. This newspaper therefore will continue to make efforts to bring to the attention of the public how their monies are being used, regardless of how often we are rebuffed.
There are, of course, other bodies in whose faces doors cannot be shut and who can play an important role, in keeping with their mandates, in ensuring public transparency and accountability. We refer here to the Office of the Auditor General who has powers to investigate whether public funds have found its way into anyone’s bankbook and whether there has been value for money in relation to works executed with the use of public funds.
The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly is also empowered to demand records and interrogate public officials about the use of public funds. We hope that when the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly is convened, it will as the first order of business summon the requisite parties and demand explanations as to the award of the contracts, particularly those that have in recent weeks been highlighted in this newspaper.
The State and government both have an obligation in free societies to support the media by allowing access to public officials and information. The availability of this information contributes to an enlightened polity and thus informed choices. The ability to make such choices strengthens democracy and creates conditions whereby citizens feel that their views will not only be known but acted upon, thereby reducing the chasm between politicians and the people and brining the latter closer to the decision-making process. In this regard, the media acts as a conduit between the policymaker and the citizens, allowing a flow of information and feedback.
The media is also the watchdog for citizens, guarding against excesses and incompetence, corruption and ineptitude. The media as a watchdog serves a function that benefits the people, the State and government.
In Guyana today, it would seem as if there is a lack of appreciation by the government for the important role the media plays as a watchdog. The trials and tribulations that this newspaper has been subjected to simply for reporting on matters of public concern has reached the stage whereby it is being forced to defend a slew of libel cases, but even more tragically, is having grave difficulties in obtaining matters which any government ought to have been willing to provide readily to the media.
After this newspaper broke certain stories in the media, one minister actually encouraged the media to continue its work, by asking for the help of the media in monitoring all government contracts falling under his portfolio.
However, despite repeated requests to government officials for information on certain contracts, this newspaper remains empty-handed, thereby making a mockery of that minister’s invitation to the media. This newspaper has also sought additional information concerning contracts in the education sector. We are still waiting.
How then is the public interest served? How can we provide the necessary investigative journalism when there is a virtual embargo against us when it comes to obtaining information on government tendering, something that has been the subject of major controversy in this country?
We shall continue to persevere and keep the nation informed as to our frustrations in obtaining details of government projects. We however remain open to exploring all avenues so as to bring matters of public importance to the people. As such, if the doors of officialdom continue to be slammed shut in our faces, we shall pursue our cause through the international financial institutions that fund public works since all of these institutions and also the donor countries are, we believe, firmly committed to openness and transparency in the award of contracts funded by these countries and international financial institutions.
Not all contracts are, of course, funded by the international financial institutions. As we have seen there is significant work being undertaken using resources obtained from taxpayers. These taxpayers have an obligation to know how every cent of their money is being spent. This newspaper therefore will continue to make efforts to bring to the attention of the public how their monies are being used, regardless of how often we are rebuffed.
There are, of course, other bodies in whose faces doors cannot be shut and who can play an important role, in keeping with their mandates, in ensuring public transparency and accountability. We refer here to the Office of the Auditor General who has powers to investigate whether public funds have found its way into anyone’s bankbook and whether there has been value for money in relation to works executed with the use of public funds.
The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly is also empowered to demand records and interrogate public officials about the use of public funds. We hope that when the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly is convened, it will as the first order of business summon the requisite parties and demand explanations as to the award of the contracts, particularly those that have in recent weeks been highlighted in this newspaper.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Frustrated CANU ranks question senior officer's credibility
Kaieteur News news item, Saturday 12 September 2009 - "Frustrated CANU ranks question senior officer's credibility" - http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/09/12/frustrated-canu-ranks-question-senior-officer%e2%80%99s-credibility/
Ranks of the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) are expressing frustration and are questioning the credibility of a senior officer. This comes following several alleged orders to stand down, when matters involved persons purported to be known drug dealers in Guyana.
The most recent incident was sparked yesterday when four units of about 16 ranks swooped down on a Queenstown residence.
They allege that they had received information about a businessman from the DEA in the USA about six months ago and had been conducting surveillance since then.
Yesterday, when the four units surrounded the building, they were met with heavy grill work and reported that they then spoke with persons in the building who refused to allow them entrance to the property to conduct their search for illicit drugs and possible narcotics.
They said when they finally got to speak to the businessman, he telephoned CANU and allegedly spoke with a senior officer, and they subsequently received a call directing them to stand down and remove from the premises.
They told this publication that about 45 minutes after they left the premises, four vehicles arrived and removed a quantity of items to an unknown destination.
This move, they indicated, was the basis of their frustration, and they have expressed confusion that they had the information but were ordered to remove from the premises by the senior officer, after six months of surveillance.
They said, too, that such developments have taken place on several occasions since the employment of the senior officer.
Kaieteur News contacted the named senior officer of the unit, yesterday, and he confirmed that “we did have an operation but someone is trying to create mischief by playing mind games.”
He admitted that he did pass an order to ranks to step down and return to base, but said that “we don’t operate with the DEA and I can’t offer any operation information to compromise the ranks either.”
When told about the many allegations levelled, he said that after the ranks returned he did have a debriefing session with them, but is not aware of anything else as “no one told me anything.”
Ranks of the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) are expressing frustration and are questioning the credibility of a senior officer. This comes following several alleged orders to stand down, when matters involved persons purported to be known drug dealers in Guyana.
The most recent incident was sparked yesterday when four units of about 16 ranks swooped down on a Queenstown residence.
They allege that they had received information about a businessman from the DEA in the USA about six months ago and had been conducting surveillance since then.
Yesterday, when the four units surrounded the building, they were met with heavy grill work and reported that they then spoke with persons in the building who refused to allow them entrance to the property to conduct their search for illicit drugs and possible narcotics.
They said when they finally got to speak to the businessman, he telephoned CANU and allegedly spoke with a senior officer, and they subsequently received a call directing them to stand down and remove from the premises.
They told this publication that about 45 minutes after they left the premises, four vehicles arrived and removed a quantity of items to an unknown destination.
This move, they indicated, was the basis of their frustration, and they have expressed confusion that they had the information but were ordered to remove from the premises by the senior officer, after six months of surveillance.
They said, too, that such developments have taken place on several occasions since the employment of the senior officer.
Kaieteur News contacted the named senior officer of the unit, yesterday, and he confirmed that “we did have an operation but someone is trying to create mischief by playing mind games.”
He admitted that he did pass an order to ranks to step down and return to base, but said that “we don’t operate with the DEA and I can’t offer any operation information to compromise the ranks either.”
When told about the many allegations levelled, he said that after the ranks returned he did have a debriefing session with them, but is not aware of anything else as “no one told me anything.”
Monday, September 7, 2009
President has not given his assent to the Local Government (Elections) Amendment Bill, 2009
The nation awaits President Jagdeo response on this one
September 7, 2009 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/09/07/the-nation-awaits-president-jagdeo-response-on-this-one/
Political conversation in the Georgetown circuit still centers on President Jagdeo’s outburst against the Kaieteur News at the dinner held at the Pegasus by the Private Sector Commission on August 28. It is certain to be displaced by the contents of page 14 of yesterday’s Kaieteur News.
If you haven’t read that page, I urge you to do so. It consists of some trenchant criticism of President Jagdeo and the competence of his Government, not by a perennial anti-PPP critic, an opposition politician but by the neutral figure of the Chairman of the GECOM, Dr. Steve Surajbally.
It is when you read what Dr. Surajbally has to say about why there were no Local Government Elections this year, then, you could put into proper context, the President’s unwarranted attack on the Kaieteur News.
The point is that perennial blame is always laid at the doorstep of the opposition, the private media and anti-government critics. But these are masks to hide chronic non-performance, abysmal incompetence and administrative ineptitude of the worst kind by the PPP Government since 1992. Let us quote from page 14 of yesterday’s Kaieteur News.
Entitled, “Late payment of requisite funds staled process,” the following is an extract from the article; “Dr. Surajbally was responding to recent assertions by President Jagdeo dismissing them as ‘unfair, deleterious, inaccurate and ill-advised statements about GECOM’ adding that some of the statements have been repeated by influential members of the PPP, Government Officials and the party newspaper, the Mirror.”
If wasn’t for space constraints, I would have repeated this section of the KN news item. This is an important observation by the GECOM boss with far reaching implications for stability in this country. When commentators make these kinds of opinions, they are accused of trying to create mischief, we will come to that below but let’s offer more quotes from the article.
Here is Dr. Surajbally in his own words; “With uncanny prescience, perspicacity and farsightedness, the President developed a scenario relative to the paths, associated with the conclusion of the deliberations of the Joint Task Force for Local Government Reform (JTFLGR) which would have been taken…This forecast was shared with the nation and published by the media…how can the President be disappointed, when he himself so ably predicted how the sequence of events would unfold?’ Now if you think that was a frank statement on the role of the President in the Local Government debacle, read the following words of the GECOM Chairman.
“To this date, neither the Chairman nor the Commission has received the final text of he Local Government (Elections) Amendment Bill, 2009…In fact, up to the time of writing, the disappointed President has not given his assent to this piece of legislation…After not being disappointed for eight years, after not doing anything to rectify and speed up the JTFLEGR’s activities, how can one be legitimately disappointed when Local Government Elections are postponed for only a few months?”
Now here is the bombshell from GECOM that should cause every Guyanese to be careful what they hear from the people who run the Government of Guyana. There is no reason for us to believe anything these people say. Here is a quote from the article; “The GECOM Chairman also questioned how the President could be disappointed with the postponement of Local Government Elections when only on June 11th, 2009, GECOM received the money to pay De La Rue for the production of ID cards.” (End of all quotes and extracts)
For over four decades, East Indians in this country have been told by the PPP of how bad the PNC is, how the WPA wanted the power the PPP has, how these anti-government commentators are working to spread destabilization messages, how the private media have its own anti-government agenda, how human right groups are front for the opposition.
The quotes you read above, the accusations made above, were not from the pen of anti-government commentator, not from the editorial of a private newspaper but from the highly neutral office of the Chairman of GECOM.
Let it be clear in the minds of those who read what the GECOM boss said – there is an intention to smear the name of GECOM in relation to not holding Local Government Elections in 2009 when those very voices that framed that intention contributed to the process that did not allow GECOM to proceed with the elections.
What other paths of shamelessness is left for certain people to walk on in this country? If you believe in God, then pray with all your might that Guyana is saved in 2011 by a change of government.
September 7, 2009 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/09/07/the-nation-awaits-president-jagdeo-response-on-this-one/
Political conversation in the Georgetown circuit still centers on President Jagdeo’s outburst against the Kaieteur News at the dinner held at the Pegasus by the Private Sector Commission on August 28. It is certain to be displaced by the contents of page 14 of yesterday’s Kaieteur News.
If you haven’t read that page, I urge you to do so. It consists of some trenchant criticism of President Jagdeo and the competence of his Government, not by a perennial anti-PPP critic, an opposition politician but by the neutral figure of the Chairman of the GECOM, Dr. Steve Surajbally.
It is when you read what Dr. Surajbally has to say about why there were no Local Government Elections this year, then, you could put into proper context, the President’s unwarranted attack on the Kaieteur News.
The point is that perennial blame is always laid at the doorstep of the opposition, the private media and anti-government critics. But these are masks to hide chronic non-performance, abysmal incompetence and administrative ineptitude of the worst kind by the PPP Government since 1992. Let us quote from page 14 of yesterday’s Kaieteur News.
Entitled, “Late payment of requisite funds staled process,” the following is an extract from the article; “Dr. Surajbally was responding to recent assertions by President Jagdeo dismissing them as ‘unfair, deleterious, inaccurate and ill-advised statements about GECOM’ adding that some of the statements have been repeated by influential members of the PPP, Government Officials and the party newspaper, the Mirror.”
If wasn’t for space constraints, I would have repeated this section of the KN news item. This is an important observation by the GECOM boss with far reaching implications for stability in this country. When commentators make these kinds of opinions, they are accused of trying to create mischief, we will come to that below but let’s offer more quotes from the article.
Here is Dr. Surajbally in his own words; “With uncanny prescience, perspicacity and farsightedness, the President developed a scenario relative to the paths, associated with the conclusion of the deliberations of the Joint Task Force for Local Government Reform (JTFLGR) which would have been taken…This forecast was shared with the nation and published by the media…how can the President be disappointed, when he himself so ably predicted how the sequence of events would unfold?’ Now if you think that was a frank statement on the role of the President in the Local Government debacle, read the following words of the GECOM Chairman.
“To this date, neither the Chairman nor the Commission has received the final text of he Local Government (Elections) Amendment Bill, 2009…In fact, up to the time of writing, the disappointed President has not given his assent to this piece of legislation…After not being disappointed for eight years, after not doing anything to rectify and speed up the JTFLEGR’s activities, how can one be legitimately disappointed when Local Government Elections are postponed for only a few months?”
Now here is the bombshell from GECOM that should cause every Guyanese to be careful what they hear from the people who run the Government of Guyana. There is no reason for us to believe anything these people say. Here is a quote from the article; “The GECOM Chairman also questioned how the President could be disappointed with the postponement of Local Government Elections when only on June 11th, 2009, GECOM received the money to pay De La Rue for the production of ID cards.” (End of all quotes and extracts)
For over four decades, East Indians in this country have been told by the PPP of how bad the PNC is, how the WPA wanted the power the PPP has, how these anti-government commentators are working to spread destabilization messages, how the private media have its own anti-government agenda, how human right groups are front for the opposition.
The quotes you read above, the accusations made above, were not from the pen of anti-government commentator, not from the editorial of a private newspaper but from the highly neutral office of the Chairman of GECOM.
Let it be clear in the minds of those who read what the GECOM boss said – there is an intention to smear the name of GECOM in relation to not holding Local Government Elections in 2009 when those very voices that framed that intention contributed to the process that did not allow GECOM to proceed with the elections.
What other paths of shamelessness is left for certain people to walk on in this country? If you believe in God, then pray with all your might that Guyana is saved in 2011 by a change of government.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Minister Clement Rohee US visa revoked
Clement Rohee must resign now!
September 4, 2009 | By knews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/09/04/clement-rohee-must-resign-now/
When Ministers are caught openly evading the truth, it gets them into trouble. But they resort to a traditional bulwark from which you cannot dislodge them. They would say I never said so or I never used those words. And they are right; they evaded using the words you expected them to say. It is a different matter entirely when they issue definitive statements that are not true and can be proven wrong.
Many people feel that certain very powerfully placed politicians will be in tsunami waters if it can be proven that they met with Roger Khan because they have repeatedly denied they met him or had any discussion with him.
As I wrote before, President Jagdeo is choosing his words carefully on the third term possibility. He has avoided saying that he will not run if his party wants him to or PPP supporters asked him to. So far his words are thus shaped; “I have no intention, no desire.” Those are very banal remarks people have used countless times in their individual lives. They have changed their minds with the following explanation; “At the time, it wasn’t my desire or intention.”
When President Jagdeo does accept the PPP’s nomination as presidential candidate for the 2011 elections and the press puts the question to him, he will say the same; “At the time, that was the way I felt.” It means you cannot accuse him of lying because he didn’t say, “I will never run in 2011.”
Clement Rohee is in a different category. This writer thought that Mr. Rohee’s achievements were phenomenal after he became a Minister in October 1992. As someone who hardly made it through primary school, Mr. Rohee rose to become one of the longest serving Cabinet Ministers in the CARICOM region.
But his career has been an inelegant, blemished, uninspiring one. From all my travels in this country meeting people, I believe that if a survey was taken by a reputable institution, it will find that Mr. Rohee is one of the least admired Ministers throughout the history of this nation. When you think of Mr. Rohee, Mr. Jagdeo, Mr. Kellawan Lall, Mr. Bheri Ramsaran, Mr. Charles Ramson, then think of Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Something was inherently defective about Jagan’s psychological make-up to have nurtured these types of personalities in the realm of working class politics. You don’t have to look far to see what a flawed character Jagan was – just look at who he left to administer his party and run the Government of Guyana.
It is a huge embarrassment for a nation when a Minister of a Government in 2009 does not know about “Google search.” I can understand a mediocre pretender like Vishnu Bisram who didn’t know about that.
Bisram as most Guyanese would know ended up being exposed. After 20 years of conducting polls all over the world, Bisram’s NACTA cannot be located by a Google search. Bisram was foolish enough not to know that people would Google him and his fictional organisation, NACTA. Rohee is a Government Minister. He should know about Google search. If he does not, he has no place in any organization in any country.
Here are Mr. Rohee’s own words in the letter pages of both independent dailies for September 2, 2009. He was responding to an enquiry from UWI law lecturer, Arif Bulkan as to why the American Embassy refused to give Rohee a visa. “I never said my visa was cancelled; others did, and sadly, Mr. Bulkan swallowed it, hook, line and sinker. Talk about commonsense!”
I hope Mr. Rohee knows what is commonsense and who has it, who hasn’t got it and who ought to have it. I Googled the following question, “Minister Clement Rohee US visa revoked,” and I got 122 items. Readers should know at the time, Rohee was International Trade Minister.
In the February 22, 2004 issue of the Stabroek News, then Foreign Minister, Insanally acknowledged to the newspaper that the US was not giving Mr. Rohee a visa, and Cabinet will have to take up the matter. GINA issued a press release on March 24 with the following words; “Mr. Rohee applied for an American visa but his application was revoked for reasons not given….” Another GINA report stated that Mr. Rohee was subsequently offered the reason why he couldn’t get his visa. This writer has written twice that he knows why the visa was not granted. It was told to me in 2006 by a US embassy official. But I was asked not to print it. A Freedom of Information request in the US by a US citizen should reveal the reason if Rohee doesn’t want to talk.
September 4, 2009 | By knews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/09/04/clement-rohee-must-resign-now/
When Ministers are caught openly evading the truth, it gets them into trouble. But they resort to a traditional bulwark from which you cannot dislodge them. They would say I never said so or I never used those words. And they are right; they evaded using the words you expected them to say. It is a different matter entirely when they issue definitive statements that are not true and can be proven wrong.
Many people feel that certain very powerfully placed politicians will be in tsunami waters if it can be proven that they met with Roger Khan because they have repeatedly denied they met him or had any discussion with him.
As I wrote before, President Jagdeo is choosing his words carefully on the third term possibility. He has avoided saying that he will not run if his party wants him to or PPP supporters asked him to. So far his words are thus shaped; “I have no intention, no desire.” Those are very banal remarks people have used countless times in their individual lives. They have changed their minds with the following explanation; “At the time, it wasn’t my desire or intention.”
When President Jagdeo does accept the PPP’s nomination as presidential candidate for the 2011 elections and the press puts the question to him, he will say the same; “At the time, that was the way I felt.” It means you cannot accuse him of lying because he didn’t say, “I will never run in 2011.”
Clement Rohee is in a different category. This writer thought that Mr. Rohee’s achievements were phenomenal after he became a Minister in October 1992. As someone who hardly made it through primary school, Mr. Rohee rose to become one of the longest serving Cabinet Ministers in the CARICOM region.
But his career has been an inelegant, blemished, uninspiring one. From all my travels in this country meeting people, I believe that if a survey was taken by a reputable institution, it will find that Mr. Rohee is one of the least admired Ministers throughout the history of this nation. When you think of Mr. Rohee, Mr. Jagdeo, Mr. Kellawan Lall, Mr. Bheri Ramsaran, Mr. Charles Ramson, then think of Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Something was inherently defective about Jagan’s psychological make-up to have nurtured these types of personalities in the realm of working class politics. You don’t have to look far to see what a flawed character Jagan was – just look at who he left to administer his party and run the Government of Guyana.
It is a huge embarrassment for a nation when a Minister of a Government in 2009 does not know about “Google search.” I can understand a mediocre pretender like Vishnu Bisram who didn’t know about that.
Bisram as most Guyanese would know ended up being exposed. After 20 years of conducting polls all over the world, Bisram’s NACTA cannot be located by a Google search. Bisram was foolish enough not to know that people would Google him and his fictional organisation, NACTA. Rohee is a Government Minister. He should know about Google search. If he does not, he has no place in any organization in any country.
Here are Mr. Rohee’s own words in the letter pages of both independent dailies for September 2, 2009. He was responding to an enquiry from UWI law lecturer, Arif Bulkan as to why the American Embassy refused to give Rohee a visa. “I never said my visa was cancelled; others did, and sadly, Mr. Bulkan swallowed it, hook, line and sinker. Talk about commonsense!”
I hope Mr. Rohee knows what is commonsense and who has it, who hasn’t got it and who ought to have it. I Googled the following question, “Minister Clement Rohee US visa revoked,” and I got 122 items. Readers should know at the time, Rohee was International Trade Minister.
In the February 22, 2004 issue of the Stabroek News, then Foreign Minister, Insanally acknowledged to the newspaper that the US was not giving Mr. Rohee a visa, and Cabinet will have to take up the matter. GINA issued a press release on March 24 with the following words; “Mr. Rohee applied for an American visa but his application was revoked for reasons not given….” Another GINA report stated that Mr. Rohee was subsequently offered the reason why he couldn’t get his visa. This writer has written twice that he knows why the visa was not granted. It was told to me in 2006 by a US embassy official. But I was asked not to print it. A Freedom of Information request in the US by a US citizen should reveal the reason if Rohee doesn’t want to talk.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Polygraphy is not a panacea for addressing corruption at al levels
Guyana Chronicle Letter to the Editor, Wednesday 02 September 2009
Polygraphy is not a panacea for addressing corruption at al levels
Mr. ARIF Bulkan has jumped into the deep end of the polygraph pool without realizing there was no water in the pool.
Most of what he wrote about and cobbled together as an “analysis” can be found on the internet debate website on polygraphy.
The Government of Guyana was very much aware of the pros and cons of the debate and the efficacy of polygraphy before we took the decision to embark on polygraph testing. We did so with our eyes wide open. And that is the sovereign right of any government. Some think it is was wrong to do so and that is their right. But in the final analysis, decisions have to be taken and governments must be decisive in this respect.
We never said that polygraphy is a panacea for addressing corruption at all levels. Indeed, we recognized there are other measures that must be taken to deal with this social malady.
The recent passage of a number of anti-crime legislation in the National Assembly including the Wire-Tapping legislation and the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorism Legislation among others will, cumulatively, contribute effectively to the Administration’s fight against corruption in all its manifestations.
This government is adopting measures which the previous administration never took. Comparative analysis is critical in evaluating the performance of one administration or another
Mr. Bulkan should do the research (as he pretended to so as regards polygraphy) on what the PNC did to address corruption during their term in office. The Kwayana vs David Singh case might be of interest to him.
The PPP/C Administration is not committed to talking shop about corruption on the contrary; it is committed to rooting out corruption wherever and whenever it is to be found. In so doing, it is likely to incur the wrath of the apologists, political opponents and armchair academics who seek to besmirch the efforts of the Government by articulating views which they hope would embarrass the Government. They spare no effort to lecture the government about the do’s and don’t’s of governance. To them they know it all!
It appears that Mr. Bulkan has joined the rickety bandwagon whose passengers are having a difficult time convincing others about “corruption at the highest levels of Government”
The point is that they have failed because they do not have a shred of evidence to prove anything against a single Minister of Government. It is all talk and nothing more but talk.
Mr. Bulkan hasn’t the slightest clue about what it means to be a Member of Cabinet and maybe he never will. Cabinet is a collective decision making body.
Once Cabinet takes a decision on any matter that’s it, every man Jack or woman Jenny falls in line.
It would be foolish if not highly indisciplined for a Cabinet Minister to strike out on his or her own and to go public against a Cabinet decision
In fact, it would be better for that Minister to walk rather than face the likelihood of being booted out by the President. Mr. Arif Bulkan and his ilk would rub their hands in glee were that to happen.
Mr. Bulkan knows little about my history in politics and moreso, about my personal life. I too know little or nothing about Mr. Bulkan’s professional or personal life. Thus I am no position to question his integrity as a lawyer or otherwise.
The citizens of Guyana are free to comment on my conduct, statements and/or performance as a Minister of Government. However, when it comes to my personal integrity that is a totally different matter. In this regard, Mr. Bulkan is way out of line.
Finally, as regards my ability to travel to the United States, Mr. Bulkan by admission is clearly in the dark. Since he has the proof/evidence that my US Visa was “cancelled” he should provide the public with the proof/evidence to embarrass me even more. I never said my US Visa was cancelled, others did and sadly, Bulkan swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Talk about common sense!
CLEMENT J. ROHEE
Minister
Polygraphy is not a panacea for addressing corruption at al levels
Mr. ARIF Bulkan has jumped into the deep end of the polygraph pool without realizing there was no water in the pool.
Most of what he wrote about and cobbled together as an “analysis” can be found on the internet debate website on polygraphy.
The Government of Guyana was very much aware of the pros and cons of the debate and the efficacy of polygraphy before we took the decision to embark on polygraph testing. We did so with our eyes wide open. And that is the sovereign right of any government. Some think it is was wrong to do so and that is their right. But in the final analysis, decisions have to be taken and governments must be decisive in this respect.
We never said that polygraphy is a panacea for addressing corruption at all levels. Indeed, we recognized there are other measures that must be taken to deal with this social malady.
The recent passage of a number of anti-crime legislation in the National Assembly including the Wire-Tapping legislation and the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorism Legislation among others will, cumulatively, contribute effectively to the Administration’s fight against corruption in all its manifestations.
This government is adopting measures which the previous administration never took. Comparative analysis is critical in evaluating the performance of one administration or another
Mr. Bulkan should do the research (as he pretended to so as regards polygraphy) on what the PNC did to address corruption during their term in office. The Kwayana vs David Singh case might be of interest to him.
The PPP/C Administration is not committed to talking shop about corruption on the contrary; it is committed to rooting out corruption wherever and whenever it is to be found. In so doing, it is likely to incur the wrath of the apologists, political opponents and armchair academics who seek to besmirch the efforts of the Government by articulating views which they hope would embarrass the Government. They spare no effort to lecture the government about the do’s and don’t’s of governance. To them they know it all!
It appears that Mr. Bulkan has joined the rickety bandwagon whose passengers are having a difficult time convincing others about “corruption at the highest levels of Government”
The point is that they have failed because they do not have a shred of evidence to prove anything against a single Minister of Government. It is all talk and nothing more but talk.
Mr. Bulkan hasn’t the slightest clue about what it means to be a Member of Cabinet and maybe he never will. Cabinet is a collective decision making body.
Once Cabinet takes a decision on any matter that’s it, every man Jack or woman Jenny falls in line.
It would be foolish if not highly indisciplined for a Cabinet Minister to strike out on his or her own and to go public against a Cabinet decision
In fact, it would be better for that Minister to walk rather than face the likelihood of being booted out by the President. Mr. Arif Bulkan and his ilk would rub their hands in glee were that to happen.
Mr. Bulkan knows little about my history in politics and moreso, about my personal life. I too know little or nothing about Mr. Bulkan’s professional or personal life. Thus I am no position to question his integrity as a lawyer or otherwise.
The citizens of Guyana are free to comment on my conduct, statements and/or performance as a Minister of Government. However, when it comes to my personal integrity that is a totally different matter. In this regard, Mr. Bulkan is way out of line.
Finally, as regards my ability to travel to the United States, Mr. Bulkan by admission is clearly in the dark. Since he has the proof/evidence that my US Visa was “cancelled” he should provide the public with the proof/evidence to embarrass me even more. I never said my US Visa was cancelled, others did and sadly, Bulkan swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Talk about common sense!
CLEMENT J. ROHEE
Minister
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Democratic centralism in practice
Anyone cognizant with the workings of oligarchies should not be surprised Corbin has been returned as leader
Posted By Stabroek staff On August 24, 2009 @ 5:06 am In Letters | 7 Comments
Dear Editor,
“It is organization which gives birth to the domination of the elected over the electors, of the mandataries over the mandators, of the delegates over the delegators. Who says organization says oligarchy.” These famous words of Roberto Michels, derived from his study of political parties, still hold good today and pervade all our political parties, trade unions, co-operative societies and similar organisations. Evidence of this is the simple fact that there is rarely any radical change of leadership in these organisations, and when there is, it is usually by way of co-option, i.e., the leadership itself promoting one of their ilk.
Michels’ “Political Parties” (1911) showed that oligarchy develops naturally from our desire to be organisationally effective. Of necessity, organisations have leaders who because of their very location and organisational specialisation have tremendous power. Members and supporters tend to leave everything to the officials: the former rarely attending meetings and the latter often not even bothering to join. They sometimes develop feelings of gratitude and loyalty to the leaders, especially those who have suffered for the cause. The leaders develop megalomania and “This overwhelming self-esteem on the part of the leaders diffuses a powerful suggestive influence, whereby the masses are confirmed in their admiration for their leaders, and it thus proves a source of enhanced power.”
When the organisation is large and has an income and funds, it appoints full-time officials, establishes newspapers, training schools, etc. The party leaders now have patronage, i.e. the power to appoint people to paid jobs, and these appointees are their heirs apparent. According to Michels, the possibility of a career within the party and perhaps within the government the party is likely to form if it wins office, attracts a less idealistic kind of person. These people control the agenda, the minutes and membership records (members’ names, contact information, positions, activities, etc). Thus, for Michels, democracy and large-scale social organisation are incompatible. When this “iron law of oligarchy” is hoisted atop that Bolshevik folly know as “democratic centralism” the result is even more horrendous for internal organisational democracy.
So widespread is this practice in the trade union movement generally that there have even been some ingenious justifications. Thus Steve Fraser (Dissent; 1998) was pilloried for claiming that union democracy can cause harm and well as good. Since democracy is acceptably suspended when nations are at war and since labor is at war with capital, union democracy could conceivably be an unaffordable luxury! Here again, the history of our own trade union movement is testimony to the pervasiveness of the “iron law.” Therefore, anyone cognizant with the workings of oligarchies should not be surprised that Mr. Robert Corbin has been returned as the leader of the PNCR.
It has been suggested that one radical method of dealing with oligarchies is to allow the development of electoral factions within organisations. Almost every political leader – Burnham and Jagan included – has railed against factionalism in their parties. My favorite anti-factionalist is Joseph Stalin, who in a speech ‘On the American Question’ to the Executive Committee of the Communist International in May 1929, not only alerted his audience to the dangers of factionalism in the Communist Party of America but also provided a good idea of a leadership perspective of the depth of oligarchic behaviour. One admiring comrade, in his preface to that printed speech, told us that in dealing with the claim that the faction’s position had the support of 99% of the American Communist Party, Comrade Stalin, with historical accuracy, pointed out that “[the leader of the faction] is indisputably an adroit and talented factional wirepuller” who only had a majority because the membership regarded the faction “as the determined supporters of the Communist International!” No doubt with a similar historical certainty, by the time Stalin had finished dealing with factionalism in the Soviet Union, well over three-quarters of a million party members, including some of the top leadership, had left the party or been exiled or killed!
The American party arrangements (primaries, etc.) have had some success in mitigating the effects of the “iron law.” Do you think for one moment that Barack Obama would have been president today if it had been up to the Democratic Party’s bureaucracy? A proper understanding of the nature of these types of organisations is a sine qua non for those who join and or wish to make challenges from within them.
It should also be noted that in all of these organisations there are periodic challenges to the oligarchic leadership, and history teaches that this is particularly true when a political party is out of office; there is a greater degree of disenchantment with the leadership and less patronage and spoils. What has occurred in the PNCR is little different from what has happened in that party historically and what has occurred and is happening elsewhere.
That said, in our times more than ever, leadership must be collective or it will most likely fail. Indeed, even bereft of oligarchies, democracy does not always give us what we want and at times gives us what the majority does not want! The PNCR leadership election is now over and polities such as ours need strong, astute and modern leaders. The internal struggle for democracy and participation in the PNCR should not cease or be postponed, but it needs to be proceeded with responsibly, bearing in mind that the task of an opposition party is, inter alia, to adopt a course that promises a better life and then convince the populace that it is united and steadfast in its chosen direction.
Yours faithfully,
Henry B Jeffrey
7 Comments (Open | Close)
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/08/24/anyone-cognizant-with-the-workings-of-oligarchies-should-not-be-surprised-corbin-has-been-returned-as-leader/
Posted By Stabroek staff On August 24, 2009 @ 5:06 am In Letters | 7 Comments
Dear Editor,
“It is organization which gives birth to the domination of the elected over the electors, of the mandataries over the mandators, of the delegates over the delegators. Who says organization says oligarchy.” These famous words of Roberto Michels, derived from his study of political parties, still hold good today and pervade all our political parties, trade unions, co-operative societies and similar organisations. Evidence of this is the simple fact that there is rarely any radical change of leadership in these organisations, and when there is, it is usually by way of co-option, i.e., the leadership itself promoting one of their ilk.
Michels’ “Political Parties” (1911) showed that oligarchy develops naturally from our desire to be organisationally effective. Of necessity, organisations have leaders who because of their very location and organisational specialisation have tremendous power. Members and supporters tend to leave everything to the officials: the former rarely attending meetings and the latter often not even bothering to join. They sometimes develop feelings of gratitude and loyalty to the leaders, especially those who have suffered for the cause. The leaders develop megalomania and “This overwhelming self-esteem on the part of the leaders diffuses a powerful suggestive influence, whereby the masses are confirmed in their admiration for their leaders, and it thus proves a source of enhanced power.”
When the organisation is large and has an income and funds, it appoints full-time officials, establishes newspapers, training schools, etc. The party leaders now have patronage, i.e. the power to appoint people to paid jobs, and these appointees are their heirs apparent. According to Michels, the possibility of a career within the party and perhaps within the government the party is likely to form if it wins office, attracts a less idealistic kind of person. These people control the agenda, the minutes and membership records (members’ names, contact information, positions, activities, etc). Thus, for Michels, democracy and large-scale social organisation are incompatible. When this “iron law of oligarchy” is hoisted atop that Bolshevik folly know as “democratic centralism” the result is even more horrendous for internal organisational democracy.
So widespread is this practice in the trade union movement generally that there have even been some ingenious justifications. Thus Steve Fraser (Dissent; 1998) was pilloried for claiming that union democracy can cause harm and well as good. Since democracy is acceptably suspended when nations are at war and since labor is at war with capital, union democracy could conceivably be an unaffordable luxury! Here again, the history of our own trade union movement is testimony to the pervasiveness of the “iron law.” Therefore, anyone cognizant with the workings of oligarchies should not be surprised that Mr. Robert Corbin has been returned as the leader of the PNCR.
It has been suggested that one radical method of dealing with oligarchies is to allow the development of electoral factions within organisations. Almost every political leader – Burnham and Jagan included – has railed against factionalism in their parties. My favorite anti-factionalist is Joseph Stalin, who in a speech ‘On the American Question’ to the Executive Committee of the Communist International in May 1929, not only alerted his audience to the dangers of factionalism in the Communist Party of America but also provided a good idea of a leadership perspective of the depth of oligarchic behaviour. One admiring comrade, in his preface to that printed speech, told us that in dealing with the claim that the faction’s position had the support of 99% of the American Communist Party, Comrade Stalin, with historical accuracy, pointed out that “[the leader of the faction] is indisputably an adroit and talented factional wirepuller” who only had a majority because the membership regarded the faction “as the determined supporters of the Communist International!” No doubt with a similar historical certainty, by the time Stalin had finished dealing with factionalism in the Soviet Union, well over three-quarters of a million party members, including some of the top leadership, had left the party or been exiled or killed!
The American party arrangements (primaries, etc.) have had some success in mitigating the effects of the “iron law.” Do you think for one moment that Barack Obama would have been president today if it had been up to the Democratic Party’s bureaucracy? A proper understanding of the nature of these types of organisations is a sine qua non for those who join and or wish to make challenges from within them.
It should also be noted that in all of these organisations there are periodic challenges to the oligarchic leadership, and history teaches that this is particularly true when a political party is out of office; there is a greater degree of disenchantment with the leadership and less patronage and spoils. What has occurred in the PNCR is little different from what has happened in that party historically and what has occurred and is happening elsewhere.
That said, in our times more than ever, leadership must be collective or it will most likely fail. Indeed, even bereft of oligarchies, democracy does not always give us what we want and at times gives us what the majority does not want! The PNCR leadership election is now over and polities such as ours need strong, astute and modern leaders. The internal struggle for democracy and participation in the PNCR should not cease or be postponed, but it needs to be proceeded with responsibly, bearing in mind that the task of an opposition party is, inter alia, to adopt a course that promises a better life and then convince the populace that it is united and steadfast in its chosen direction.
Yours faithfully,
Henry B Jeffrey
7 Comments (Open | Close)
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/08/24/anyone-cognizant-with-the-workings-of-oligarchies-should-not-be-surprised-corbin-has-been-returned-as-leader/
Saturday, August 22, 2009
The Jagdeo 10 year economic report card
The Jagdeo 10 year economic report card
Posted By Stabroek staff On August 19, 2009 @ 5:01 am In Daily, Features | 17 Comments
Development Watch
By Tarron Khemraj
Introduction
This month marks ten years since Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo became President. I will dedicate this column to an analysis of several economic variables from 1999 to 2008. The indicators I have chosen are fundamental to the stability and well-being of a country. However, in order to perform a meaningful analysis of the President’s 10 years in office it requires that I compare the variables with other similar small countries like Guyana. I have chosen several sister CARICOM countries. The Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance (CCMF) has done a remarkable service by summarising the data on various Caribbean economies. I use the CCMF data for the Caribbean economies.
Tarron Khemraj [1]
Tarron Khemraj
However, I believe it is important that we look at other small developing economies such as Botswana, Mauritius and Fiji. Mauritius and Botswana are seen as two remarkable success stories in Africa. On the other hand, Fiji is a small Island economy (sugar-based like Guyana) that suffered from ethnic and political conflicts during the period of analysis. For these non-Caribbean countries, I sourced my data from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI electronic access). For all the economies, I obtained foreign direct investment (FDI) data from the same WDI electronic access.
It is important to use other small economies like Guyana when performing such an analysis. First, the economies are all susceptible to global shocks and harsh world price conditions. These economies take world prices rather than make prices. Second, one country, Suriname, also suffered from significant floods like Guyana. Other Caribbean Islands like Jamaica and Grenada suffered immensely from the destruction by hurricanes. Third, these economies have a similar British historical legacy.
Some economists would argue that it is important to “control” for geography/location when making these cross-country comparisons. I believe the geography variable is covered by my small sample – Suriname is also on the South American mainland right next to Guyana; Belize is on the mainland of Latin America. But I want to make it clear that the purpose of this column is not to explain economic variations across these economies; rather the column summarises several economic variables in order to place the Jagdeo years in office into context. It will take a lot more than a 1,200 word column to explain the stylised variations.
Nevertheless, some readers would have observed by now that my thesis for Guyana’s underdevelopment is rooted in policy failures – both political and economic in nature. In other words, policy matters in my analysis. For instance, our policy makers at Office of the President (OP) have constantly failed to grasp the purpose of IMF and World Bank policies which they follow like model students without a second thought (Yes, did the Leninists at Robb Street ever once ask the OP planners where is the industrial strategy?) The policy tools of the Bretton Woods institutions are meant for short-term stabilisation and palliative (pain-relieving) poverty reduction. The task of long-term transformation still rests with the government and people of Guyana.
The development economics literature has several candidate explanations for variation in economic performance among countries. These include investment rates, the level of financial development, natural resource endowment, geography/location, institutions (property rights, historical origins, etc), and education and skills of the workforce. On the other hand, a formidable list of heterodox scholars has emphasised the importance of getting policies right (and not only prices). Therefore, in my opinion both economic and political policies matter – Guyana has failed since 1966 on both fronts. I will continue to develop this thesis over the coming weeks, but for now let us observe the data.
Before we move on, I report data on the EC Currency Union, which is made up of eight member countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The CCMF reports aggregate data for this sub-regional grouping.
Macroeconomic performance
The average growth rate for the period 1999 to 2008 was calculated for each economy. This is reported in Table 1 below. The data revealed that only Jamaica and Barbados clocked a lower rate of growth over the ten years (there is a virtual tie with Barbados). However, this data should be interpreted with caution. The per capita GDP numbers show that Guyana is the least developed country in this list with an average for the 1999 – 2008 period of US$1, 076. Barbados and the Bahamas, while recording fairly lukewarm growth rates, have per capita GDP of US$9, 165 and US$17, 647, respectively. Both of these economies and most of the others (especially Mauritius) underwent important structural transformations through active policies since the early 1980s. It is well known that the rate of growth of an economy slows down the more developed it gets. However, Guyana is the poorest (on average) and grows at an anaemic average rate.
With respect to inflation, two countries recorded double digit inflation – Mauritius (10.66%) and Suriname (28.86%). All the others appear to have been quite stable from an inflation perspective as Guyana. Guyana has achieved a relatively low debt service ratio – that is the percentage of each export dollar spent on servicing the external debt. The significant debt relief Guyana received since 1996 has now reduced the debt service burden of the country. Significant amount of funds were released for social services, yet the country is still a mediocre growth performer. The point is the debt burden as an excuse ought not to be made for the mediocre performance over the past 10 years.
From a current account balance perspective, Guyana has the second most severe average deficit for the review period – minus 16.4% compared with the highest of minus 21.9% for the EC Currency Union. Remember, the current account balance measures how well the country is doing vis-à-vis the rest of the world.
Figure 1: Macroeconomic indicators – averages for the period 1999 to 2008
200908219GDP [2]
Table 2 reports average FDI inflows for the period 1999 to 2007 (note FDI data for 2008 are not available yet in WDI). Again I calculated the average over the period to make a comparison. It should be noted I could not obtain FDI data for the EC Currency Union as a whole. However, I am able to report this data for the following members – Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Guyana received more FDIs than two countries on the list – Dominica (US$24,762,317) and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (US$ 56,814,033).
Figure 2: Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) – averages for the period 1999 to 2007
200908219FDI [3]
Conclusion
Once we strip away the PNC alibi and compare Guyana to its global peers of small open economies – which face the same global shocks – there is not much to shout about and celebrate. Also, as we saw last week “slow fiah, mo fiah” could not have been the only factor contributing to the post-1997 economic downturn.
You can send comments to: tarronkhemraj@gmail.com
17 Comments (Open | Close)
17 Comments To "The Jagdeo 10 year economic report card"
#1 Comment By Seopaul Singh On August 19, 2009 @ 7:58 am
Tarron Khemraj wrote:
“The indicators I have chosen are fundamental to the stability and well-being of a country. However, in order to perform a meaningful analysis of the President’s 10 years in office it requires that I compare the variables with other similar small countries like Guyana. I have chosen several sister CARICOM countries… In other words, policy matters in my analysis. For instance, our policy makers at Office of the President (OP) have constantly failed to grasp the purpose of IMF and World Bank policies which they follow like model students without a second thought (Yes, did the Leninists at Robb Street ever once ask the OP planners where is the industrial strategy?)” All of this is cheap pot shots at the President.
In reviewing the Ten Years of President Bharat Jagdeo’s Tenure, Tarron Khemraj did an astute analysis of the GDP Rate of Earnings between the years 1999 to 2008, but unwittingly sought to show the slow ‘anemic’ progress Guyana made over that period compared Guyana with, of all Countries among others in CARICOM, Barbados and Bahamas. What did all of this have to do with the President’s performance by the way? The relevant variables are there.
He slotted into his years of relief, the Debt Burden erased in 1996, to show a sort of impact on the debt-service relief on the overall performance of the Economic Sector of Guyana. This was good and bad for his otherwise frugal analysis. What was the idea behind bringing in 1996? It is clear he intended to show that relief had impacted the average indebtedness of the country somewhat more positively.
Tarron further noted, “These economies take world prices rather than make prices. First, the economies are all susceptible to global shocks and harsh world price conditions. Second, one country, Suriname, also suffered from significant floods like Guyana. Other Caribbean Islands like Jamaica and Grenada suffered immensely from the destruction by hurricanes. Third, these economies have a similar British historical legacy.”
What the analyst did not zero in on were the horrendous economic impact of the three major floods which rocked Guyana in 1996, 2005 and 2006. I am convinced that Suriname was not so adversely affected not according to the ECLAC Report on Guyana. Do not lump Guyana in the basket of misfortunes (global shocks) with others and tell us Suriname and Fiji were similarly affected.
We the readers also need to know what were the significant setbacks on the economy of the 1997-98 civil disturbances lead by the PNC after Mrs. Jagan’s election victory and the racial strife which ensued; and the 2002 East Coast Blockades by “Freedom Fighters” who were also politically motivated. May be as an Economist he is not required to compare these to the Fiji Civil Disturbances.
Added to this we still did not get the picture of the intermittent strikes in the Sugar Industry over those years and the losses the nation suffered as a result, not to mention the loss of the European Market. The Geographic variables would also spotlight a definite form of impact on the economy.
Could the analyst give us the details of the losses which affected the overall average over the years analyzed? Apart from the cyclic flooding The unseasonable Weather patterns account for hundreds of Millions of Dollars losses to Rice farmers yearly. This is needful data to understand the issue of Disaster Preparedness and National (Economic) Development.
I am no economist just a layman who wants to know in the economic equation how the losses to the nation set back the GDP average over the those years in question directly, and the succeeding years which were also adversely affected starting from 1996 as he had to refer to that year.
#2 Comment By Joe On August 19, 2009 @ 11:15 am
SS for a layman you offer an awesome counter argument. I like the presentation by TK rather than those produced by the government that presents fancy GDP graphs and other economic indicators in total isolation of other external factors.
That kind of information is good for the local bean counters, but a tally clerk can do that. One for me, one for you and so on and so the economic forecast looks great,until the people ask “what about us” Oops, sorry folks we forgot, listen next harvest season you will be inculded, promise, and remember you are the true heroes of the economy so keep up the good work.
Joe.
#3 Comment By Evan Thomas On August 19, 2009 @ 12:00 pm
Terron, given your limit of 1,200 words, I suggest you present your analysis instead on some seeming ‘antidotes’. It takes away from your essay and it looks devoid of sufficient evidence. Leave that for the blogs; there you can use those pieces to satiffy the likes of the Seopaul Singhs.
And to Seopaul: I prefer Disaster Management and Economic Development. This is where the realtionship is located. In Guyana’s case then the question becomes a matter of Business Continuity Planning (BCP). Disaster prepardeness is a part of BCP.
#4 Comment By Seopaul Singh On August 19, 2009 @ 12:46 pm
Hi Joe, Thanks for the compliment.
#5 Comment By tkhemraj On August 19, 2009 @ 1:55 pm
Seopaul Singh: “In reviewing the Ten Years of President Bharat Jagdeo’s Tenure, Tarron Khemraj did an astute analysis of the GDP Rate of Earnings between the years 1999 to 2008, but unwittingly sought to show the slow ‘anemic’ progress Guyana made over that period compared Guyana with, of all Countries among others in CARICOM, Barbados and Bahamas. What did all of this have to do with the President’s performance by the way? The relevant variables are there.”
MY RESPONSE: it is important to compare Guyana with other small economies. That is normal research procedure in economics. It also allows us to isolate relevant variables – in my case the policy failures. Of course, the President does not influence what goes on in Barbados or Botswana (that’s the whole point for using them as a context). Of course, we could also use the PNC’s 28 years as a benchmark. I have done that in previous columns and the government people do that all the time. Guyanese however also need to see how the country fares vis a vis other small developing economies. It is time the Guyanese masses start asking these questions.
Seopaul Singh: “what the analyst did not zero in on were the horrendous economic impact of the three major floods which rocked Guyana in 1996, 2005 and 2006. I am convinced that Suriname was not so adversely affected not according to the ECLAC Report on Guyana.”
MY RESPONSE: This would require finding out the average rail fall for both countries and for the said periods. Perhaps you are right that Suriname was not affected to the extent as Guyana. But what if the rain fall levels are the same? Could the difference in impact be attributed to the fact that the infrastructure in Paramaribo is better maintained? Could Suriname have done more to change the production structure of the economy that they are not affected to the extent as Guyana? In other words, could the difference in performance be attributed to policy choices? These questions deserve further analysis.
Seopaul Singh: “We the readers also need to know what were the significant setbacks on the economy of the 1997-98 civil disturbances lead by the PNC after Mrs. Jagan’s election victory and the racial strife which ensued; and the 2002 East Coast Blockades by “Freedom Fighters” who were also politically motivated. May be as an Economist he is not required to compare these to the Fiji Civil Disturbances.”
MY RESPONSE: Please note there is continuity in the different columns. Last week I addressed this issue. However, it is important when making global comparisons to use similar countries. I think Fiji faced ethnic conflicts, it is a bi-communal society, and it still has plantation mode of production.
Anyhow, on the issue of civil disturbances see the following: [4]
#6 Comment By tkhemraj On August 19, 2009 @ 2:02 pm
I need to make one comment about the article that I should have clarified. That is, the intention of providing the level of per capita GDP was not to suggest that the Jagdeo Presidency should have achieved that same level as some of these economies were ahead in level of per capita GDP by the time Jagdeo came to power. It would be unfair to suggest that. The levels were provided to show the context of the slower growth of the more developed economies like Barbados and the Bahamas. The latter economies would have already achieved some level of maturity and therefore could grow slower than Guyana.
#7 Comment By Evan Thomas On August 19, 2009 @ 3:50 pm
Editor, I still look to see my blog on this piece, the comments are fair and hope you publish it.
#8 Comment By Gerhard On August 19, 2009 @ 4:02 pm
Mr. Seopaul Singh while I am not in agreement with what you have said, I still tip my hat to you and I hope the Ghost-writers Club (GC) can learn from you.
The Gov’t’s writers, going under names such as Elizabeth Daly, Kimberly James, Erica Smith and now Todd Morgan simply go into personal attack mode and avoid addressing anything in a substantial manner. On the other hand, you use your real name and you attempt to deal with the issues under discussion.
I did not get a chance to respond to you in the discussion on my last letter because I was caught in the interior for a few days. What was supposed to be a one day trip ended in disaster for me because of the deplorable condition of the GT to Lethem road. The only thing I can say right now, is that us younger politicians, Raphael Trotman included, have enough time ahead of us to prove ourselves.
Anyway, please keep it up – it doesn’t matter that we don’t see eye to eye, but civil discourses are much needed in this time of high tensions.
#9 Comment By Cummins On August 19, 2009 @ 4:49 pm
I read two different viewpoints here on Guyana’s economy. Khemraj seems to think that it is policy failures by the government that is causing the economic stagnation; Seopual seems to think that Guyana is a very unlucky country where external(and internal) events, both manmade and natural, always affect its economy more than anywhere else.
I see Khemraj’s data and have no reason to dismiss them. Seopaul, can you prove to me and others that Guyana suffered the most on the list in question and under the period of consideration? I am interested in seeing DATA such as disaster relief expenditures as a percentage of the national budget, independent estimates from reputable bodies of the total economic loss caused by these events as a percentage of the GDP and how these values stack up against the countries on this list and for the same period. My thinking is that if these values were not recorded and are not available then the event was considered negligible. If the values are available then they must show substantial difference among the countries on the list for your argument to hold weight. In the absence of this data or if the data among the countries is changing in the same way(reason and assumptiom why similar geography/economies are used) one can conclude, like Khemraj did, that the economic shocks were on a similar (or lesser) scale hence need not be used in comparative analysis.
One of the things that frustrate me is the way the government always finds an event to blame for bad times in Guyana even without attaching an economic impact estimate for that event from some independent source. One would think that if major events are the norm in Guyana, as Seopaul is suggesting, then the government would want to budget for them and take the necessary steps to prepare for these events so that when they do come along the country is better prepared to absorb the shock . Nobody there is taking responsibility for anything that happens so either way the government is at fault. I know Seopual doesn’t think like that because he knows that working here in the states requires that the arguments you make be supported by evidence for it to make sense and for the people around take you seriously
#10 Comment By Seopaul Singh On August 19, 2009 @ 6:13 pm
In economic analyses we are fed with the same process as in comparing the behavoir of human beings. The assumption in such comparisons is that (though apologetocally acknowledged) the same conditionalities prevail in which the humans live.
Analysts seek desperately to fit all countries into a similar mold for the sake of applying common factors as measurements. This is grossly misleading regardless of the details which are common. The variables may be uneven or winding into different paths, which are not so easily straightened by the methodologies applied in economic analyses.
Every country is a ‘beast’ with its unique behavorial characteristics, its gamut of geographic conditions, its Physical / Relief structures, its colonial heritage , its Developmental history , its Political fragmentation, its ethnical/ cultural enclaves, its nationhal Academic / Technological achievements, its patriotism, its cohesion and collaboration etc. etc.
We are yet to find a Plitician who has been able to forge a more complete Union or unism of a Nation. Policies are therefore often onesided or more appropriately opposed by the otherside. So developmental goals are sidetracked and sometimes sabotaged.
So taken individually, we may be surprised by the Gigantic Strides we made as we weigh in our achievements compared to our own failures. It is like competing with the Joneses. Let every nation extol their own virtues and revel in their own successes.
We often have to stand back and agree with the view “Oh he has come a long way” as we reflect on a bungling youth as he approach manhood. This is by no means infering that President Jagdeo is so referred to, but for the analysts let the variables in each country determine their individual triumphs.
#11 Comment By Roger Williams On August 20, 2009 @ 3:52 am
I am not sure that the complimant was warranted … given some of the apologist nature of your observations.
When you say ” …What the analyst did not zero in on were the horrendous economic impact of the three major floods which rocked Guyana in 1996, 2005 and 2006. I am convinced that Suriname was not so adversely affected not according to the ECLAC Report on Guyana. Do not lump Guyana in the basket of misfortunes (global shocks) with others and tell us Suriname and Fiji were similarly affected … ” you are avoiding the more realistic position.
Perhaps your time would be better spent answering age-old questions resuscitated by Lall Kumar Ramsingh in the SN of January 7 (“If So Much Money Has Been Spent on Drainage, Why Is It Not Working?” ( [5] ).
Apart from the indictment the story provides itself, Hackett’s comments below on that page further illustrates the “strange explanations” being given to these developments regarding flooding rather than the more reasonable one: a stunning abdication of good policy in favour of … greed!
#12 Comment By Cummins On August 20, 2009 @ 10:46 am
Wow!!!………This is quite a move from your first blog Mr. Singh. Originally it was about economic policy analysis now it is about the evolution of a country and mankind. As you try to make a case against the established methods of economic analysis I suggest that you present your paper to the various bodies rather on this blog site.I am sure the guys here have no power to change those methods. You do sound like a very smart guy so I can’t understand what got you caught up in this mess. I know you are better than this blog suggest.
The three points you should take away from this discussion are:
i) Government should be making good economic policies at all times
ii) Government policies should prepare a country to absorb shocks, especially when they happen as often as you and others suggest they do in Guyana.
iii) Government is responsible, no matter what, for the country’s economy and should be held accountable. They can’t just past this off to somebody else or an event.
#13 Comment By Gerhard On August 20, 2009 @ 10:46 am
Well said Mr. Singh. Indeed, no one can dispute that there has been progress. Only yesterday my father was regaling me at the excellent treatment he received at the Licence Office, and he always tells how well he is treated at the Georgetown Hospital (I am sure you too will be shocked at the responses this statement might elicit from some of the hardcore PPP bloggers here, though of course, you will understand that these services are not gracious favours). My father, a long time supporter of the PPP (since 1946) is now with the AFC, having followed me there.
The issue my friend, is not that nothing has been done, but that we could have done better. Substantially so in my humble opinion. Further, to people like my dad and I who have known the PPP for most of our lives, what the PPP has become since the death of Dr. Jagan is too much to bear.
You can email me at any time Mr. Singh: [6]
#14 Comment By tkhemraj On August 20, 2009 @ 11:29 am
Seopaul: your point is well taken. However, very clever economists have utilized a method known as multiple regression analysis with suitable instruments to address your concern.
Once you have controlled for all the variables in your model, use the relevant instrument (s), and you have a well-behaved residual, then the analysts have a decent model.
As these columns are developed into a book manuscript,I am sure some of these concerns will be addressed in more detailed academic format. At this point I see no reason why Guyana should not be compared with its global peers of small open economy.
In my opinion, the PNC alibi stop flying a long time ago!
#15 Comment By Roger Williams On August 20, 2009 @ 11:43 am
This is another example of the apologist rhetoric … almost resembling intellectual gibberish … that Seopaul Singh has degenerated to.
Focus, man … address the details …
A crisis of leadership and credibility attends to a hapless Jagdeo. He has singlehandedly squandered 17 years of international and local goodwill on the altar of … greed!
We can only appreciate the stunning incompetence, or the criminal irresponsibility, associated with various iterations of the greed scenario by reading efforts like Tarron Khemraj’s above.
#16 Comment By Griot On August 20, 2009 @ 7:02 pm
Can you summarise this in plain english for us? Would it sound something like “The PPP has done better than the PNC did”?
#17 Comment By Somdat On August 21, 2009 @ 10:54 am
Tarron: Excellent analysis. I am particularly happy with the discussions. Regarding Mr.Seepaul’s concerns about other variables which I think from a mathematical point of view he means confounding variables that could affect the outcome, he should rest assured that not only multiple regression techniques would easily address this concern, but we can also tell to what extend any variable of interest contribute to an outcome. Of course, some people would never be satisfied even with established methodologies. Best!
Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/features/08/19/the-jagdeo-10-year-economic-report-card/
Posted By Stabroek staff On August 19, 2009 @ 5:01 am In Daily, Features | 17 Comments
Development Watch
By Tarron Khemraj
Introduction
This month marks ten years since Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo became President. I will dedicate this column to an analysis of several economic variables from 1999 to 2008. The indicators I have chosen are fundamental to the stability and well-being of a country. However, in order to perform a meaningful analysis of the President’s 10 years in office it requires that I compare the variables with other similar small countries like Guyana. I have chosen several sister CARICOM countries. The Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance (CCMF) has done a remarkable service by summarising the data on various Caribbean economies. I use the CCMF data for the Caribbean economies.
Tarron Khemraj [1]
Tarron Khemraj
However, I believe it is important that we look at other small developing economies such as Botswana, Mauritius and Fiji. Mauritius and Botswana are seen as two remarkable success stories in Africa. On the other hand, Fiji is a small Island economy (sugar-based like Guyana) that suffered from ethnic and political conflicts during the period of analysis. For these non-Caribbean countries, I sourced my data from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI electronic access). For all the economies, I obtained foreign direct investment (FDI) data from the same WDI electronic access.
It is important to use other small economies like Guyana when performing such an analysis. First, the economies are all susceptible to global shocks and harsh world price conditions. These economies take world prices rather than make prices. Second, one country, Suriname, also suffered from significant floods like Guyana. Other Caribbean Islands like Jamaica and Grenada suffered immensely from the destruction by hurricanes. Third, these economies have a similar British historical legacy.
Some economists would argue that it is important to “control” for geography/location when making these cross-country comparisons. I believe the geography variable is covered by my small sample – Suriname is also on the South American mainland right next to Guyana; Belize is on the mainland of Latin America. But I want to make it clear that the purpose of this column is not to explain economic variations across these economies; rather the column summarises several economic variables in order to place the Jagdeo years in office into context. It will take a lot more than a 1,200 word column to explain the stylised variations.
Nevertheless, some readers would have observed by now that my thesis for Guyana’s underdevelopment is rooted in policy failures – both political and economic in nature. In other words, policy matters in my analysis. For instance, our policy makers at Office of the President (OP) have constantly failed to grasp the purpose of IMF and World Bank policies which they follow like model students without a second thought (Yes, did the Leninists at Robb Street ever once ask the OP planners where is the industrial strategy?) The policy tools of the Bretton Woods institutions are meant for short-term stabilisation and palliative (pain-relieving) poverty reduction. The task of long-term transformation still rests with the government and people of Guyana.
The development economics literature has several candidate explanations for variation in economic performance among countries. These include investment rates, the level of financial development, natural resource endowment, geography/location, institutions (property rights, historical origins, etc), and education and skills of the workforce. On the other hand, a formidable list of heterodox scholars has emphasised the importance of getting policies right (and not only prices). Therefore, in my opinion both economic and political policies matter – Guyana has failed since 1966 on both fronts. I will continue to develop this thesis over the coming weeks, but for now let us observe the data.
Before we move on, I report data on the EC Currency Union, which is made up of eight member countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The CCMF reports aggregate data for this sub-regional grouping.
Macroeconomic performance
The average growth rate for the period 1999 to 2008 was calculated for each economy. This is reported in Table 1 below. The data revealed that only Jamaica and Barbados clocked a lower rate of growth over the ten years (there is a virtual tie with Barbados). However, this data should be interpreted with caution. The per capita GDP numbers show that Guyana is the least developed country in this list with an average for the 1999 – 2008 period of US$1, 076. Barbados and the Bahamas, while recording fairly lukewarm growth rates, have per capita GDP of US$9, 165 and US$17, 647, respectively. Both of these economies and most of the others (especially Mauritius) underwent important structural transformations through active policies since the early 1980s. It is well known that the rate of growth of an economy slows down the more developed it gets. However, Guyana is the poorest (on average) and grows at an anaemic average rate.
With respect to inflation, two countries recorded double digit inflation – Mauritius (10.66%) and Suriname (28.86%). All the others appear to have been quite stable from an inflation perspective as Guyana. Guyana has achieved a relatively low debt service ratio – that is the percentage of each export dollar spent on servicing the external debt. The significant debt relief Guyana received since 1996 has now reduced the debt service burden of the country. Significant amount of funds were released for social services, yet the country is still a mediocre growth performer. The point is the debt burden as an excuse ought not to be made for the mediocre performance over the past 10 years.
From a current account balance perspective, Guyana has the second most severe average deficit for the review period – minus 16.4% compared with the highest of minus 21.9% for the EC Currency Union. Remember, the current account balance measures how well the country is doing vis-à-vis the rest of the world.
Figure 1: Macroeconomic indicators – averages for the period 1999 to 2008
200908219GDP [2]
Table 2 reports average FDI inflows for the period 1999 to 2007 (note FDI data for 2008 are not available yet in WDI). Again I calculated the average over the period to make a comparison. It should be noted I could not obtain FDI data for the EC Currency Union as a whole. However, I am able to report this data for the following members – Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Guyana received more FDIs than two countries on the list – Dominica (US$24,762,317) and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (US$ 56,814,033).
Figure 2: Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) – averages for the period 1999 to 2007
200908219FDI [3]
Conclusion
Once we strip away the PNC alibi and compare Guyana to its global peers of small open economies – which face the same global shocks – there is not much to shout about and celebrate. Also, as we saw last week “slow fiah, mo fiah” could not have been the only factor contributing to the post-1997 economic downturn.
You can send comments to: tarronkhemraj@gmail.com
17 Comments (Open | Close)
17 Comments To "The Jagdeo 10 year economic report card"
#1 Comment By Seopaul Singh On August 19, 2009 @ 7:58 am
Tarron Khemraj wrote:
“The indicators I have chosen are fundamental to the stability and well-being of a country. However, in order to perform a meaningful analysis of the President’s 10 years in office it requires that I compare the variables with other similar small countries like Guyana. I have chosen several sister CARICOM countries… In other words, policy matters in my analysis. For instance, our policy makers at Office of the President (OP) have constantly failed to grasp the purpose of IMF and World Bank policies which they follow like model students without a second thought (Yes, did the Leninists at Robb Street ever once ask the OP planners where is the industrial strategy?)” All of this is cheap pot shots at the President.
In reviewing the Ten Years of President Bharat Jagdeo’s Tenure, Tarron Khemraj did an astute analysis of the GDP Rate of Earnings between the years 1999 to 2008, but unwittingly sought to show the slow ‘anemic’ progress Guyana made over that period compared Guyana with, of all Countries among others in CARICOM, Barbados and Bahamas. What did all of this have to do with the President’s performance by the way? The relevant variables are there.
He slotted into his years of relief, the Debt Burden erased in 1996, to show a sort of impact on the debt-service relief on the overall performance of the Economic Sector of Guyana. This was good and bad for his otherwise frugal analysis. What was the idea behind bringing in 1996? It is clear he intended to show that relief had impacted the average indebtedness of the country somewhat more positively.
Tarron further noted, “These economies take world prices rather than make prices. First, the economies are all susceptible to global shocks and harsh world price conditions. Second, one country, Suriname, also suffered from significant floods like Guyana. Other Caribbean Islands like Jamaica and Grenada suffered immensely from the destruction by hurricanes. Third, these economies have a similar British historical legacy.”
What the analyst did not zero in on were the horrendous economic impact of the three major floods which rocked Guyana in 1996, 2005 and 2006. I am convinced that Suriname was not so adversely affected not according to the ECLAC Report on Guyana. Do not lump Guyana in the basket of misfortunes (global shocks) with others and tell us Suriname and Fiji were similarly affected.
We the readers also need to know what were the significant setbacks on the economy of the 1997-98 civil disturbances lead by the PNC after Mrs. Jagan’s election victory and the racial strife which ensued; and the 2002 East Coast Blockades by “Freedom Fighters” who were also politically motivated. May be as an Economist he is not required to compare these to the Fiji Civil Disturbances.
Added to this we still did not get the picture of the intermittent strikes in the Sugar Industry over those years and the losses the nation suffered as a result, not to mention the loss of the European Market. The Geographic variables would also spotlight a definite form of impact on the economy.
Could the analyst give us the details of the losses which affected the overall average over the years analyzed? Apart from the cyclic flooding The unseasonable Weather patterns account for hundreds of Millions of Dollars losses to Rice farmers yearly. This is needful data to understand the issue of Disaster Preparedness and National (Economic) Development.
I am no economist just a layman who wants to know in the economic equation how the losses to the nation set back the GDP average over the those years in question directly, and the succeeding years which were also adversely affected starting from 1996 as he had to refer to that year.
#2 Comment By Joe On August 19, 2009 @ 11:15 am
SS for a layman you offer an awesome counter argument. I like the presentation by TK rather than those produced by the government that presents fancy GDP graphs and other economic indicators in total isolation of other external factors.
That kind of information is good for the local bean counters, but a tally clerk can do that. One for me, one for you and so on and so the economic forecast looks great,until the people ask “what about us” Oops, sorry folks we forgot, listen next harvest season you will be inculded, promise, and remember you are the true heroes of the economy so keep up the good work.
Joe.
#3 Comment By Evan Thomas On August 19, 2009 @ 12:00 pm
Terron, given your limit of 1,200 words, I suggest you present your analysis instead on some seeming ‘antidotes’. It takes away from your essay and it looks devoid of sufficient evidence. Leave that for the blogs; there you can use those pieces to satiffy the likes of the Seopaul Singhs.
And to Seopaul: I prefer Disaster Management and Economic Development. This is where the realtionship is located. In Guyana’s case then the question becomes a matter of Business Continuity Planning (BCP). Disaster prepardeness is a part of BCP.
#4 Comment By Seopaul Singh On August 19, 2009 @ 12:46 pm
Hi Joe, Thanks for the compliment.
#5 Comment By tkhemraj On August 19, 2009 @ 1:55 pm
Seopaul Singh: “In reviewing the Ten Years of President Bharat Jagdeo’s Tenure, Tarron Khemraj did an astute analysis of the GDP Rate of Earnings between the years 1999 to 2008, but unwittingly sought to show the slow ‘anemic’ progress Guyana made over that period compared Guyana with, of all Countries among others in CARICOM, Barbados and Bahamas. What did all of this have to do with the President’s performance by the way? The relevant variables are there.”
MY RESPONSE: it is important to compare Guyana with other small economies. That is normal research procedure in economics. It also allows us to isolate relevant variables – in my case the policy failures. Of course, the President does not influence what goes on in Barbados or Botswana (that’s the whole point for using them as a context). Of course, we could also use the PNC’s 28 years as a benchmark. I have done that in previous columns and the government people do that all the time. Guyanese however also need to see how the country fares vis a vis other small developing economies. It is time the Guyanese masses start asking these questions.
Seopaul Singh: “what the analyst did not zero in on were the horrendous economic impact of the three major floods which rocked Guyana in 1996, 2005 and 2006. I am convinced that Suriname was not so adversely affected not according to the ECLAC Report on Guyana.”
MY RESPONSE: This would require finding out the average rail fall for both countries and for the said periods. Perhaps you are right that Suriname was not affected to the extent as Guyana. But what if the rain fall levels are the same? Could the difference in impact be attributed to the fact that the infrastructure in Paramaribo is better maintained? Could Suriname have done more to change the production structure of the economy that they are not affected to the extent as Guyana? In other words, could the difference in performance be attributed to policy choices? These questions deserve further analysis.
Seopaul Singh: “We the readers also need to know what were the significant setbacks on the economy of the 1997-98 civil disturbances lead by the PNC after Mrs. Jagan’s election victory and the racial strife which ensued; and the 2002 East Coast Blockades by “Freedom Fighters” who were also politically motivated. May be as an Economist he is not required to compare these to the Fiji Civil Disturbances.”
MY RESPONSE: Please note there is continuity in the different columns. Last week I addressed this issue. However, it is important when making global comparisons to use similar countries. I think Fiji faced ethnic conflicts, it is a bi-communal society, and it still has plantation mode of production.
Anyhow, on the issue of civil disturbances see the following: [4]
#6 Comment By tkhemraj On August 19, 2009 @ 2:02 pm
I need to make one comment about the article that I should have clarified. That is, the intention of providing the level of per capita GDP was not to suggest that the Jagdeo Presidency should have achieved that same level as some of these economies were ahead in level of per capita GDP by the time Jagdeo came to power. It would be unfair to suggest that. The levels were provided to show the context of the slower growth of the more developed economies like Barbados and the Bahamas. The latter economies would have already achieved some level of maturity and therefore could grow slower than Guyana.
#7 Comment By Evan Thomas On August 19, 2009 @ 3:50 pm
Editor, I still look to see my blog on this piece, the comments are fair and hope you publish it.
#8 Comment By Gerhard On August 19, 2009 @ 4:02 pm
Mr. Seopaul Singh while I am not in agreement with what you have said, I still tip my hat to you and I hope the Ghost-writers Club (GC) can learn from you.
The Gov’t’s writers, going under names such as Elizabeth Daly, Kimberly James, Erica Smith and now Todd Morgan simply go into personal attack mode and avoid addressing anything in a substantial manner. On the other hand, you use your real name and you attempt to deal with the issues under discussion.
I did not get a chance to respond to you in the discussion on my last letter because I was caught in the interior for a few days. What was supposed to be a one day trip ended in disaster for me because of the deplorable condition of the GT to Lethem road. The only thing I can say right now, is that us younger politicians, Raphael Trotman included, have enough time ahead of us to prove ourselves.
Anyway, please keep it up – it doesn’t matter that we don’t see eye to eye, but civil discourses are much needed in this time of high tensions.
#9 Comment By Cummins On August 19, 2009 @ 4:49 pm
I read two different viewpoints here on Guyana’s economy. Khemraj seems to think that it is policy failures by the government that is causing the economic stagnation; Seopual seems to think that Guyana is a very unlucky country where external(and internal) events, both manmade and natural, always affect its economy more than anywhere else.
I see Khemraj’s data and have no reason to dismiss them. Seopaul, can you prove to me and others that Guyana suffered the most on the list in question and under the period of consideration? I am interested in seeing DATA such as disaster relief expenditures as a percentage of the national budget, independent estimates from reputable bodies of the total economic loss caused by these events as a percentage of the GDP and how these values stack up against the countries on this list and for the same period. My thinking is that if these values were not recorded and are not available then the event was considered negligible. If the values are available then they must show substantial difference among the countries on the list for your argument to hold weight. In the absence of this data or if the data among the countries is changing in the same way(reason and assumptiom why similar geography/economies are used) one can conclude, like Khemraj did, that the economic shocks were on a similar (or lesser) scale hence need not be used in comparative analysis.
One of the things that frustrate me is the way the government always finds an event to blame for bad times in Guyana even without attaching an economic impact estimate for that event from some independent source. One would think that if major events are the norm in Guyana, as Seopaul is suggesting, then the government would want to budget for them and take the necessary steps to prepare for these events so that when they do come along the country is better prepared to absorb the shock . Nobody there is taking responsibility for anything that happens so either way the government is at fault. I know Seopual doesn’t think like that because he knows that working here in the states requires that the arguments you make be supported by evidence for it to make sense and for the people around take you seriously
#10 Comment By Seopaul Singh On August 19, 2009 @ 6:13 pm
In economic analyses we are fed with the same process as in comparing the behavoir of human beings. The assumption in such comparisons is that (though apologetocally acknowledged) the same conditionalities prevail in which the humans live.
Analysts seek desperately to fit all countries into a similar mold for the sake of applying common factors as measurements. This is grossly misleading regardless of the details which are common. The variables may be uneven or winding into different paths, which are not so easily straightened by the methodologies applied in economic analyses.
Every country is a ‘beast’ with its unique behavorial characteristics, its gamut of geographic conditions, its Physical / Relief structures, its colonial heritage , its Developmental history , its Political fragmentation, its ethnical/ cultural enclaves, its nationhal Academic / Technological achievements, its patriotism, its cohesion and collaboration etc. etc.
We are yet to find a Plitician who has been able to forge a more complete Union or unism of a Nation. Policies are therefore often onesided or more appropriately opposed by the otherside. So developmental goals are sidetracked and sometimes sabotaged.
So taken individually, we may be surprised by the Gigantic Strides we made as we weigh in our achievements compared to our own failures. It is like competing with the Joneses. Let every nation extol their own virtues and revel in their own successes.
We often have to stand back and agree with the view “Oh he has come a long way” as we reflect on a bungling youth as he approach manhood. This is by no means infering that President Jagdeo is so referred to, but for the analysts let the variables in each country determine their individual triumphs.
#11 Comment By Roger Williams On August 20, 2009 @ 3:52 am
I am not sure that the complimant was warranted … given some of the apologist nature of your observations.
When you say ” …What the analyst did not zero in on were the horrendous economic impact of the three major floods which rocked Guyana in 1996, 2005 and 2006. I am convinced that Suriname was not so adversely affected not according to the ECLAC Report on Guyana. Do not lump Guyana in the basket of misfortunes (global shocks) with others and tell us Suriname and Fiji were similarly affected … ” you are avoiding the more realistic position.
Perhaps your time would be better spent answering age-old questions resuscitated by Lall Kumar Ramsingh in the SN of January 7 (“If So Much Money Has Been Spent on Drainage, Why Is It Not Working?” ( [5] ).
Apart from the indictment the story provides itself, Hackett’s comments below on that page further illustrates the “strange explanations” being given to these developments regarding flooding rather than the more reasonable one: a stunning abdication of good policy in favour of … greed!
#12 Comment By Cummins On August 20, 2009 @ 10:46 am
Wow!!!………This is quite a move from your first blog Mr. Singh. Originally it was about economic policy analysis now it is about the evolution of a country and mankind. As you try to make a case against the established methods of economic analysis I suggest that you present your paper to the various bodies rather on this blog site.I am sure the guys here have no power to change those methods. You do sound like a very smart guy so I can’t understand what got you caught up in this mess. I know you are better than this blog suggest.
The three points you should take away from this discussion are:
i) Government should be making good economic policies at all times
ii) Government policies should prepare a country to absorb shocks, especially when they happen as often as you and others suggest they do in Guyana.
iii) Government is responsible, no matter what, for the country’s economy and should be held accountable. They can’t just past this off to somebody else or an event.
#13 Comment By Gerhard On August 20, 2009 @ 10:46 am
Well said Mr. Singh. Indeed, no one can dispute that there has been progress. Only yesterday my father was regaling me at the excellent treatment he received at the Licence Office, and he always tells how well he is treated at the Georgetown Hospital (I am sure you too will be shocked at the responses this statement might elicit from some of the hardcore PPP bloggers here, though of course, you will understand that these services are not gracious favours). My father, a long time supporter of the PPP (since 1946) is now with the AFC, having followed me there.
The issue my friend, is not that nothing has been done, but that we could have done better. Substantially so in my humble opinion. Further, to people like my dad and I who have known the PPP for most of our lives, what the PPP has become since the death of Dr. Jagan is too much to bear.
You can email me at any time Mr. Singh: [6]
#14 Comment By tkhemraj On August 20, 2009 @ 11:29 am
Seopaul: your point is well taken. However, very clever economists have utilized a method known as multiple regression analysis with suitable instruments to address your concern.
Once you have controlled for all the variables in your model, use the relevant instrument (s), and you have a well-behaved residual, then the analysts have a decent model.
As these columns are developed into a book manuscript,I am sure some of these concerns will be addressed in more detailed academic format. At this point I see no reason why Guyana should not be compared with its global peers of small open economy.
In my opinion, the PNC alibi stop flying a long time ago!
#15 Comment By Roger Williams On August 20, 2009 @ 11:43 am
This is another example of the apologist rhetoric … almost resembling intellectual gibberish … that Seopaul Singh has degenerated to.
Focus, man … address the details …
A crisis of leadership and credibility attends to a hapless Jagdeo. He has singlehandedly squandered 17 years of international and local goodwill on the altar of … greed!
We can only appreciate the stunning incompetence, or the criminal irresponsibility, associated with various iterations of the greed scenario by reading efforts like Tarron Khemraj’s above.
#16 Comment By Griot On August 20, 2009 @ 7:02 pm
Can you summarise this in plain english for us? Would it sound something like “The PPP has done better than the PNC did”?
#17 Comment By Somdat On August 21, 2009 @ 10:54 am
Tarron: Excellent analysis. I am particularly happy with the discussions. Regarding Mr.Seepaul’s concerns about other variables which I think from a mathematical point of view he means confounding variables that could affect the outcome, he should rest assured that not only multiple regression techniques would easily address this concern, but we can also tell to what extend any variable of interest contribute to an outcome. Of course, some people would never be satisfied even with established methodologies. Best!
Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/features/08/19/the-jagdeo-10-year-economic-report-card/
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Making LEAP’s successor a government operation is not progress
Making LEAP’s successor a government operation is not progress
Posted By Stabroek staff On August 13, 2009 @ 5:05 am In Letters | No Comments
Dear Editor,
Your article on LEAP in Stabroek Business (‘State-owned corporation to succeed LEAP’ August 7) was poignant and raised several pertinent issues. There were exchanges between the International Project Manager (IPM) and myself on the issues of DEN because I stated clearly that I did not have confidence in the new entity. My reasons are as follows.
1. The community stakeholders have not been included in any meaningful way in the move to form the new entity. Over three years ago, we were urging action after a two-man team from the EU did the second mid-term review and proposed the mechanism for the continuation as a SMEDA type organisation.
The advisory group consented to the report with minor adjustments. LEAP’s management had major concerns about some parts of the report and wanted those parts to be adjusted. This was not forthcoming and the report languished with no work on a successor on the horizon.
Around 2007, I wrote the IPM expressing my reservations about the time for a proper successor to take over LEAP. She responded stating that a retreat would be held to plan the way forward. The retreat was held and a report was submitted by Ms SV Jones and Associates (facilitator) but again we saw little movement on the matter. Mr Thorsten Streipke, the International Business Advice expert left hurriedly (for medical reasons), as he was responsible for the successor organisation and was subsequently replaced by Mr Wolfgang Klesse, who told me one of his main missions was to see the implementation of the successor entity. He spent one year without seeing that happen.
Where the bottleneck was we were not told, but there was little movement at the level of the cabinet. After badgering LEAP for answers, on March 30, 2009 Mr Tarachand Balgobin came with news that the cabinet had agreed on an option put forward by LEAP’s management among three others. That option was that the entity could be government owned with no subvention from the national treasury. So after three years this is what took us so long to decide on.
2. LEAP managed seven components worth $2.2B over seven years with funding mostly from the EU and a small part from GOG. LEAP was expected to raise over 0.8M euros through fees, etc, during the seven years. This was never done and the mid-term review addressed this question.
How do we expect the new entity to sustain itself with a staff complement of at least 10 at former LEAP salary levels on fees, rent, etc?
LEAP should not have had assets at the end of the programme. LEAP should have worked itself into the sustainable outfit benefiting the residents/stakeholders. As it stands the GOG owns the LEAP building, parts of the industrial incubator at Kara Kara, vehicles, LEAF and a building constructed at the demonstration farm. It would be difficult to see these being able to fund the new entity with any degree of certainty. If we look at the fund we will have to set up an organisation to run it and this can be rather complex in the current scenario.
3. According to reports, the local stakeholders have not been taken into officials’ confidence and they are provided with information on a need to know basis. I cannot support something which requires wholehearted support but information about it comes in a piecemeal fashion.
4. One of the components of LEAP which performed dismally was that of inward investment. The new entity needs significant inward investment to make a major impact, but this requires funding. We cannot fight poverty with no money. This has to be one of the major focuses of the new entity for it to stay relevant.
I noted that a statement was made about Go-Invest as an additional feature. This is inaccurate and Mr DaSilva must reject this. Go-Invest have always tried to stay close to LEAP and its work and there has always been an effort to maintain a decent relationship.
I remember Mr Mingo and I having a fight with Mr DaSilva on the selection of the call centre operators. When a team went to Brazil in 2004 an officer from Go-Invest went with the team. I have great admiration for Mr Geoff DaSilva and his team though they do not have the power required to see things through.
5. With no money it is difficult to impact positively on promoting micro-enterprise proliferation. Maintaining a micro-enterprise portfolio is costly per unit in the short term and so the need for significant backing (financially) is imperative.
With the decline of bauxite the micro-enterprises must have linkages to ensure they graduate to cottage and then small industries. This is the most plausible course in light of the history of Linden in recent times.
6. One of the greatest areas for capacity building and ultimate economic liberation was the contractor pool. This stood the greatest chance of stemming the haemorrhaging of money out of the community. Since LEAP was in Linden over $5B in projects have been carried out, but less than 1% went to contractors resident in Linden. This was a major flaw which ran counter to the identification study for the economic liberation of the town.
7. The private sector has been touted as the engine of growth and LEAP’s mandate was the encouragement of private enterprise development. Moving the entity back into a government outfit is not moving forward, and I am quite sure the EU is eyeing this with some alarm. Here we have produced a programme with limited success and the major facilities left have been vested in the beauracracy. Who has gained?
8. There still remains the huge gap between demand for credit and available resources for credit. It has led to disillusionment in the past and may be heightened in the future. It is good to sell the product but it is distasteful when it does not deliver. We have had enough selling of it; it is time to have some goods delivered.
I still am not impressed and have little confidence in the successor company in the current dispensation.
Yours faithfully,
Orrin Gordon
IMC Chairman
Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/08/13/making-leap%e2%80%99s-successor-a-government-operation-is-not-progress/
Posted By Stabroek staff On August 13, 2009 @ 5:05 am In Letters | No Comments
Dear Editor,
Your article on LEAP in Stabroek Business (‘State-owned corporation to succeed LEAP’ August 7) was poignant and raised several pertinent issues. There were exchanges between the International Project Manager (IPM) and myself on the issues of DEN because I stated clearly that I did not have confidence in the new entity. My reasons are as follows.
1. The community stakeholders have not been included in any meaningful way in the move to form the new entity. Over three years ago, we were urging action after a two-man team from the EU did the second mid-term review and proposed the mechanism for the continuation as a SMEDA type organisation.
The advisory group consented to the report with minor adjustments. LEAP’s management had major concerns about some parts of the report and wanted those parts to be adjusted. This was not forthcoming and the report languished with no work on a successor on the horizon.
Around 2007, I wrote the IPM expressing my reservations about the time for a proper successor to take over LEAP. She responded stating that a retreat would be held to plan the way forward. The retreat was held and a report was submitted by Ms SV Jones and Associates (facilitator) but again we saw little movement on the matter. Mr Thorsten Streipke, the International Business Advice expert left hurriedly (for medical reasons), as he was responsible for the successor organisation and was subsequently replaced by Mr Wolfgang Klesse, who told me one of his main missions was to see the implementation of the successor entity. He spent one year without seeing that happen.
Where the bottleneck was we were not told, but there was little movement at the level of the cabinet. After badgering LEAP for answers, on March 30, 2009 Mr Tarachand Balgobin came with news that the cabinet had agreed on an option put forward by LEAP’s management among three others. That option was that the entity could be government owned with no subvention from the national treasury. So after three years this is what took us so long to decide on.
2. LEAP managed seven components worth $2.2B over seven years with funding mostly from the EU and a small part from GOG. LEAP was expected to raise over 0.8M euros through fees, etc, during the seven years. This was never done and the mid-term review addressed this question.
How do we expect the new entity to sustain itself with a staff complement of at least 10 at former LEAP salary levels on fees, rent, etc?
LEAP should not have had assets at the end of the programme. LEAP should have worked itself into the sustainable outfit benefiting the residents/stakeholders. As it stands the GOG owns the LEAP building, parts of the industrial incubator at Kara Kara, vehicles, LEAF and a building constructed at the demonstration farm. It would be difficult to see these being able to fund the new entity with any degree of certainty. If we look at the fund we will have to set up an organisation to run it and this can be rather complex in the current scenario.
3. According to reports, the local stakeholders have not been taken into officials’ confidence and they are provided with information on a need to know basis. I cannot support something which requires wholehearted support but information about it comes in a piecemeal fashion.
4. One of the components of LEAP which performed dismally was that of inward investment. The new entity needs significant inward investment to make a major impact, but this requires funding. We cannot fight poverty with no money. This has to be one of the major focuses of the new entity for it to stay relevant.
I noted that a statement was made about Go-Invest as an additional feature. This is inaccurate and Mr DaSilva must reject this. Go-Invest have always tried to stay close to LEAP and its work and there has always been an effort to maintain a decent relationship.
I remember Mr Mingo and I having a fight with Mr DaSilva on the selection of the call centre operators. When a team went to Brazil in 2004 an officer from Go-Invest went with the team. I have great admiration for Mr Geoff DaSilva and his team though they do not have the power required to see things through.
5. With no money it is difficult to impact positively on promoting micro-enterprise proliferation. Maintaining a micro-enterprise portfolio is costly per unit in the short term and so the need for significant backing (financially) is imperative.
With the decline of bauxite the micro-enterprises must have linkages to ensure they graduate to cottage and then small industries. This is the most plausible course in light of the history of Linden in recent times.
6. One of the greatest areas for capacity building and ultimate economic liberation was the contractor pool. This stood the greatest chance of stemming the haemorrhaging of money out of the community. Since LEAP was in Linden over $5B in projects have been carried out, but less than 1% went to contractors resident in Linden. This was a major flaw which ran counter to the identification study for the economic liberation of the town.
7. The private sector has been touted as the engine of growth and LEAP’s mandate was the encouragement of private enterprise development. Moving the entity back into a government outfit is not moving forward, and I am quite sure the EU is eyeing this with some alarm. Here we have produced a programme with limited success and the major facilities left have been vested in the beauracracy. Who has gained?
8. There still remains the huge gap between demand for credit and available resources for credit. It has led to disillusionment in the past and may be heightened in the future. It is good to sell the product but it is distasteful when it does not deliver. We have had enough selling of it; it is time to have some goods delivered.
I still am not impressed and have little confidence in the successor company in the current dispensation.
Yours faithfully,
Orrin Gordon
IMC Chairman
Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/08/13/making-leap%e2%80%99s-successor-a-government-operation-is-not-progress/
Sunday, August 9, 2009
All the constitutional commissions should be set up without further delay
All the constitutional commissions should be set up without further delay
Posted By Stabroek staff On July 20, 2009 @ 5:06 am In Letters | 23 Comments
Dear Editor,
The National Stakeholder’s Meeting under the Chairmanship of the President on March 12, 2008, came to the consensus (the so-called Bourda Accord) that six constitutional commissions would be formed to enhance our governance framework in Guyana. The evidence to date is a sad reflection on the quality of our leadership.
This is the implementation rate:
1. Public Procurement Commission – not formed
2. Ethnic Relations Commission – up and running under Bishop Edghill (great organisation that has done some good work)
3. Human Rights Commission – not formed
4. Women and Gender Equity Commission – constituted on May 22, 2009 (11 months behind schedule)
5. Indigenous Peoples Commission – not formed
6. Rights of the Child Commission – constituted on May 14, 2009 (11 months behind schedule)
Look at the performance above, are we really serious about our future as a country when one year after the deadline, we are still running around with no clear plan on when we are going to conclude the commitments made to the people of Guyana. How can a people trust their leaders when their words are not even worth the paper they are printed on?
In my previous letters, I made it clear that Guyana biggest developmental challenge was its social cohesion (not the side issues like Low Carbon Strategy). All the low carbon initiatives will go to zero if the brothers in Buxton or Den Amstel do not feel that they have ownership in the Guyanese system.
Guyana does not need extremists, it needs practical project managers; it needs leaders who can inspire the people, and it needs leaders who can lead by example. Guyana must fix its foundations first before we can present our case to the world. These six commissions can go a far way in helping us to fix our foundation and have the ‘bolted-on’ benefit of giving non-political stakeholders (civil society) an opportunity to support the governance process in vital areas such as public procurement. There are serious concerns with our procurement system and it would be best to dispel that perception by the urgent formation of the Public Procurement Commission.
If Cheddi Jagan was alive, this would have been a done deal. Therefore, why are the inheritors of his legacy playing politics with the core values of the father of the nation – lean, clean, mean, transparency and accountability? Do they not agree with his belief system any more? Is it OK in Guyana today to accept privileges such as the single sourcing of very large, multi-year, non-emergency, long-term contracts without following the letter of the law?
I do not subscribe to the political persuasion of the likes of Mark Benschop or Lincoln Lewis but their recent arrest for a peaceful, public protest clearly revealed to me that ‘Burnham is back.’ Do we not have a right to express ourselves peacefully and publicly any more in Guyana? The official who authorised this arrest is either out to embarrass the government or is clearly on a dictatorial attitudinal path.
My elders like Komal Chand, Nanda Gopaul, Lloyd Daniels, Gordon Todd and Charles Sampson (in Linden) did not fight for these freedoms for the state to erode them today. The people and the press have the right to question their leaders without fear or favour and can use peaceful protest as a method of questioning. Is Guyana now in the space where law-abiding citizens have to fear the bandits as well as the police? Who then is there to protect and serve the law-abiding citizens?
Our indigenous people have always been the most abused in Guyana but the time has arrived for these people to pursue aggressively their rights as an equal partner in the Guyana nation-building process by taking greater responsibility for their lives.
Credit must go to the PPP for all the hard work they have done in repositioning these people in the right space. An Indigenous Peoples Commission can facilitate ‘new-build’ on this foundation and it is an injustice to the original people of Guyana to have this opportunity delayed. Abuse of the indigenous people always is there, but with a commission like this one on their side, it creates the mechanism for them to move forward as a collective.
I am confident that the poor and the working class have lost power since the Jagans left the Office of the President. However, this situation has created an opportunity for a critical mass of leaders within the PPP, the AFC, and GAP/ROAR to regain that lost ground (well the PNC is floating around out there and very lost, so let us keep them out of this). The time is coming in 2011, when the working class must regain power and all the ‘sweetheart’ deals with the special interest groups must be banished from our public system. The special interests have raped Guyana enough and it is the responsibility of the PPP, the AFC, GAP/ROAR and the righteous members of civil society to put systems in place to prevent this raping from continuing. A good starting point is the delivery of the commitment made at the National Stakeholder Meeting on March 12, 2008 (already one year behind schedule).
Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh
23 Comments (Open | Close)
23 Comments To "All the constitutional commissions should be set up without further delay"
#1 Comment By gap1 On July 20, 2009 @ 8:01 am
Singh, your views are both naive and condescending because it assumes that Jagdeo really wants to change anything that would make his administation more accountable for Human Rights Abuses or to set up any Public Procurement Commission? My proof? I’ve got four letters for you starting with the letter, F: FOIB (Freedom of Information Bill)
It’s a given fact that the PNC is on its way to either extinction or some fundamental paradigm shift, so given all the above, and that the PPP has been in govt for over 16 years with the only notable social and political change being:
The Value Added Tax, further stressing the poor and middle class.
A Runaway Crime Spree where the police themselves are afraid to show up at crime scenes to stop crimes in progress, where Drug Cartels do “their business” out in the open parading around as ligitimate businesses and driving the official economy nearly into oblivion, where drug cartels even after having confessed to committing crimes in Guyana, are never investigated but Jagdeo’s only answer to that is Bernard Kerik, a convicted felon…
Accussed getting gunned down, denied their fundamental right to face their accusers in court, with the police playing judge jury and executioner.
Some ministers of the govt breaking the very law they swore to uphold with impunity.
Where freedom of speech and freedom of the press is sometimes severely punished by the PPP. (SN, Sharma TV, Mosely et al)
Where Guyanese are imprisoned for years without a conviction based solely on trumped up charges of treasons et al….
Democracy my foot!
And since I suspect that you are aware of all of the above, what makes you think that your condescending ramblings could convince right-thinking Guyanese that the PPP, obviously travelling the identical route that the PNC once travelled, is not well on its way to being, “floating around out there and very lost?”
If you still believe that others view Jagdeo’s deeds seperate from the PPP or that any change of leadership can erase perceptions past or present, I only have the perception of the PNC today, to present to you as evidence that it it impossible to erase any past party misdeeds.
If perestroika can happen, the Berlin Wall could be torn down, once warring enemies could unite under the European Union, Capitalism as we know it, could be breathing its last breath today, so could the PPP and the PNC be a distant horror story in our history in as little as only a few years, so please, support the PPP if you must but don’t assume that most Non-PNC supporters are blind or are supportive of the PPP, in fact some of us dare be proud Guyanese and not party hacks or racial majority or minority, whoever that is these days, and please…please, please, please…don’t insult our intelligence!
#2 Comment By Kingshark On July 20, 2009 @ 8:11 am
thats right sasenarine we all belongs to the working class but this government is not for the working class anymore
#3 Comment By NeNe On July 20, 2009 @ 11:49 am
Sase, you have highlighted some very good points. Sadly, nothing will change in Guyana- not anytime soon. The leadership and the mindset of the people are wanting. It is a terrible tragedy.
Last night I watched a special{Lost World: Land of the Giants} on Guyana’s pristine and healthy rain forest and the majestic beauty of the falls – untapped resources. The two hour series ended with the commentator saying that the President Jagdeo approached the British Government with a proposition to preserve the Rain Forest in exchange for Economic Aid. The British government yet to respond. There is nothing left to be said. The country always looking for handout while give away its natural resources for free. Poor leadership – very poor indeed!!!!!
#4 Comment By Sase Singh On July 20, 2009 @ 11:58 am
Hello Gap1:
I wish more of you guys have the belly to write under your real names. However, I must correct some misconception I think you have.
First of all, the PPP is an asset to Guyana, while the PNC is a liability.
Secondly, the PPP, AFC and GAP/ROAR are genuine multi-racial parties.
Thirdly, the PPP, AFC and GAP/ROAR has many good people within their party leadership still and we must not be naive to call for the throwing away of the baby with the bath-tub.
Fourthly, if the PPP strategically choose an young Afro-Guyanese as its next Presidential Candidate, it will bury the PNC once and for all. There is no better person that Robeson Benn. He like Roger Luncheon, have the political & technical skills to lead, they have the right pedigre and if properly put to work, these men can make a fundamental difference in Guyana.
Now all of these ideas are revolutionary, but if anyone who read American and Chinese history, they will find that it was revolutionary thing that made these countries great.
Sase
#5 Comment By Cochore On July 20, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
Extracted from Sasenarine’s letter above…
‘If Cheddi Jagan was alive, this would have been a done deal. Therefore, why are the inheritors of his legacy playing politics with the core values of the father of the nation’….
Sase, you need to re-examine your eyes again my friend, because you are not seeing the stubborn truths of Guyana’s political reality. I wholehartedly agree with GAP1’s comment about your suspicious naivety with the PPP and how they operate, but that’s just the half of it.
Like if you didn’t notice Sase, Jagdeo, Jagan and the PPP are all one of the same, they are all Socialist/Marxist IDEOLOGUES, who subscribe to the same political philosophy of governance. I get the impression that, you guys are desperately trying to reinvent Cheddi Jagan, supposedly, because only now you can see the folly of his legacy as a devout communist IDEOLOGUE who slavishly ‘BELIEVED’(a rigid finished product with room for no new thinking) as opposed to what all successful leaders must embrace, ‘UNDERSTANDING’(being curiously open minded and conscious of change for new growth).
Sase, it doesn’t matter how much you lament, cuss-out or urge Jagdeo and today’s PPP to change its ways, the results will always be the same like it was when your hero Cheddi Jagan commanded your undivided attention. The big difference here my friend is that now you are wiser, you’ve grown-up and see everything differently. You wish efficiency, honesty, independent thinking and competence but that’s not the nature of the beast called Socialism/Marxism, whose prime motivation is governance for total control of the polity.
By the way let me give you a valuable heads-up, which will be much easier for you to detect from miles away. The PNC is suffering from exactly the same affections like your beloved PPP. Corbin and Burnham politics are also one of the same, where they disguise an honest call to do Public Service as an opportinuty to rule and lord over their PNC minions. In short, Guyana politics historically amounts to nothing but TYRANNY of the polity and remember in school we learn that the tyrant releases his grip at his own peril. Both the PPP and the PNC need a time out from leading Guyana anywhere.
#6 Comment By Sase Singh On July 20, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
Gap 1:
Naive, why.
Isn’t the PPP, AFC and GAP/ROAR multi-racial parties?
#7 Comment By Brandon Samaroo (End the PPP Dictatorship Now!) On July 20, 2009 @ 2:49 pm
I am not sure condescending is the right word to describe you Sase its a bit rough, I have to disagree with Gap1, I think your heart and your mind are in all the right places.
However, with that said I do agree with Gap1 that Jagdeo has no interest in working with anyone on anything. He believes he is a one man show and he is the only person and the PPP are the only people who can solve the issues facing Guyana.
He is a sorry excuse for a leader. Any leader worth 2 cents would realize that to solve the problems that exist in Guyana you have to be very dynamic and engage with as many people as you can and inspire as many people as you can to help rebuild Guyana.
You need to create think tanks that come up with solid ideas that are then implemented. If you look at anything Jagdeo is associated with it is a mess. You name one project under JAgdeo that has done well. Even GRA that was doing well for a while seems to be going the way of the dodo bird.
In all my life I have never really seen a leader as poor as this chap he is the text book definition of everything a leader should not be.
#8 Comment By Brandon Samaroo (End the PPP Dictatorship Now!) On July 20, 2009 @ 2:51 pm
The PPP is an asset? I would love to hear you explore your thoughts more clearly on why you think they are such an asset?
My personal thoughts are that both the PPP and the PHENC are liabilities, I would love to hear why you think the PPP is an asset what have they done over the past 17 years to warrant this wonderful honor of being an asset?
#9 Comment By Nene On July 20, 2009 @ 3:53 pm
Sase, you sound a bit confused here, let it go!!!
#10 Comment By Georgie On July 20, 2009 @ 4:53 pm
Mr. Sase ! Stop your foolishness ! You don’t have the knowledge and political skills to engage thoughtful readers. Multi racial parties…! Benn ! EWWWWWWW !
#11 Comment By quibian On July 20, 2009 @ 8:20 pm
don’t worry guys. the pnc and the all fee cee will fix everything when they get into office again.
#12 Comment By Caesar Agustus On July 20, 2009 @ 10:38 pm
Bunk. A commission can be formed anytime.What’s the hurry here?
#13 Comment By Brandon Samaroo (End the PPP Dictatorship Now!) On July 21, 2009 @ 12:15 am
Well somebody ought to the Poo poo poo has failed, you are coming around good to see that you are finally seeing the light!
#14 Comment By gap1 On July 21, 2009 @ 12:46 am
Sase, I am a Guyanese woman and since I blog, I do not have to use my real name. Get with the times and welcome to the 21st century. BTW, you’ve written under your name and I really don’t care. I still do not know you since your name does not move me one way or another.
Sase: “First of all, the PPP is an asset to Guyana, while the PNC is a liability.”
Answer: This is your opinion and nearly have of Guyana does not care even if the PNC and the PPP hook hands and slow dance together.
Sase: “Secondly, the PPP, AFC and GAP/ROAR are genuine multi-racial parties.
Thirdly, the PPP, AFC and GAP/ROAR has many good people within their party leadership still and we must not be naive to call for the throwing away of the baby with the bath-tub.”
Answer: The AFC and GAP/ROAR have done nothing to deserve the dishonor of being lumped into the same bunch with that shameless political soon-to-be political wreck you call the PPP.
Sase: “Fourthly, if the PPP strategically choose an young Afro-Guyanese as its next Presidential Candidate, it will bury the PNC once and for all. There is no better person that Robeson Benn. He like Roger Luncheon, have the political & technical skills to lead, they have the right pedigre and if properly put to work, these men can make a fundamental difference in Guyana.”
Answer: My god, how could one man write such shameless political puke! Tell you what…since you really believe in all this garbage that somehow you seem to think others should do, let me be kind to you…as far as the PNC and the PPP…you can have them both. God knows you deserve it!
#15 Comment By Sase Singh On July 21, 2009 @ 12:57 am
Chaps:
I have no problem with anyone getting personal. That is their problem not mine.
I have a right to my belief and so do you. We have a right to agree to disagree on issues.
I still believe that the PPP, AFC, GAP/ROAR are assets to Guyana. The PNC is a liability since it is an extremist party.
I am aware of a determined effort by the original leadership of the PPP to understand, engage and embrace the mainstream Afro-Guyanese and their issues. There still very good people within the leadership of the PPP and they must blossom come 2011. Donald Ramotaur, Roger Luncheon, Robeson Benn are just a few of the good people in the leadership of the PPP and there are many more. But of course, there are the pseudo Burnhams in their midst who are only interested in themselves. All political organisations have those but time exposes these people and they are usually flushed out.
Guyana has had enough of selfishness, vest interest, special interest. Too few people have plundered Guyana for too long and this has resulted in the gap between the newly rich upper class and the rest of the nation arriving at its wide level ever in our history. Cheddi always highlight his concern about this situation and it is a tragedy that this is happen under a PPP Government. This is not what he wanted; his developmental model involved all getting wealthier, not just a few. The Czar is Russia was overthrown for this kind of stupidness because there is only so much pressure the working class can take and the reality with the Czar, is that he lost all the wealth he plundered.
I sense from my readings that the AFC and GAP/ROAR is no different with Ramjattan, Trotman and Ravi Dev being very balanced leaders who really care about Guyana’s issues. Ravi Dev even spoke at the Cuffy Square in his attempt to reach across the racial divide (some may say he committed political suicide, I will say he had the foresight enough to understand that there is pain in all communities in Guyana and it was duty to reach out and preach his message to all peoples).
When Simon Bolivar was preaching his message, he was widely condemned and it was only over a hundred year after when historian found the true value of his message did he become a hero in most of Latin America. So let’s focus on the message and not who is naïve, etc. We have to work with what we have but we must speak out, we must expose special interest, we must state clearly our concerns when people’s right are being violated and we must move away and expose the racist agenda of some political leaders. Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese must stop being cannon fodder for the vested interest, they must rise up and conquer the oppressors (I am not talking about political parties here, I am speaking about power drunk people with bad attitudes)
There is a lot of work still to be done.
#16 Comment By gap1 On July 21, 2009 @ 4:16 am
Sase, the reality out here in the real world, and your views seem stuck somewhere in la-la land, is that the PPP is an Indian party and the PNC is a African party and since we know that to be true, have known that to be true, how could you be so naive as to expect anyone to believe that inspite all that, Guyanese are incapable of spotting their various window dressings whenever they are in power?
And I wish that you could appreciate that every time you throw out the name of a African Guyanese, lumping them there as “elders” among a list of East Indians to prove racial neutrality, you are achieving the exact reverse. It seems to me that you have your own little “list” of window-dressings there yourself, Sase. Touche!
Not good.
And, that you really believe that a Luncheon or some other African Guyanese in the PPP as the presidential candidate would make Africans vote for the PPP is insulting the intelligence of African Guyanese. Why would you think that they could not spot that little charade a mile up the road? Suddenly Africans would become less disrespectful, less distainful, less disgusted of Roger Luncheon or the other window-dressings in the PPP if they are placed at the top of the ticket? Do you really believe that or are you this condescending to them?
You can tell that tale to any African-Guyanese child who is seven years, three months, three weeks old and he might stare at you in puzzlement. Anyone older than that will either laugh their faces off or let go of one of those long suck-teeths that in translation would mean: Don’t be rediculous!
In this day and age of political savvy and enlightenment…shame on you!
#17 Comment By NotFromGT On July 21, 2009 @ 10:48 am
gap1 et al
Why don’t you people stop using this forum as your own private bully pulpit. Are you incapable of getting your point accross without getting personal. Ever heard of tact and diplomacy? “Get with the times and welcome to the 21st century”. There is a new way of communicating. We can trade barbs all day and get nowhere.
#18 Comment By tkhemraj On July 21, 2009 @ 11:12 am
Sase, this is a half-hearted attempt on your part. You seem to have a lot of faith in the PPP and the present Constitution. Sase, the latter is no good and it has to go. The PPP’s Democratic centralism and the voting structure have given it the upper advantage to abuse the Burnham Constitution as Burnham himself had abused it. It has to go as it is no good for a society as Guyana.
#19 Comment By Gerhard On July 21, 2009 @ 12:20 pm
Sase, please answer me on the blatant window dressing and disrespect for Blacks (Brothers, please advise if my usage is acceptable) in the PPP. Remember when there were the Linden protests and poor Uncle Sam rode in to a hostile crowd with nothing to offer – as per instructions from the administration, only to have the President ride in the next day on a big white horse, full suit of shining armour on, and immediately doling out the same monies that Uncle Sam was forced to say wasn’t there?
What about the shameful practice of using female Black Guyanese sounding names for their Ghost-writers’ Club (GC)? Wait and see, there will be more names like Susanne Green, Janet Reid, Sarah John, etc., etc.. You mean this self-proclaimed racially encompassing administration cannot find any reputable Blacks to defend them? Isn’t this disgraceful practice a part of a greater guilt complex?
gap1, I totally understand your anger…
#20 Comment By gap1 On July 21, 2009 @ 12:30 pm
Sase, again, you need to engage on what is, not what you hoped the politics in Guyana is. As to getting personal on this forum? Depends on your definition of personal, some people won’t know what personal is even if it comes up and slams them in the mouth. Do some research “Chaps”.
I think I have made my point here. I will let others judge who have their blinders on, and who do not.
The only way forward for Guyana is a third party, however much that may be difficult. Cheddie’s dream for Guyana is gone forever in this failure we presently call Mr president. Accept that and move on.
I have said my peace here, “Chaps”. The ending is quite funny actually…
#21 Comment By colin2nice On July 21, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
Sase like you smoking the thing they give you to drink; Or you drinking the thing they gave you to eat?
#22 Comment By Sase Singh On July 22, 2009 @ 1:58 am
Gap1, Gerhert:
Chap I understand you anger, but contribution to Guyana’s evolution into a better nation does involve the PPP and the AFC. I am sorry we different on this point of principle but that is still my belief. This does not mean the AFC and GAP/ROAR does not have a role to play. They do?
Guyana’s enemy is not the PPP. Guyana’s enemies are the servants of vest interest, the servants of special interest and the servants of personal agranddisement, the servants of corruptions, the servants of vindictiveness. I agree there are many indivduals in Government who will fit these caps but the entire leadership of the PPP are not servants of these enemies. I say again, there remain good people in the leadership of the PPP and I will name again Roger Luncheon and Robeson Benn as two who come to mind immediately but there are others.
Case in point, Corbin has not demonstrated on iota of leadership to his supporters yet he will not vacate the office of the Leader of the Opposition. Why? Because of the perks associated with the office (including free medical treatment) is more than his commitment to service to his constituents. The same can be said for this charade called REDD and Low Carbon Initiatives. Do you think anyone out there in the world is hearing Guyana on these issues. The mainstream powerbrokers are focused on other things and pressing ahead with their agenda and we are failling to fix our social cohesion problem at home. Since 1997, this problem should have been looked at nationally. The fires will never stop, the racial suspicion will never stop unless we fix our house. But there is no centrally driven initiative on out social cohesion problems. None.
Further, some are advocating that the PPP must go, but they must respect the views of the overwelming majority of the people who continue to vote for the PPP and this does not including Indian alone, it includes Amerindian, and Afro-Guyanese (19% of Region 10 – Linden voted for the PPP in 2006).
This is facts and we cannot wish this away. I wish if the AFC can become the official opposition in 2011 since the PNC has underserviced those who did not vote for the PPP, but the fact remains that the PPP got the majority in 2006.
#23 Comment By brandon samaroo On July 23, 2009 @ 2:30 pm
hahahhahhhaha gap1 tis getting hot in here hot in here.
Sase bwoy listen up I am tired of telling you folks PPP and PHENC are one and the same, why do you think bharat loves the dictatorship constitution.
17 years gone by how more educated are our people? how many more opportunities for jobs and quality of life have the PPP brought to bear on our people? I think the answer is very very clear.
Guyana will continue to be in the state it is in as long as those 2 parties are in govt. Time for the AFC to blossom where you can see everyone embracing each other as sisters and brothers who are Guyanese, Respect for people’s opinion and consensus is key.
Just look at the FOI act that the AFC proposed. Look at the decency in Mrs. Sheila Holder that when Janet Jagan died she introduced a bill to honor her work for Guyanese people. This is class, this is the kind of character we need in our people not the madness you see luncheon and freedom house carrying on with.
Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/07/20/all-the-constitutional-commissions-should-be-set-up-without-further-delay/
Posted By Stabroek staff On July 20, 2009 @ 5:06 am In Letters | 23 Comments
Dear Editor,
The National Stakeholder’s Meeting under the Chairmanship of the President on March 12, 2008, came to the consensus (the so-called Bourda Accord) that six constitutional commissions would be formed to enhance our governance framework in Guyana. The evidence to date is a sad reflection on the quality of our leadership.
This is the implementation rate:
1. Public Procurement Commission – not formed
2. Ethnic Relations Commission – up and running under Bishop Edghill (great organisation that has done some good work)
3. Human Rights Commission – not formed
4. Women and Gender Equity Commission – constituted on May 22, 2009 (11 months behind schedule)
5. Indigenous Peoples Commission – not formed
6. Rights of the Child Commission – constituted on May 14, 2009 (11 months behind schedule)
Look at the performance above, are we really serious about our future as a country when one year after the deadline, we are still running around with no clear plan on when we are going to conclude the commitments made to the people of Guyana. How can a people trust their leaders when their words are not even worth the paper they are printed on?
In my previous letters, I made it clear that Guyana biggest developmental challenge was its social cohesion (not the side issues like Low Carbon Strategy). All the low carbon initiatives will go to zero if the brothers in Buxton or Den Amstel do not feel that they have ownership in the Guyanese system.
Guyana does not need extremists, it needs practical project managers; it needs leaders who can inspire the people, and it needs leaders who can lead by example. Guyana must fix its foundations first before we can present our case to the world. These six commissions can go a far way in helping us to fix our foundation and have the ‘bolted-on’ benefit of giving non-political stakeholders (civil society) an opportunity to support the governance process in vital areas such as public procurement. There are serious concerns with our procurement system and it would be best to dispel that perception by the urgent formation of the Public Procurement Commission.
If Cheddi Jagan was alive, this would have been a done deal. Therefore, why are the inheritors of his legacy playing politics with the core values of the father of the nation – lean, clean, mean, transparency and accountability? Do they not agree with his belief system any more? Is it OK in Guyana today to accept privileges such as the single sourcing of very large, multi-year, non-emergency, long-term contracts without following the letter of the law?
I do not subscribe to the political persuasion of the likes of Mark Benschop or Lincoln Lewis but their recent arrest for a peaceful, public protest clearly revealed to me that ‘Burnham is back.’ Do we not have a right to express ourselves peacefully and publicly any more in Guyana? The official who authorised this arrest is either out to embarrass the government or is clearly on a dictatorial attitudinal path.
My elders like Komal Chand, Nanda Gopaul, Lloyd Daniels, Gordon Todd and Charles Sampson (in Linden) did not fight for these freedoms for the state to erode them today. The people and the press have the right to question their leaders without fear or favour and can use peaceful protest as a method of questioning. Is Guyana now in the space where law-abiding citizens have to fear the bandits as well as the police? Who then is there to protect and serve the law-abiding citizens?
Our indigenous people have always been the most abused in Guyana but the time has arrived for these people to pursue aggressively their rights as an equal partner in the Guyana nation-building process by taking greater responsibility for their lives.
Credit must go to the PPP for all the hard work they have done in repositioning these people in the right space. An Indigenous Peoples Commission can facilitate ‘new-build’ on this foundation and it is an injustice to the original people of Guyana to have this opportunity delayed. Abuse of the indigenous people always is there, but with a commission like this one on their side, it creates the mechanism for them to move forward as a collective.
I am confident that the poor and the working class have lost power since the Jagans left the Office of the President. However, this situation has created an opportunity for a critical mass of leaders within the PPP, the AFC, and GAP/ROAR to regain that lost ground (well the PNC is floating around out there and very lost, so let us keep them out of this). The time is coming in 2011, when the working class must regain power and all the ‘sweetheart’ deals with the special interest groups must be banished from our public system. The special interests have raped Guyana enough and it is the responsibility of the PPP, the AFC, GAP/ROAR and the righteous members of civil society to put systems in place to prevent this raping from continuing. A good starting point is the delivery of the commitment made at the National Stakeholder Meeting on March 12, 2008 (already one year behind schedule).
Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh
23 Comments (Open | Close)
23 Comments To "All the constitutional commissions should be set up without further delay"
#1 Comment By gap1 On July 20, 2009 @ 8:01 am
Singh, your views are both naive and condescending because it assumes that Jagdeo really wants to change anything that would make his administation more accountable for Human Rights Abuses or to set up any Public Procurement Commission? My proof? I’ve got four letters for you starting with the letter, F: FOIB (Freedom of Information Bill)
It’s a given fact that the PNC is on its way to either extinction or some fundamental paradigm shift, so given all the above, and that the PPP has been in govt for over 16 years with the only notable social and political change being:
The Value Added Tax, further stressing the poor and middle class.
A Runaway Crime Spree where the police themselves are afraid to show up at crime scenes to stop crimes in progress, where Drug Cartels do “their business” out in the open parading around as ligitimate businesses and driving the official economy nearly into oblivion, where drug cartels even after having confessed to committing crimes in Guyana, are never investigated but Jagdeo’s only answer to that is Bernard Kerik, a convicted felon…
Accussed getting gunned down, denied their fundamental right to face their accusers in court, with the police playing judge jury and executioner.
Some ministers of the govt breaking the very law they swore to uphold with impunity.
Where freedom of speech and freedom of the press is sometimes severely punished by the PPP. (SN, Sharma TV, Mosely et al)
Where Guyanese are imprisoned for years without a conviction based solely on trumped up charges of treasons et al….
Democracy my foot!
And since I suspect that you are aware of all of the above, what makes you think that your condescending ramblings could convince right-thinking Guyanese that the PPP, obviously travelling the identical route that the PNC once travelled, is not well on its way to being, “floating around out there and very lost?”
If you still believe that others view Jagdeo’s deeds seperate from the PPP or that any change of leadership can erase perceptions past or present, I only have the perception of the PNC today, to present to you as evidence that it it impossible to erase any past party misdeeds.
If perestroika can happen, the Berlin Wall could be torn down, once warring enemies could unite under the European Union, Capitalism as we know it, could be breathing its last breath today, so could the PPP and the PNC be a distant horror story in our history in as little as only a few years, so please, support the PPP if you must but don’t assume that most Non-PNC supporters are blind or are supportive of the PPP, in fact some of us dare be proud Guyanese and not party hacks or racial majority or minority, whoever that is these days, and please…please, please, please…don’t insult our intelligence!
#2 Comment By Kingshark On July 20, 2009 @ 8:11 am
thats right sasenarine we all belongs to the working class but this government is not for the working class anymore
#3 Comment By NeNe On July 20, 2009 @ 11:49 am
Sase, you have highlighted some very good points. Sadly, nothing will change in Guyana- not anytime soon. The leadership and the mindset of the people are wanting. It is a terrible tragedy.
Last night I watched a special{Lost World: Land of the Giants} on Guyana’s pristine and healthy rain forest and the majestic beauty of the falls – untapped resources. The two hour series ended with the commentator saying that the President Jagdeo approached the British Government with a proposition to preserve the Rain Forest in exchange for Economic Aid. The British government yet to respond. There is nothing left to be said. The country always looking for handout while give away its natural resources for free. Poor leadership – very poor indeed!!!!!
#4 Comment By Sase Singh On July 20, 2009 @ 11:58 am
Hello Gap1:
I wish more of you guys have the belly to write under your real names. However, I must correct some misconception I think you have.
First of all, the PPP is an asset to Guyana, while the PNC is a liability.
Secondly, the PPP, AFC and GAP/ROAR are genuine multi-racial parties.
Thirdly, the PPP, AFC and GAP/ROAR has many good people within their party leadership still and we must not be naive to call for the throwing away of the baby with the bath-tub.
Fourthly, if the PPP strategically choose an young Afro-Guyanese as its next Presidential Candidate, it will bury the PNC once and for all. There is no better person that Robeson Benn. He like Roger Luncheon, have the political & technical skills to lead, they have the right pedigre and if properly put to work, these men can make a fundamental difference in Guyana.
Now all of these ideas are revolutionary, but if anyone who read American and Chinese history, they will find that it was revolutionary thing that made these countries great.
Sase
#5 Comment By Cochore On July 20, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
Extracted from Sasenarine’s letter above…
‘If Cheddi Jagan was alive, this would have been a done deal. Therefore, why are the inheritors of his legacy playing politics with the core values of the father of the nation’….
Sase, you need to re-examine your eyes again my friend, because you are not seeing the stubborn truths of Guyana’s political reality. I wholehartedly agree with GAP1’s comment about your suspicious naivety with the PPP and how they operate, but that’s just the half of it.
Like if you didn’t notice Sase, Jagdeo, Jagan and the PPP are all one of the same, they are all Socialist/Marxist IDEOLOGUES, who subscribe to the same political philosophy of governance. I get the impression that, you guys are desperately trying to reinvent Cheddi Jagan, supposedly, because only now you can see the folly of his legacy as a devout communist IDEOLOGUE who slavishly ‘BELIEVED’(a rigid finished product with room for no new thinking) as opposed to what all successful leaders must embrace, ‘UNDERSTANDING’(being curiously open minded and conscious of change for new growth).
Sase, it doesn’t matter how much you lament, cuss-out or urge Jagdeo and today’s PPP to change its ways, the results will always be the same like it was when your hero Cheddi Jagan commanded your undivided attention. The big difference here my friend is that now you are wiser, you’ve grown-up and see everything differently. You wish efficiency, honesty, independent thinking and competence but that’s not the nature of the beast called Socialism/Marxism, whose prime motivation is governance for total control of the polity.
By the way let me give you a valuable heads-up, which will be much easier for you to detect from miles away. The PNC is suffering from exactly the same affections like your beloved PPP. Corbin and Burnham politics are also one of the same, where they disguise an honest call to do Public Service as an opportinuty to rule and lord over their PNC minions. In short, Guyana politics historically amounts to nothing but TYRANNY of the polity and remember in school we learn that the tyrant releases his grip at his own peril. Both the PPP and the PNC need a time out from leading Guyana anywhere.
#6 Comment By Sase Singh On July 20, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
Gap 1:
Naive, why.
Isn’t the PPP, AFC and GAP/ROAR multi-racial parties?
#7 Comment By Brandon Samaroo (End the PPP Dictatorship Now!) On July 20, 2009 @ 2:49 pm
I am not sure condescending is the right word to describe you Sase its a bit rough, I have to disagree with Gap1, I think your heart and your mind are in all the right places.
However, with that said I do agree with Gap1 that Jagdeo has no interest in working with anyone on anything. He believes he is a one man show and he is the only person and the PPP are the only people who can solve the issues facing Guyana.
He is a sorry excuse for a leader. Any leader worth 2 cents would realize that to solve the problems that exist in Guyana you have to be very dynamic and engage with as many people as you can and inspire as many people as you can to help rebuild Guyana.
You need to create think tanks that come up with solid ideas that are then implemented. If you look at anything Jagdeo is associated with it is a mess. You name one project under JAgdeo that has done well. Even GRA that was doing well for a while seems to be going the way of the dodo bird.
In all my life I have never really seen a leader as poor as this chap he is the text book definition of everything a leader should not be.
#8 Comment By Brandon Samaroo (End the PPP Dictatorship Now!) On July 20, 2009 @ 2:51 pm
The PPP is an asset? I would love to hear you explore your thoughts more clearly on why you think they are such an asset?
My personal thoughts are that both the PPP and the PHENC are liabilities, I would love to hear why you think the PPP is an asset what have they done over the past 17 years to warrant this wonderful honor of being an asset?
#9 Comment By Nene On July 20, 2009 @ 3:53 pm
Sase, you sound a bit confused here, let it go!!!
#10 Comment By Georgie On July 20, 2009 @ 4:53 pm
Mr. Sase ! Stop your foolishness ! You don’t have the knowledge and political skills to engage thoughtful readers. Multi racial parties…! Benn ! EWWWWWWW !
#11 Comment By quibian On July 20, 2009 @ 8:20 pm
don’t worry guys. the pnc and the all fee cee will fix everything when they get into office again.
#12 Comment By Caesar Agustus On July 20, 2009 @ 10:38 pm
Bunk. A commission can be formed anytime.What’s the hurry here?
#13 Comment By Brandon Samaroo (End the PPP Dictatorship Now!) On July 21, 2009 @ 12:15 am
Well somebody ought to the Poo poo poo has failed, you are coming around good to see that you are finally seeing the light!
#14 Comment By gap1 On July 21, 2009 @ 12:46 am
Sase, I am a Guyanese woman and since I blog, I do not have to use my real name. Get with the times and welcome to the 21st century. BTW, you’ve written under your name and I really don’t care. I still do not know you since your name does not move me one way or another.
Sase: “First of all, the PPP is an asset to Guyana, while the PNC is a liability.”
Answer: This is your opinion and nearly have of Guyana does not care even if the PNC and the PPP hook hands and slow dance together.
Sase: “Secondly, the PPP, AFC and GAP/ROAR are genuine multi-racial parties.
Thirdly, the PPP, AFC and GAP/ROAR has many good people within their party leadership still and we must not be naive to call for the throwing away of the baby with the bath-tub.”
Answer: The AFC and GAP/ROAR have done nothing to deserve the dishonor of being lumped into the same bunch with that shameless political soon-to-be political wreck you call the PPP.
Sase: “Fourthly, if the PPP strategically choose an young Afro-Guyanese as its next Presidential Candidate, it will bury the PNC once and for all. There is no better person that Robeson Benn. He like Roger Luncheon, have the political & technical skills to lead, they have the right pedigre and if properly put to work, these men can make a fundamental difference in Guyana.”
Answer: My god, how could one man write such shameless political puke! Tell you what…since you really believe in all this garbage that somehow you seem to think others should do, let me be kind to you…as far as the PNC and the PPP…you can have them both. God knows you deserve it!
#15 Comment By Sase Singh On July 21, 2009 @ 12:57 am
Chaps:
I have no problem with anyone getting personal. That is their problem not mine.
I have a right to my belief and so do you. We have a right to agree to disagree on issues.
I still believe that the PPP, AFC, GAP/ROAR are assets to Guyana. The PNC is a liability since it is an extremist party.
I am aware of a determined effort by the original leadership of the PPP to understand, engage and embrace the mainstream Afro-Guyanese and their issues. There still very good people within the leadership of the PPP and they must blossom come 2011. Donald Ramotaur, Roger Luncheon, Robeson Benn are just a few of the good people in the leadership of the PPP and there are many more. But of course, there are the pseudo Burnhams in their midst who are only interested in themselves. All political organisations have those but time exposes these people and they are usually flushed out.
Guyana has had enough of selfishness, vest interest, special interest. Too few people have plundered Guyana for too long and this has resulted in the gap between the newly rich upper class and the rest of the nation arriving at its wide level ever in our history. Cheddi always highlight his concern about this situation and it is a tragedy that this is happen under a PPP Government. This is not what he wanted; his developmental model involved all getting wealthier, not just a few. The Czar is Russia was overthrown for this kind of stupidness because there is only so much pressure the working class can take and the reality with the Czar, is that he lost all the wealth he plundered.
I sense from my readings that the AFC and GAP/ROAR is no different with Ramjattan, Trotman and Ravi Dev being very balanced leaders who really care about Guyana’s issues. Ravi Dev even spoke at the Cuffy Square in his attempt to reach across the racial divide (some may say he committed political suicide, I will say he had the foresight enough to understand that there is pain in all communities in Guyana and it was duty to reach out and preach his message to all peoples).
When Simon Bolivar was preaching his message, he was widely condemned and it was only over a hundred year after when historian found the true value of his message did he become a hero in most of Latin America. So let’s focus on the message and not who is naïve, etc. We have to work with what we have but we must speak out, we must expose special interest, we must state clearly our concerns when people’s right are being violated and we must move away and expose the racist agenda of some political leaders. Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese must stop being cannon fodder for the vested interest, they must rise up and conquer the oppressors (I am not talking about political parties here, I am speaking about power drunk people with bad attitudes)
There is a lot of work still to be done.
#16 Comment By gap1 On July 21, 2009 @ 4:16 am
Sase, the reality out here in the real world, and your views seem stuck somewhere in la-la land, is that the PPP is an Indian party and the PNC is a African party and since we know that to be true, have known that to be true, how could you be so naive as to expect anyone to believe that inspite all that, Guyanese are incapable of spotting their various window dressings whenever they are in power?
And I wish that you could appreciate that every time you throw out the name of a African Guyanese, lumping them there as “elders” among a list of East Indians to prove racial neutrality, you are achieving the exact reverse. It seems to me that you have your own little “list” of window-dressings there yourself, Sase. Touche!
Not good.
And, that you really believe that a Luncheon or some other African Guyanese in the PPP as the presidential candidate would make Africans vote for the PPP is insulting the intelligence of African Guyanese. Why would you think that they could not spot that little charade a mile up the road? Suddenly Africans would become less disrespectful, less distainful, less disgusted of Roger Luncheon or the other window-dressings in the PPP if they are placed at the top of the ticket? Do you really believe that or are you this condescending to them?
You can tell that tale to any African-Guyanese child who is seven years, three months, three weeks old and he might stare at you in puzzlement. Anyone older than that will either laugh their faces off or let go of one of those long suck-teeths that in translation would mean: Don’t be rediculous!
In this day and age of political savvy and enlightenment…shame on you!
#17 Comment By NotFromGT On July 21, 2009 @ 10:48 am
gap1 et al
Why don’t you people stop using this forum as your own private bully pulpit. Are you incapable of getting your point accross without getting personal. Ever heard of tact and diplomacy? “Get with the times and welcome to the 21st century”. There is a new way of communicating. We can trade barbs all day and get nowhere.
#18 Comment By tkhemraj On July 21, 2009 @ 11:12 am
Sase, this is a half-hearted attempt on your part. You seem to have a lot of faith in the PPP and the present Constitution. Sase, the latter is no good and it has to go. The PPP’s Democratic centralism and the voting structure have given it the upper advantage to abuse the Burnham Constitution as Burnham himself had abused it. It has to go as it is no good for a society as Guyana.
#19 Comment By Gerhard On July 21, 2009 @ 12:20 pm
Sase, please answer me on the blatant window dressing and disrespect for Blacks (Brothers, please advise if my usage is acceptable) in the PPP. Remember when there were the Linden protests and poor Uncle Sam rode in to a hostile crowd with nothing to offer – as per instructions from the administration, only to have the President ride in the next day on a big white horse, full suit of shining armour on, and immediately doling out the same monies that Uncle Sam was forced to say wasn’t there?
What about the shameful practice of using female Black Guyanese sounding names for their Ghost-writers’ Club (GC)? Wait and see, there will be more names like Susanne Green, Janet Reid, Sarah John, etc., etc.. You mean this self-proclaimed racially encompassing administration cannot find any reputable Blacks to defend them? Isn’t this disgraceful practice a part of a greater guilt complex?
gap1, I totally understand your anger…
#20 Comment By gap1 On July 21, 2009 @ 12:30 pm
Sase, again, you need to engage on what is, not what you hoped the politics in Guyana is. As to getting personal on this forum? Depends on your definition of personal, some people won’t know what personal is even if it comes up and slams them in the mouth. Do some research “Chaps”.
I think I have made my point here. I will let others judge who have their blinders on, and who do not.
The only way forward for Guyana is a third party, however much that may be difficult. Cheddie’s dream for Guyana is gone forever in this failure we presently call Mr president. Accept that and move on.
I have said my peace here, “Chaps”. The ending is quite funny actually…
#21 Comment By colin2nice On July 21, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
Sase like you smoking the thing they give you to drink; Or you drinking the thing they gave you to eat?
#22 Comment By Sase Singh On July 22, 2009 @ 1:58 am
Gap1, Gerhert:
Chap I understand you anger, but contribution to Guyana’s evolution into a better nation does involve the PPP and the AFC. I am sorry we different on this point of principle but that is still my belief. This does not mean the AFC and GAP/ROAR does not have a role to play. They do?
Guyana’s enemy is not the PPP. Guyana’s enemies are the servants of vest interest, the servants of special interest and the servants of personal agranddisement, the servants of corruptions, the servants of vindictiveness. I agree there are many indivduals in Government who will fit these caps but the entire leadership of the PPP are not servants of these enemies. I say again, there remain good people in the leadership of the PPP and I will name again Roger Luncheon and Robeson Benn as two who come to mind immediately but there are others.
Case in point, Corbin has not demonstrated on iota of leadership to his supporters yet he will not vacate the office of the Leader of the Opposition. Why? Because of the perks associated with the office (including free medical treatment) is more than his commitment to service to his constituents. The same can be said for this charade called REDD and Low Carbon Initiatives. Do you think anyone out there in the world is hearing Guyana on these issues. The mainstream powerbrokers are focused on other things and pressing ahead with their agenda and we are failling to fix our social cohesion problem at home. Since 1997, this problem should have been looked at nationally. The fires will never stop, the racial suspicion will never stop unless we fix our house. But there is no centrally driven initiative on out social cohesion problems. None.
Further, some are advocating that the PPP must go, but they must respect the views of the overwelming majority of the people who continue to vote for the PPP and this does not including Indian alone, it includes Amerindian, and Afro-Guyanese (19% of Region 10 – Linden voted for the PPP in 2006).
This is facts and we cannot wish this away. I wish if the AFC can become the official opposition in 2011 since the PNC has underserviced those who did not vote for the PPP, but the fact remains that the PPP got the majority in 2006.
#23 Comment By brandon samaroo On July 23, 2009 @ 2:30 pm
hahahhahhhaha gap1 tis getting hot in here hot in here.
Sase bwoy listen up I am tired of telling you folks PPP and PHENC are one and the same, why do you think bharat loves the dictatorship constitution.
17 years gone by how more educated are our people? how many more opportunities for jobs and quality of life have the PPP brought to bear on our people? I think the answer is very very clear.
Guyana will continue to be in the state it is in as long as those 2 parties are in govt. Time for the AFC to blossom where you can see everyone embracing each other as sisters and brothers who are Guyanese, Respect for people’s opinion and consensus is key.
Just look at the FOI act that the AFC proposed. Look at the decency in Mrs. Sheila Holder that when Janet Jagan died she introduced a bill to honor her work for Guyanese people. This is class, this is the kind of character we need in our people not the madness you see luncheon and freedom house carrying on with.
Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/07/20/all-the-constitutional-commissions-should-be-set-up-without-further-delay/
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