Letter about blackouts, blacked out

Jul 21, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

During the reign of the PNC, the state-owned radio station (still state owned; still the only radio station in the land) hosted a nightly call-in programme, “Action Line” and a daily commentary, “Viewpoint.”
Dr. Jagan, then Opposition Leader, would complain bitterly that he could not get his voice heard on Action Line and his protégés could not find a place on the Viewpoint roster. According to Mr. Clement Rohee, in a letter to both independent dailies, last week; “Democracy is forging ahead at the socio-economic and cultural levels.”
No one should dignify that amorphous observation by Mr. Rohee by replying to it. Suffice it to say that Mr. Rohee and his acolytes in the PPP, including the “great” Mrs. Jagan who lived long enough to see the PPP rule for over sixteen years since 1992, have a rude and ugly interpretation of what democracy is. Guyana must be the only country in the world that has one radio station and the government of the day is adamant that it must remain like this. This is the PPP’s idea of democracy.
Now let us see how democracy works under the PPP. A citizen by the name of Leon Suseran writes lovely letters in not only the two independent dailies but all the newspapers from time to time in support of the Government.
Fed up like every other citizen, including those who have to buy generators about non-stop electricity disruptions where he lives (Berbice), Mr. Suseran wrote a letter and sent it to all the newspapers. In that correspondence he stated that up to the first week in July, there have been 114 instances of electricity withdrawal in East Berbice for 2009.
Mr. Suseran’s letter was apolitical, lacking in any attack on the Government and its leaders and was directly critical of the power supply in Berbice. Mr. Suseran then followed up his complaint with another missive. This time it wasn’t about blackouts but to inform readers that his original letter complaining about blackout was blacked out by the Chronicle and the Guyana Times.
The latter calls itself, “the beacon of truth” but on this occasion refused to see, acknowledge and print the truth.
Poor Mr. Suseran! He had a rude awakening. At least he will not remind you of the words of that lovely Neil Diamond song, “I’ve been this way before.” Here are some lines:
Some people got to sing
Some people got to sigh
Some people never see the light
Until the day they die
But I’ve been released
And I’ve been regained
And I’ve been this way before
And I’m sure to be this way again.
Mr. Suseran has seen the light. He has been released from his misconceptions. And he can bet his life that once he is living in Guyana we will go that way again, meaning he will complain about blackouts in the coming weeks and months.
I doubt very much, Mr. Jagdeo can get the electricity supply right before he demits office in August 2011. When he leaves, he will leave his successor with the dilemma. So Mr. Suseran should sharpen his pen because he will go that way again, the way of writing about blackouts for a long time to come, assuming of course the gentleman remains in Guyana.
The story of the blacked out letter is a long tale of tragedy in Guyana. One doubts very much that the editors of the Chronicle and the Guyana Times made the decision on their own not to publish Mr. Suseran’s commentary.
The edict had to come down from the little Gods that the kinds of fulminations as what Mr. Suseran was fussing about should not find space in the pro-government media. Take your mind further up the ladder and think of how the little Gods behave in relations to jobs and contracts.
If a letter about electricity breakdown is ordered to be kept out, what about great Guyanese who are not perceived to be Freedom House stooges? Will they be given jobs even if they are excellently and brilliantly qualified?
Life operates with logic. One can use logical deduction to understand how power is used by the PPP and predict what policy-making will be like as the PPP remains in power. If a citizen, known to be an admirer of the President and Government (as Mr. Suseran was or is) cannot get a letter critical of the GPL printed in the pro-Government newspapers, is it not reasonable to assume such a government will not tolerate dissent and will not be happy working with Guyanese who are not of its kind and type?
Where is the democracy that Mr. Rohee boasts about?

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Letter about blackouts, blacked out

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