AN APPROACH THAT DESERVES A REPROACH

Oct 24, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The government of Guyana has no interest in disrupting preparations for the forthcoming elections. This would be like shooting itself in the feet since it is almost certain that the ruling party will be returned to power with an even larger majority than in 2006.
The ruling party therefore has no interest in scuttling any public education plans of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). While the missive directing that certain ads be placed through GINA, these could not have been intended to cover certain activities of GECOM, as was mentioned sometime before in this column, and which was clarified this week by a government spokesperson.
The fact, however, that the Commission is not being hampered in carrying out a voter education programme, does not give to the government any right to decide how GECOM should go about placing ads for the procurement of goods and services and for advertising employment vacancies. GECOM is not a department of the government and therefore ought not to be instructed or advised as to whom it should place any advertisement with. GECOM is not obligated to adhere to government’s advertising policy.
It is an attempt to bring GECOM’s advertising under the umbrella of government’s advertising policy as regards the use of a website that led to this mini storm, a situation that was badly handled when the commission sought to obtain clarification as to what were the government’s intentions contained in the missive that GECOM had received.
There was no need for GECOM to write seeking clarification. GECOM does not need to follow any government guidelines in terms of advertising. It therefore ought to have completely ignored the missive that was sent to it.
It however is obviously concerned about its relationship with the government, more so considering that it depends financially on the government for funding. It has sought to clarify what the government had in mind in dispatching the missive. Wrong move, but not one of any serious consequences.
The government in turn is attempting to justify having to exercise some form of control over GECOM’s advertising by making some criticisms about GECOM’s procurement practices. Before making the assertions that it has made, the government should first ascertain whether GECOM falls under the ambit of the National Procurement Act or whether it can effect its own procurement policies.
If the government believes that something is wrong it has the power under the law to have the President order a high level inquiry into these matters and allow the chips to fall wherever they have to fall.
The solution is not to address it by seeking to inform GECOM about where it should place its ads. This is inexcusable. It may have been more understandable if GECOM was advised that there is now a facility available for advertising through a website and urging them in their own deliberate judgment to consider utilizing this service since it would be cheaper. But the totally unsophisticated manner in which this whole matter was approached deserves a reproach from GECOM, not a letter seeking clarification.
What is there to clarify? The government could not have been seeking to have a public education programme advertised on a website. The government wants to have certain ads placed on the website rather than in the newspapers, and this is what is behind the missive. It is to bring GECOM in line with government’s advertising policy.
The Guyanese people do not need to be told what is behind this most controversial policy. This policy is not about saving money. If that were the case, then there would have been greater frugality in the ways ads are managed. Certain newspapers with poor circulation would not have been given any ads at all since what sense does it make to advertise in newspapers with limited circulation.
The government ads policy has an agenda. And the Guyanese people are sensible enough to know what is that agenda. This whole idea of webpage advertising is preposterous. The whole concept behind advertisements is to reach people. This is the first case in which the people have to go and seek out advertisements on a webpage. Quite amazing!
But it gets more interesting. Quite apart from the low computer concentration in Guyana, which limits the numbers that can read government ads, we have the funny situation whereby the government is asking GECOM to advertise on the designated website, but an ad has been placed in the Stabroek News requesting bids for the raising and retiling of the ground floor of the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest). It seems a bit contradictory that the government should be insisting on GECOM passing their ads through GINA in order to allow it to be posted onto the website for such ads, yet having an ad for GO-Invest placed in one of the dailies.
GECOM therefore has to consider its position. It is obviously not a self-financing concern, but is almost totally dependent on the government for funds. And since it is taxpayers’ monies involved, the government may claim a moral right to wish to indicate ways in which wastage can be avoided in the use of resources. But there is a right way and a wrong way in going about achieving this objective. The right way is to advise. Not instruct.

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