Come on gentlemen let’s have the whole truth about all these pump awards

Jan 16, 2010 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Guyana is doubtless in an inexorable march towards an elected dictatorship or hegemony.
In my New Year message, I referred to the silence and ambivalence of many religious organizations in the face of immoral acts, and wrongdoing by our national leadership, and hoped that they will break their silence before it’s too late. They say silence gives consent.
I refer to a series of incidents over the weekend.
First the letter by Mr. Anthony Vieira (VCT 28) is a situation that we all suspected, but he has only now chosen to tell the truth about how Government ‘persuaded’ the Lottery Company to shift its advertisement from the pioneer television station in Guyana, Channel 28 to the State-controlled television station. All hail democracy and freedom.
Mr. Vieira drew attention to the banning of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) which helped make the station unviable, no doubt because over time the Station and Mr. Vieira exercised their right to be critical of the PPP administration.
We need be reminded of this Government’s attempt to suffocate and silence the Stabroek News by withdrawing State advertisements and their hostility to the Kaieteur News and Freddie Kissoon, Hamilton Green, Lincoln Lewis, Mark Benschop, the TUC among others.
We talk about a return to Democracy, yet after eighteen years of PPP rule we only have one State Controlled Radio Station.
The Government has succeeded in having, at various levels, control over all but two or three of the many Television Stations, so our people are at the mercy of the clever, well-funded PPP propaganda machine
At the Sunday afternoon commissioning of the Kitty Pump Station, I was at pains to point out that if we had a system of good and shared governance, there ought not to be the need for Central Government to provide the Pump since the Mayor and City Council ought to be able to purchase and install such equipment. Instead, we see evidence of an imperial heel on the shoulders of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council.
It is clear that the Government’s tactic is to starve us of resources then like a knight in shining armour save us the poor minion, whose condition you helped create in the first place.
In his very well presented but flawed reply to my address, His Excellency did not respond to the Government’s refusal to allow any of the several proposals we made over the years to widen our revenue base. He commented only on the Government’s refusal to support a proposal to use the Le Repentir dump site to generate electricity. It is the first time that, as Mayor, I was told of the purported reasons why our project was rejected, we were simply ignored, but so much for common courtesy. The figures quoted by the President about likely cost to the consumers, vary from those presented to us by the potential developer.
On Sunday I pleaded for the truth. His Excellency noted that there were two types of truth — well said, for me semantics are inappropriate at this time when there is so much going wrong.
For me I feel vindicated by the Truth, I know as W.C. Bryant noted “Truth
crushed to earth shall rise again, the eternal years of God are hers; But error, wounded, writhes with pain, and dies among his worshippers”.
On the Kitty pump, I publicly expressed gratitude to the Government, but added my concerns – here is a Truth.
It has been traditional to mention or involve the contractor or supplier at these functions such as the Commissioning of the Kitty Pump Station on Sunday — of interest, neither the Chairperson, Mr. Elvis Jordon, nor the C.E.O, Mr Lionel Wordsworth, in their overview of the project made reference to the supplier /contractor. The Honourable Minister, Mr. Robert Persaud and H.E the President, both uttered not one word of praise for the contractor / supplier of these new pumps.
The public may wish to ask why this obvious avoidance? Is someone embarrassed by their generous awards to a very small selected cabal?
Or, do we have a number of mini Stanleytown Pump situations as exposed by sections of the media, and the absurd explanation by the Minister of Finance about only one tender.
Come on gentlemen let us have the truth, the only one I know, the whole truth about all these electrical pump awards.
May the powers that be read an interesting letter which appeared in the Friday, January 15, edition of the Stabroek News, titled “A bizarre incident” by Emile Mervin.
They say ‘never look a gift horse in the mouth’ so, again many thanks to H.E. for these pumps and the statement that Government will not help to pay the additional electricity bill to GPL.
Hamilton Green, J.P.

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