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A FREE PRESS IS THE HALLMARK OF A FREE AND OPEN SOCIETY

Sep 10, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Most often when a broadside is fired against the media, it is accompanied by a passionate defence of the very freedom that is being assailed. This reminds me very much of a situation in which a man is brutalizing his wife while claiming that he loves her.
Regardless of the frankness and openness of the exchanges at the Private Sector Commission’s dinner held recently, there was at that very dinner a direct assault on press freedom in Guyana.
The private sector was told in no uncertain manner that they were contributing to the negative image of the country when they supported Kaieteur News. There was then the usual babble about respecting freedom of information.
The private sector has now come out with a statement that is true to form. It has simply stated that it admired the open and frank approach taken and regretted that this aspect was not emphasized in the media reports.
There was nothing mentioned that in this open and frank approach, there was a serious assault on press freedom.
It was unfortunate that while paying glowing tributes to the President for having an interactive session with the private sector, the private sector did not take account of the attacks on this newspaper that was part of the openness and frankness.
The private sector, however, should by now not be fooled by this openness and frankness. It has been burnt so many times by the same PPP administration that it ought to have learnt by now that openness and frankness does not guarantee inclusivity, or for that matter, that the government will act in the best interests of the private sector.
Has the private sector forgotten all the previous interactions with the Head of State? Has it forgotten, more especially, what emerged out of the Stakeholders’ Meeting that was held after the Lusignan Massacre? No sooner had the government received the sympathy and support it needed, it went back to business as usual.
What happened to all the promises that were made about making the Stakeholders’ Forum a permanent mechanism? I will tell you what happened to it.
No sooner did the security forces score some successes, the need for social partners went down the drain, leaving only frankness and openness.
Is the private sector satisfied with the relationship that has developed between the government and itself following the promises made when the National Competitiveness Strategy was launched? Is it satisfied that the private sector is an equal partner in that partnership, if it can be called a partnership?
What the private sector needs is not frankness and openness through interactive talk shops.
What the private sector should be demanding is greater openness in the award of government contracts so that there is a level playing field and persons within the private sector are not shut out from bidding because of the nature of the process itself and the failure of the administration to encourage greater transparency.
When generous tax holidays were doled out to the investors at Sanata one year ago, tax concessions which were not consistent with the then tax holiday laws, one senior private sector icon was ridiculed and humiliated…. Or should I say he was merely subjected to frankness and openness by the President.
The private sector then did not come out and say a word against the treatment of one of its elders.
Yet it is quick to express its appreciation for the frank and open manner in which the President interacted with its members during its recent dinner.
The private sector has its interests to protect, but the history of Guyana should have instructed by now that this interest is best secured not by adopting a cuddly attitude towards the ruling administration, but by supporting immutable principles such as respect for an open economy and society, the hallmark of which is a free press.

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