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Book stealing is serious, but stealing from the people and the treasury is more serious

Oct 19, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,

With reference to a letter captioned, “The stealing of books is a serious offence”, by Mr. Ralph Ramkarran that appeared in the media, I wish to make the following comments.

Mr. Ramkarran is comparing the theft of books by a lawyer, Mr. Hardat Misir, who was sworn to uphold the law with that of a 17-year-old youth from the ghetto of South Georgetown, who made a mistake like most desperate youths from the ghettos. At least Freddie was charged under the so-called cruel Burnham dictatorship. True, stealing in all forms must be condemned, but can Ralph Ramkarran provide answers to the following:

Mr. Ramkarran in his own words had admitted “Today, because of the continued stealing of books from the law library of the AG’s chambers, it is a mere shadow of itself.” Who does the stealing now Mr. Ramkarran and why aren’t the culprits prosecuted under this “democratic” government?

Book stealing is a serious crime but it can never be serious as stealing from the people and the treasury.

I would like Mr. Ramkarran to read the Auditor General’s Report and asked why was no one ever prosecuted for the millions of dollars missing?

Why were no one prosecuted in the Dolphin export scam, the stone scam, the laws of Guyana CD scam, the lotto funds scam, the construction scams, fuel scam, etc.

Mr. Ramkarran, can you name one major drug dealer that was ever prosecuted in Guyana?

Every day government officials and corrupt contractors steal from the people and yet no one is charged. Stealing from the people is more serious than stealing books.

Why the big fuss with Freddie Kissoon and his stealing books, something that happened since 1974?

People are being framed up on all types of charges now in Guyana just because they are speaking out against the government.

I know of one man who has robbed people of millions of dollars in a visa scam and was never charged by the police just because of his close association with the police and the ruling party.

I grew up with Freddie Kissoon in Georegtown and was a family friend of the Kissoon’s household and I knew of the poverty of the Kissoon’s family and the humiliations his father suffered at the hands of the middle class and higher class ruthless capitalists at the GCC ground.

I can recall whilst attending secondary school I was studying Accountancy privately and I could not afford to buy the text book, Carter’s Advanced Accounts. When I told Freddie of my plight, he delivered a brand new Carter’s Advanced Accounts to my home in Kitty. I do not know how he acquired this book, but it was certainly not a library book but the compassion in the man, he wants to see me continuing my studies in Accounting.

At age 18 when I opened my evening Accountancy school at the Maha Sabha on Lamaha Street, Freddie would wait for me until my class is finished for us to go and lime on the seawall.

One evening whilst waiting for me he was hungry and he picked two sapodillas from a tree in the Maha Sabha compound and was caught by Mr. Sase Narain, the President of the Sabha and Speaker of the National Assembly. Freddie was ruthlessly thrown out of the compound and I was immediately thrown out of the Maha Sabha building because my friend picked two sapodillas to satisfy his hunger.

I was not working and was depending on the part-time evening classes at the Sabha to help in my studies and also to help Freddie with his meals at Chinese restaurants.

Freddie never dealt with drugs or involved in stealing anything but fruits and a few books. Freddie was given permission by Mr. Hemraj Muniram, a worker at the National Library to “borrow” books and return them whenever he felt like returning it. Things went sour between Mr. Muniram

In those days myself, Freddie and a few others used to be in all the libraries in Georgetown until closing time.

Finally, I think Mr. Ralph Ramkarran and others should dedicate their time and resources to make Guyana a better place by eliminating corruption, encourage good governance and stop wasting their energies behind Freddie Kissoon’s book stealing that happened over 35 years ago.

Balwant Persaud

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