Government has a severe leadership deficit

Aug 02, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
I would like to raise some concerns about several issues appearing in the Kaiteur News recently as highlighted by the following three ‘distinguished’ gentlemen.
Vishnu Bisram: (KN: July 31, 2011) in touching on the subject of mandatory retirement age in Guyana ignores completely all the arguments for or against the age being upped from 55 – whether made my Kissoon or anyone else. In the context of Guyana, due to bad policies by the government qualified people leave (over 80% of university graduates) – it is hard to retain qualified people, the few who remain are forced out of the labour force at 55 with many fruitful years left. Some, after collecting their retirement benefits, also leave Guyana to give many years of productive service overseas. The essential question is whether Guyana should up the age and seek to retain some of this skills and experience.
This entire analytical question completely eludes Bisram, all he can see is the narrowness of the personal and personnel records of Freddie Kissoon, Bisram continues to drag his own credibility as an analyst deeper into the mud.
Neil Kumar: (KN: July 29, 2011) On a simple question of access by the general public to state swimming pools, Mr. Kumar (holder of senior public office) went into a form of nasty and abhorrent personal attack. After your temper tantrum and vile hysteria, Neil, the public would still like to know whether the ordinary citizen can have access to these ‘public’ swimming facilities – whether or not for a small fee – and on what days and times this is possible.
Or is it true that these pools are reserved for the elite, as suggested by Kissoon, while the poor and powerless, in the desire for a swim, meet their deaths at the Blacka and the GWI holding cistern in West Ruimveldt? And Neil, did you really say that access to the pool was curtailed because there was a need to preserve its life?
Prem Misir: (KN: July 29 & Aug. 1, 2011) Reference was made of the term yellow journalism in the context of sensationalizing news items without requisite facts. But there is another aspect of yellow journalism that was completely ignored; media establishment set up to be the mouth piece of the state apparatus or some elite segment of society where the news is reported as if other opinions or counterfactuals do not exist.
The goodly doctor accused some sections of the media of “false journalism, (and) a journalism of allegations” and concludes that what Guyana “needs is evidence-based journalism.” He took two letters to spew heaps of scorn on the private media even referring to them as the “new opposition,” his rant also called for evidence, yet this gentleman has not produced a single shred of concrete instance of either ‘yellow journalism’ or ‘journalism of allegations’ that is void of supporting evidence.
If the media’s transgressions are so great, O dear Misir, it should be easy for you to provide at least one material example that demonstrates this principle at work.
With the current deliberate policy by the government to withhold information from the public, what recourse do the media have? What about instances where the media has evidence that is considered reliable in all reasonableness and make valiant attempts to have these verified by public officials and these public officials bluntly refuse to even examine the evidence?
What about cases where public officials are perpetually unreachable or do not return calls or give misleading evidence that conflicts with information held in other places? Or cases where senior public officials are told to shut up? Should these stories stay out of print or go unreported?
That’s the wish of Misir and his employer, they prefer a docile and sheepish media that preaches the gospel according to Freedom House. Everything else is yellow trash!
I notice there’s a certain sameness to the way government and their creel of supporters respond to genuine inquires and criticisms; they plunge into deep depression and throw a tantrum then descend into the gutters of personal vilification and vicious attacks, hoping to divert attention away from the underlying issues.
While their incompetence continues to be accentuated, their crassness and ignorance exposed, high government offices are being reduced to ‘buse-out’ rum parlours.
There is a crisis of leadership in government, the PPP fountain seems to be dry. It wouldn’t be long before the people of Guyana say, enough is enough.

Lenno Craig

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