Where the ERC stands and the simple facts

Jun 21, 2011 Letters

---

DEAR EDITOR,
Over the past few days there have been quite a few concerns being raised on the legality of the ERC. Should we remind the public that the ERC under no circumstances became illegal or will ever be and I am sure that if one is acquainted with the Constitution, an Accord cannot be dealt away with, but only amended, and that, in the best interest of its people; for improvements.
It was the life of the Commissioners, and not the ERC’s Secretariat. Let me say that when the Commissioners were served, it was just them and not the Commission; in its 125 pages of injunction there is nothing stated that the Commission is illegal; or don’t we know the difference between the Commission and its Commissioners.
Well let me remind you of what it is, a Commission is the body, the organisation, place of work while on the other hand the Commissioners are those who are appointed officials. I must say that the press should also get their facts straight before making any judgment or pronouncement on the legality and I am sure that the injunction is available for those that may want to be critics or scrupulous of the situation.
Many of us are being fed with what troublemakers want the country to believe. But allow me to clear the misunderstandings. In the constitution of Guyana that established the ERC, it is stated that “members of the Ethnic Relations Commission shall be appointed for three years and shall be eligible for re-appointment”… “of those first appointed under paragraph (1) (a), a majority shall hold office for four years”, this will clearly state that it is true that the lives of the Commissioners have expired and we are not denying this fact, but should we be reminded that the Commission had reapplied even before their end, to decide where those Commissioners would have stood and this was put before the parliament in its recommendation of their annual report of 2006, but it was because of the opposition that such a decision could not be made. Would it be right for me to say that because the ERC has began to monitor the elections campaign, and since it’s an election year, they do not want to be looked at over their shoulders? Or is it their success that everyone wants a piece of? It’s a funny case to note why the PNCR only now filed an injunction and not when the lives would have expired four years ago where they would have been fully aware of the fact that the Commissioners have concluded and needed to be re-elected or new ones put to a vote.
Over the years that the ERC has been in existence, executing its 24 functions as stated in article 212D of the Constitution, should we forget or deny the fact about the immense work that this commission had put together? Should we overlook their achievement and if I may quote a few of the recent successes just for this year, “film festivals in school and work places, public lecture symposium, culture fest” and the list goes on, in which over 18,000 persons would have attended. And this is just an assumption that I am making based on their press releases and I hope that if they were asked to account for this they would have enough evidence to prove this and even better to exceed my estimation.
When we look at society we have got to realize that it’s not because of our personal and political affiliation that we would want to be get rid of such a Commission, but rather to look at the fact of what it’s doing for our country. I must congratulate my friend who wrote in the Guyana Chronicle Newspaper dated June 17 in which he laid out the ERC’s Constitutional mandate very nicely; I must say he is a man with facts. If we all could be like him then this world would be a better place.
It is my view that because the ERC is not a political entity and one that serves all people and is not controlled by one man, there is segregation put between the people. Changes don’t take place overnight, but it’s time for us as concerned citizens of this country who do not want to be identified by ethnicity but rather to be seen for who we are; to put a stop to all this haphazardness; to put an end to this game of who should hold what post; to congratulate them for their work over the past years.
We need a country where there is tolerance and respect for our diverse society, we do not need to live in the past and hold that old tradition that says we can’t marry out of our race and not have friends of other ethnicity, this is a different age and we as people needs to say no to racism, stop all discrimination, and let’s all unite and promote harmony and good relations for a better Guyana, if not for us, for the generation that is expected.
Andrea Smith

---

---