The secret lovers of the President Jagdeo-led PPP Govt. are emerging from the shadows

Oct 17, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
We have just learned that: “Dr. Emmanuel Cummings, Dean of the University of Guyana’s Health Sciences faculty, has called on Guyanese of African descent to vote en masse for the PPP to ensure they take Region Four in the General and Regional Elections set for November 28.”
Dr. Cummings’ stated rationales for supporting the PPP were that the outgoing President B. Jagdeo has a Master’s Degree from the Friendship University in Moscow and that Mr. D. Ramotar has a degree from UG. Who has heard about any outstanding academic work, exceptional research or noted scholarship from this Friendship University in Russia? Where is the proof of President Jagdeo’s intellect during his years as Head-of-State? In fact, the cumulative evidence covering President Jagdeo presidency has proven otherwise.
Successive Governments (PNC and PPP) of Guyana have stymied academic development for decades at the University of Guyana. This University has long fallen from its initial pedestal and early glory days. None of these two abovementioned University graduates have seen it fit to invest in Guyana’s University. UG is not an academic institution in the real sense of the word and few of the faculty could therefore claim to be real ‘academics.’ Serious academic efforts by the faculty in science are doomed to failure – it is impossible to do serious science here. So the statements of persons from UG speaking as an ‘academic’ must be closely examined for its merit.
Acquiring a formal degree from some putative academic institution is not necessarily a sign of intelligence, character, integrity and sound ethical/moral principles.
Dr. Cummings’ has endorsed President B. Jagdeo and Presidential candidate Mr. Ramotar, both of whom have invested time to attend an “Indian” parade in New York in their efforts to be seen as “Indian” so that they can promote their “Indianess” in Guyana. Yet these same men, over the years, were/are not available to see or hear UG students. (The President also went to Iran, Russia and India. He is most often in the USA. We see no pictures of him at UG.) Even PYO students and PPP supporters were disgusted with these neglects at UG.
Dr. Cummings also mentions, he admires the PPP accomplishments in Education. Since after 2002, some of us ex-faculty (Dr. Anand Daljeet and I), Mr. Alfred Bhulai (now an ex-employee) and Mr. Freddie Kissoon have highlighted the deplorable conditions at UG, particularly in Science and Technology, to the attention of the Guyanese public. President Jagdeo’s chosen Vice-Chancellor Dr. James Rose and his men Mr. Al Creighton (then DVC) and Mr. John Caesar (then Dean of Science) vigorously denied these dysfunctional conditions, mismanagement, total lack of facilities and financial misappropriations (Lab funds) at UG.
During this period, no one else (neither UG faculty nor Opposition members and parliamentarians) spoke out in support of us and UG. The UG students have suffered from the Government directed decline and willful neglect of facilities and learning opportunities.
Dr. Cummings was likewise silent. We have no problem with his silence since it is his democratic right and people were/are fearful of their jobs at UG. It is now remarkable that Dr Cummings have suddenly found his courage to not only speak out in support of this President Jagdeo Government, but also to advise ‘Afro-Guyanese’ students to vote PPP.  I have too much respect for UG students (including any who see themselves as ‘Afro-Guyanese’) to insult their intelligence by advising them to vote for their tormentors.
We must ask: Where was Dr. Cummings all these years? This is the first time that I have heard him speaking out as if he is an advocate of ‘Afro-Guyanese’ rights. Dr. Cummings seems to be unaware of the sufferings of all students (including ‘Afro-Guyanese’ students) at UG. Were Dr. Cummings such a student’s rights advocate, he would have felt the wrath of Dr. James Rose and not have endeared himself to this PPP Govt. We know what happens to such activists. We saw what has happened to Mr. Freddie Kissoon.
Perhaps Dr. Cummings should tell us about his basic research facilities at UG and the Science facilities/laboratories that he is so pleased about. The science buildings are near the Faculty of Health Science’s building. When I was there, we (students, staff and I) started doing actual biochemistry labs again. The then Head of Biology Department, Mr. Phillip DaSilva, and then Head of Chemistry Department, Mr. Alfred Bhulai went to great lengths to help me getting things up and running.
Surely, Dr. Cummings, who describes himself as a biochemist, must know of the state of science at UG and therefore aware of how hard it is to get basic things done. Surely, he would have spoken with these two Heads about the state of biochemistry at UG. Everyone knows who is responsible for the lack of basic teaching and research facilities at UG. The person who directs the show is his hero, President B. Jagdeo.
Where do Dr. Cummings’ students carry out their biochemistry labs, if any? Why is Dr. Cummings taking samples elsewhere to places where real science can be done? Why is no basic research work being done at UG?
This was the same institution during the tenure of a UN Human Rights Commissioner as Chancellor of UG, when workers were pleading to be treated as ‘human beings.’ The UG Chancellor just ran, he never spoke to the staff of UG! The voices of Dr. R. Luncheon and Mr. Samuel Hinds were loudly silent. What has changed socially that Dr. Cummings admires President Jagdeo and his hand-picked Presidential candidate, Mr. Donald Ramotar?
The current Pro-Chancellor, Dr. Prem Misir, also serving in the Office of the President, has been writing some rather extremely bizarre letters in the newspapers, which we view as further advocating the willful demise of the University of Guyana. How can anyone with even average intelligence, associate with persons of such questionable public writings and destructive actions and inactions towards higher education at UG?
How does Dr. Cummings explain himself since his admired Government has also shut down Critchlow Labour College (CLC)? CLC offered a second chance to many youths. How can depriving young people of a second chance to educate themselves be approved by anyone? Yet Dr. Cumming seems to have no problem with this education directive by the President Jagdeo government.
We know this government buys people whose respectability it craves or can use to polish its ugly image for overseas propaganda purposes such as meetings of UG Associations. We must think that they have something special for the likes of Dr. E. Cummings.
What immediately comes to mind is that, likely, Dr. Cummings was promised something extraordinary such as the Vice Chancellor position at UG. This means the PPP knows that he can be controlled and trusted like Dr. James Rose was. Will Dr. Cummings be Dr James Rose II?
The situation in Guyana is sad, we have no real academics such as Dr. W. Rodney (History), Dr. Omawale (Biology), Dr. F. Campayne  (Quantum  Mechanics) etc.. ‘Afro-Guyanese’ now treat any person like a ‘God’ who has a Doctoral Degree, whether this respect is earned or not. The average person does not realize that having a Ph.D (or PHD) does not make one an academic or principled. Guyanese should not allow themselves to be used and abused again and again by any supposed person of their ‘own kind.’ We know and see beyond superficial appearances. I know our young people at UG judged Dr. A. Daljeet, Mr. Alfred Bhulai and I on merit and character.
We know that Dr. Roger Luncheon and Mr. Samuel Hinds both ably qualified gentleman have done nothing for the youths of Guyana and for the advancement of university education. They serve in a Government whose policies towards fellow humans are being challenged in court by Mr. Freddie Kissoon.
But before we judge Dr. Cummings’s and his motives we should give him the opportunity to enlighten and also to explain to us just what he hopes to achieve by calling for Guyanese (and ‘Afro-Guyanese’ in particular) to support this President Jagdeo’s PPP-Govt. How does he plan to succeed where others have dismally failed?
Seelochan Beharry

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