Latest update January 30th, 2025 6:10 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

Randy’s Sisyphean task

Sep 08, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

When the Guyana Times was about to be published, President Jagdeo, at one of his press conferences, after the question and answer period was finished, jokingly asked one of the Kaieteur News reporter if his paper, the Kaieteur News, is afraid of competition. President Jagdeo gave the feature address at the launching of the Times and the Who is Who in Government and the PPP were there. Before the opening of the Times, PPP personnel and Ministers of the Government were interviewing applicants. This writer knows of one person who was interviewed by a Minister.
The Guyana Times has a state-of-the art press. Questions about custom duties were raised at the time but the undeniable fact is that the press is very modern. The Guyana Times publishes an aesthetically impressive paper with gloss and an elegant colour scheme. Sadly, for all the technology, aesthetics and pages that go into the Guyana Times, it has become a failure. The Kaieteur News and the Stabroek News have not lost (yes, I am bold in saying this) one, not even one buyer, to the Guyana Times.
The Guyana Times was supposed to fill the void left by the Guyana Chronicle. One must always remember that the three thousand daily copies the Times and Chronicle sell are not obtained from the free market. These are copies that the state buys and distributes to all police outposts throughout Guyana, all GDF garrisons, and the entire public territory that the Government of Guyana touches in the whole country, so this would include NIS offices in far regions, Forestry Commission outlets throughout Guyana, etc. Go to any small post office in Region One or Two or Nine and you will see a Chronicle on the counter.
Looked at carefully, it would appear that the little gods have thrown in the towel with regards to the Guyana Times. They felt that the Guyana Times failed to displace the two independent dailies (who could be so imbecilic to think that a pro-government newspaper in this land would sell more than KN and SN; how could any ruling politician be so stupid) so there is an ongoing attempt to resurrect the Chronicle. Ralph Ramkarran has now been asked to do a weekly column. Prem Misir keeps plugging away. And now Dr. Randy Persaud  (at the time of writing I don’t know if he is on leave from his university or has migrated or is just on normal leave – he should tell us)  has joined the Chronicle as a frequent columnist.
The Guyana Times has been jettisoned (the advertisement will still pour in, but as a bulwark of Government’s defence, that is now shifted to the Chronicle) because if the objective was to let the Guyana Times be the lead debater for the Government then why put Ramkarran in the Chronicle, why not let Misir do a feature in the Times and if you want Dr. Persaud to be the spin doctor for you, why offer him a consistent pen in the Chronicle?
So have the headaches for President Jagdeo come to an end with the advent of Dr. Randy Persaud? Have we come to the end of the lambasting of the Kaieteur News, Stabroek News, Freddie Kissoon, and others from Mr. Jagdeo? Would people now turn to Dr. Persaud for their assessments of Government’s achievements and the mischief of the Opposition, the Kaieteur News and the Stabroek News? He has started out with a fury. His net took in Lincoln Lewis, the AFC and the Kaieteur News. What about me? Will I be let alone now? Dr. Persaud is coming close to doing a daily column for the Chronicle. It means he will be the Government’s answer to Freddie Kissoon. I have no problem with that. I am not in competition with anyone. I have no problem with Dr. Persaud’s daily pro-government outlines. All I asked is to be left alone to do my critiques of elected dictatorship in Guyana.
If Dr. Persaud obtains a wider readership than me then so be it; good for Mr. Jagdeo and the Government. One cannot help but feel sorry for Randy though. When bad people do bad things, no one likes them. It is not easy to defend minibus drivers in Guyana. It is not easy to defend wife-beaters. In Guyana, too, it is not easy to defend the Government. All eyes will be on Randy as he spins for his employer, an employer that is so hopelessly incompetent and corrupt that even Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela would fail if they tried to put a good on this Government. Good luck Randy! You need it1

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 27th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Anna Regina Secondary reign supreme

Anna Regina Secondary reign supreme

Jan 30, 2025

-CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited GTTA/MOE Schools TT C/chips a resounding success Kaieteur Sports- The CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited (CPGL) Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), Ministry of...
Read More
Fifties from Forde, Drakes, McCaskie give Barbados edge heading into Day 2 versus Eagles 

Fifties from Forde, Drakes, McCaskie give...

Jan 30, 2025

CANOC Executive Committee gathers in Guyana for pivotal Annual Retreat

CANOC Executive Committee gathers in Guyana for...

Jan 30, 2025

Dujon questions CWI over “surprise’ axing of coach Coley

Dujon questions CWI over “surprise’...

Jan 30, 2025

Wills, Bahabur, Johnson shine at GTTA Novice Championship

Wills, Bahabur, Johnson shine at GTTA Novice...

Jan 30, 2025

Guyanese boxers shine at T&T National Boxing Championships

Guyanese boxers shine at T&T National Boxing...

Jan 29, 2025

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]