From the Diaspora… WHAT IS GUYANA’S IMAGE ABROAD

Feb 13, 2011 News

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By Ralph Seeram

“We are our worst enemies. We speak ill of ourselves wherever we go and that multiplies itself and people especially abroad (emphasis mine) form their impressions of our country from what we say. We need to change that. We need to spread confidence because that is the only way we are going to change the image of this country. That is the only way that we are going to make lasting developments to change the lives of our people”.
No, no the quote above is not mine it’s a quote from a speech made by President Bharrat Jagdeo in 2005. According to Office of the President website the speech was made when the President was commissioning the Little Rock Suites in New Amsterdam on November 11, 2005.
The quote shows that the President is clearly concerned about the image of Guyana overseas. Considering that there are more of us residing abroad than the population in Guyana he should be very concerned. He appealed to citizens to help change the image of Guyana.
Well the question is what has the President and his Government done to change the image of the country? And I assume he meant change for the better? Now this was a little over five years ago. What is the image of Guyana today in the Diaspora? I can tell you that based on the e-mails I have been receiving the score card does not look good.
I used the President’s quote because of e-mails I received; their e-mails reflect their impressions of Guyana. Particular reference was made to the incident with Rovin Stanley, the former PRO of the Demerara Cricket Board. One reader sent me the entire Kaieteur News article of the incident and sought my views on the matter. He was wondering if we are back to the PNC days where political opponents of the Government could not secure tax exits to leave the Guyana.
Ever so often the Government or its agencies never fail to damage the image of the country abroad. The Rovin Stanley incident only added to the negativity.
Does the Government enforce the laws equally or selectively? Based on what has been happening recently there no question that enforcement of the laws seems to be based on “different strokes for different folks”.
As I understand it, Mr. Stanley has an educational loan payable in 15 years. He claims that the action taken against him was in retaliation for a position he had taken against a Government Minister.  Now I would like to make it very clear that if taxpayers fund your education you have an obligation to repay your loan.
It is not clear if his contract has a due clause stipulating the entire sum is due if he leaves the country. In the absence of any rebuttal from the Government I would assume that no such clause exists. I know many Guyanese benefited from taxpayer funded education and moved abroad without repaying their loan.
Guyana has been experiencing tremendous “brain drain”, so I do not have a problem with the taxpayers asking for their money. Where I have a problem is how the laws are being enforced.
In Mr. Stanley’s case it looks petty, spiteful and vindictive. Power is an aphrodisiac, and it would seem that some of the “little Caesars” are “getting off” on their power”. I mean how many people have been stopped at the airport for not paying their loans.
I am looking at the bigger picture of this incident. This incident demonstrates that some of the “little Caesars are willing to use the police powers of the state to carry out their personal vendettas. This is a dangerous sign.
Back when the PNC was in power it was done differently. You could not leave the country if you were not issued a tax exit. It was not like today where you just go to the counter at the airport and buy your tax exit. If you were an “enemy of the state” you were not issued a tax exit. You had to make your way to Suriname then fly to your destination. Then there was also the abuses by employees in the tax office who demanded a bribe before you can have one.
Back when I was a journalist in Berbice I had to intervene on several occasions to get tax exits for individuals who were not political activists. Political activists like the late Dr. Walter Rodney had to “back track it” to Suriname then board a flight to their destination.
So we come back to the image of Guyana, Mr. Stanley, in his parting words, had some praise for the Guyana Government for being a functioning democracy, apparently Mr. Stanley was trying to appease someone or “didn’t get it”, in a functioning democracy he would not have experienced the “run around” he had.
In a functioning democracy there would have been accountability. Let me digress a little to give an example of functioning democracy and accountability. In Orlando, Florida a Police Chief  of an exclusive  town  where a lot of celebrities,  including golfer Tiger Woods, reside was dismissed from his job and charged with a felony. His crime? He allegedly did a favour for a friend which was an abuse of his power.
He is looking at ten years in jail; that’s how democracy works.
What impression the 100,000 online readers of Kaieteur News will get when they read of this incident, when they read how  Freddie and Benschop was jailed for two days for a minor traffic infraction can only be imagined?
What about the crime situation? I have a son who is afraid to come to Guyana who in jest says he has to stay to pay the ransom if I get kidnapped in Guyana, these are impressions. When you cannot get answers on how tax payer’s money is being spent on contracts, what is the impression?
The President said that “we are our worst enemies” and I submit that the Government is its worst enemy when it come to image and impression. There is no question that the PPP made great strides for Guyana especially in housing and infrastructure, but in the real world it does not take much to undo all your good work, remember that famous line from Shakespeare about  the good being interred with your bones, but the evil…You know the rest.
Ralph Seeram can be reached at e-mail ralph365@hotmail,com

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