The internal struggle for PNCR leadership is dangerous and weakening in light of external offensive

Aug 11, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
I refer to the letter written by Andrew Hicks and titled “PNCR leadership must improve on its language to achieve reconciliation and victory”, Kaieteur News, August 9, 2010.
Mr. Cammie Ramsaroop has a right to advance arguments for an end to the lawless and reckless quest for power outside of the party’s democratic practices.
The argument advanced by Mr. Hicks is built on a lie that Hicks and the Murray camp want the gullible in society to embrace. Hicks knows and so too does Mr. Winston Murray, Dr. Richard van West Charles, and James Mc, Allister who are all part of the orchestrated effort to acquire party power at all cost, that one has a right to defend what one has fought for and won; one also has a right to defend and protect the expressed wishes of the people who give their support and expect that same would be represented. Similarly one has a right to protect the democracy within the party and not allow lawlessness to become the order of rule.
Support for those who would ignore the will of the membership of the party is unwise a move when Guyana is under siege by a lawless regime that is prepared to breach the laws and violate the rights of all Guyanese.
The reference made by Mr. Cammie Ramsaroop to the 1763 slave rebellion is appropriate given that the rebellion failed due in no small measure to internal power struggles when the revolt leaders should have been focused instead, on the Dutch, who were the real enemy of all the slaves. Instead individual who felt that they should have been in the “coveted” position of Cuffy undermined and distracted the struggle away thus weakening the revolt and leading to it being quashed.
Another lesson to be learnt is that in unity there is strength and too much preoccupation with one of your very own leads to total destruction. The 1763 Berbice rebellion is a lesson that we all need to learn as we struggle to bring an end to PPP oppression , poor governance and marginalisation.
It is a shocking disgrace that a lecturer at the University of Guyana is prepared to compromise his academic integrity for political gain instead of using the skills that he would have earned to lend clarity and meaning to the present struggle in the PNCR. It is no wonder the lawlessness that is prevailing today remains unabated at all levels of society.
We, the people of Guyana must expect better from those who are our current and future leaders. They must be held accountable to a standard of excellence in the pursuit of justice and academic integrity.
The internal struggle for PNCR leadership is dangerous and weakening in light of the external offensive targeting the party.
Name and Address Withheld

Fair trade agreement for rice producers what for timber producers?

Dear Editor,
The Minister of Agriculture is reported by the Guyana Chronicle (“The benefits of Fair trade certification”, August 04, 2010) to have “announced Guyana’s projected signing on to a Fair trade agreement that could provide some amount of guarantees for their [rice producers] protection against threats from international markets”.
One of the key features of a Fair trade agreement is provision for independent audit and verification that the producer associations are complying with their environmental and social commitments and that the Fair trade premium is being distributed and spent on agreed community development projects.
Would the Minister of Agriculture, in his capacity as junior Minister for Forestry, now agree that the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) should likewise move forward beyond the initial contact with the European Commission for similar independent forest monitoring in the context of the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan (FLEGT, 2003)? All we have so far is an item number 6.18 in the minutes of meeting 25 of the President’s Low Carbon Development Strategy Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee of 16 March 2010 that “The GFC would be exploring the possibility of including IFM [independent forest monitoring] into the FLEGT agenda for Guyana”. As in agricultural Fair trade, independent monitoring is a key component of a voluntary partnership agreement between the EU trading bloc and other timber producing countries. Independent monitoring is not an option which can be excluded. What can the Minister now tell us?
Tarron Khemraj