Silence is sometimes a defence

Feb 08, 2011 Editorial

There is an interesting thing about some people. When they are caught out in deception they then seek to suggest that they were misunderstood or that their remarks were deliberately distorted. Sometimes, the person would do the safest thing and remain quiet until the entire episode blows over.

There was the case of the Amaila Falls project. Way back in 2002 a team headed by Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall met with Prime Minister Sam Hinds and discussed the establishment of the hydroelectric project. The plan was set and the Memorandum of Understanding signed. For some reason, the media was there in numbers but failed to recall the Memorandum of Understanding that promised so much.

The various deadlines came and went and not a word was issued. Prime Minister Sam Hinds knew that the attention of Guyanese is relatively short so he kept quiet as each deadline passed. Then came the day when electricity would have been delivered from the Amaila Falls project. Of course nothing happened.

There is a saying that whatever is done in darkness must come to light. There is also a saying that whatever is documented would come back to haunt you. The Memorandum of Understanding surfaced and suddenly, people realized that they should have been receiving electricity by August last year but that they were not getting any.

Prime Minister Sam Hinds, when approached about the failed Memorandum of Understanding, said that he could not remember. His memory continued to fail him even when he was presented with a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding bearing his signature. This had to be a cop out because there is no national leader who would sign an agreement for a monumental development project and would actually forget the signing. It could not be that the Prime Minister does not pay keen attention to the signing of any project.

Whatever the case, the entire issue passed and was forgotten until Fip Motilall re-emerged, this time as a contractor to build the road leading to the hydro project that he was supposed to complete. This time, the Prime Minister was ignored by the programme planners.

Once more there was no information that was forthcoming. The Finance Minister and the head of the Privatisation Unit met with the press in the wake of a newspaper report and announced that they had told the press that the contractor to build the hydro project was Sithe Global. Of course, subsequent checks even with the Government news agency found that there was never any such announcement.

Time has passed and with it the urgency of the people to know. Motilall is working quietly and unobtrusively on the road. Whether he is honouring the contract is not known, because the authorities are playing this close to their chests. And Motilall is not saying anything. He has never graced the press and from all appearances it seems that he is unlikely to do so anytime in the near future.

Everything about his operation is secretive. When eventually his equipment for the road project arrived there was a blanket of secrecy and a ban on the media. Enterprising reporters eventually smuggled themselves aboard the pontoon for a glimpse of whatever was imported.

The government would have done itself some good had it declined to prove Kaieteur News incorrect when the paper reported that Office of the President had bought 20 Lenovo computers. It is not that the public does not expect Office of the President to buy computers. The public may query the cost of the computers –US$596—when the online cost is US$499 but the public does not worry too much about such things.

It is the arrogance of the administration that has given rise to the present situation where the government must try by some means to defend itself. A spokesman denied buying the 20 computers only to be exposed.

The society will now wonder about the number of untruths they would have been fed from Office of the President. And this is not a good position for any government to be in.

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Silence is sometimes a defence

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