Lall’s finger is on the inflated contracts too

Sep 06, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
I have only read the Guyana Times a few times since its existence, for I was never impressed with the format and content of this publication. And I’ve only recently begun to take a closer look at the Guyana Chronicle, and I’m still not impressed. For a newspaper that touts the achievements of the government and criticizes the opposition, I have not found the Guyana Chronicle to be objective in its reporting. Even though government-owned and controlled, there is need for some level of objectivity if readers are expected to support this medium.
Of late, there have been several adverse reports on the Government of Guyana (GoG), published in the independent dailies that put the Jagdeo Administration on the defensive. These reports all originated from the US Embassy in Georgetown, and were first published by WikiLeaks: an international organization that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified information from anonymous sources and whistleblowers.
Living in the United States and being a student of politics, I have great respect for the American intelligence system and their ability for information gathering. Therefore I must conclude that the WikiLeaks reports are credible.
On Sunday, September 4th, the front page of both Guyana Times and Guyana Chronicle featured a US Embassy report published by WikiLeaks, insinuating that Kaieteur News publisher, and a man whom I’m proud to call ‘my friend‘ Glenn Lall, was “rumored” to be involved with alien smuggling. The Wikileaks report added that Lall “has his finger firmly on the pulse of Guyana’s underworld which serves his media enterprise well”.
The Guyana Times plastered this on its entire front page with no story of its own. I suspect they may have had some difficulties finding enough real material, and wanted something sensational to sell this publication. The Guyana Chronicle also dramatically featured this story on its front page with a photo of a somber looking Glenn Lall.
If the Guyana Chronicle had given similar coverage on any of the adverse reports on the GoG published by WikiLeaks, I must have missed them all during my Guyana vacation. And I’m sure if it did, it would have denounced the Wikileaks reports as ‘hearsay evidence’ without the supporting facts. Yet without evidence, they pounced on the opportunity given to slander the character of a good man whose newspaper business threatens the survival of their own.
Like most Guyanese who lived under the tyranny of the PNC regime, Glenn Lall turned to ‘trading‘for survival. Through hard work and taking a few risks, he achieved the success he is today. Lall is the publisher of the in-demand, best-selling Kaieteur News, and I would be surprised if he did not have “a finger firmly on the pulse of Guyana’s underworld”, the same way he has a finger firmly on inflated contracts being awarded to cronies of the Administration, the likes of the incompetent Makeshwar Fip Motilall.
He’s in the business of knowing other people’s business, but I can think of five (5) good reasons why Glenn Lall prefers to leave the criminal underground in the hands of law enforcement. These reasons are pressmen Mark Maikoo, Chetram ‘Boyo’ Persaud, Richard Stewart, Eion Wegman and Shazim Mohamed – all Kaieteur News employees, murdered on August 8th 2006 by gunmen in the most dastardly of attacks on press freedom anywhere.
Glenn Lall may not be a saint, but he is a great humanitarian and patriotic Guyanese with his finger on the pulse of the nation, fighting everyday for transparency and accountability of the Jagdeo Administration; fighting to ensure that taxpayers‘money is not wasted on shoddy government projects; and fighting for a better quality of life for the underprivileged.
Glenn Lall is a man of integrity who cannot be bribed. Of course, the Guyana Chronicle would love to discredit their rival and competitor in hopes of shutting down the conscience of the nation.
But if this same article had appeared with the name of Bharrat Jagdeo instead of Glenn Lall, they would have been the first to point out that “rumored involvement” is precisely that… rumors.
A little investigative reporting would have prevented them from falling prey to a ‘gotcha‘moment without first getting their facts right. But maybe they’re trying to avoid a libel suit by simply reprinting what was already reported by WikiLeaks.
Harry Gill

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