THE SILENCE AND THE ANSWERS

May 16, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

When the government wishes to be open it is free-handed with information. But on those occasions it’s mainly about the small things. When it comes to major issues, the silence can be heard all the way to the moon.
For weeks this newspaper has been running what it believes are pertinent questions about certain developments in Guyana. We have been asking things and getting very few answers. We asked about the ants nest torture. We asked about contracts of which we were promised information. We asked about CLICO. We asked things about NBS. We asked about the NIS monies. We even asked about the Sanata deal.
That one ruffled feathers. We asked the Ministry of Education for a list of the schools they had built and the cost. We are still waiting for answers. I reiterate. For the big issues, there is only silence. But for the small issues, the government is free-handed with information.
The Minister of Education took umbrage at statements made by the President of the Guyana Public Service Union. He asked why this newspaper did not contact him for a comment.
But have we not given the same Minister a great deal of time to respond to the questions which we posed in these pages about the contracts which have been signed for the education sector. How come the minister was not as enthusiastic about responding to those questions as he was to what the President of the Guyana Public Service Union expressed?
But what has outclassed all is the reaction of the government to a statement from an investor in Grenada that it had received a very attractive offer from the government to build a hotel in Georgetown.
Now investors normally complain about the offers and concessions that are given by government. They often haggle for more beneficial concessions, so it must be indeed something extraordinary for an investor to come out openly and say that it has received an attractive offer from the government.
But even this statement aroused resentment from the administration who referred to a confidentiality agreement it signed with the investor.
Now why was it necessary in the first place for such an agreement to be signed? Obviously during the early stages of negotiations, there are certain details which have to be kept under wraps. Both sides would often have positions on matters and some of these would be unknown to the other, while at other times, it may be necessary to keep certain negotiating points under wraps. But certainly an admission by a company that it has entered into negotiations with the government of Guyana to build a hotel should not constitute an exception to that which can be revealed.
What is wrong with a company saying that it has received an attractive offer from the government? What tenets of confidentiality have been breached and why is the government so worried that this information has been made public?
It takes a brave investor to want to come to Guyana to build a major hotel given the low rates of occupancy that exist at present in some of our better hotels. And so any investor in such a major project as is being contemplated for Kingston would want to signal that they are in negotiations, for this would be helpful to them in many respects.
The government also has nothing to lose by being as open as it can about the discussions that are taking place. It will equally be helpful to all parties concerned to know with whom negotiations are taking place. And it would sure avoid a scandal if information about the various companies with which negotiations are taking place are made public.
It would be helpful if instead of silence we have answers. And a good way to proceed is to announce just who are the persons who are negotiating on behalf of the government and with whom the government is speaking. This is basic information, the disclosure of which will not compromise the negotiating process.
The government seems to be in a sudden hurry to meet some deadline. We have a US$15M road to be completed in eight months and it now seems as if a major hotel deal will follow soon.
But the haste with these deals is not being matched by the openness of disclosure. Instead of answers on these major issues, we have silence. Silence begins with S. Secretive also begins with an S. And so too does Scandal.

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THE SILENCE AND THE ANSWERS

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