Guyana will never be the same old place where a group did whatever it pleased

Apr 29, 2012 Letters

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Dear Editor,
All Guyanese should be loud in their praise of the leadership of the combined opposition for its prudent and wise consideration and consequent action to slash 20B from the National Budget for 2012. If that action is an indication of things to come then Guyanese can look forward to a higher standard of living and a better country.
For years, the PPP/C got away with all sorts of things in our parliament because they controlled the Executive and Legislative branches of government. However, the elections of November 28, 2011, gave the leavers of legislative power to the opposition.  Since then, things have changed; Guyana will never be the same old place where a group of people, in the name of a political party (PPP/C), can do whatever it very well pleased.
Those elections facilitated the form of a democratic country. Now, the opposition is seeking to give substance to it. This consists of transparency, accountability, justice, fairness, good governance, financial rectitude, compliance with the laws, and public participation.
Had it not been for the alertness and watchful eyes of the opposition, the PPP/C Government would have gotten away, again, as it did over the last nineteen years, with a fanciful budget, with a nice sounding theme and big numbers, designed to mainly benefit PPP supporters and its cronies subtly  tucked away in so- called state media operations, and the office of the President as advisors on everything, and a ridiculous bailout package for two of Guyana’s worst managed corporations- GPL and GUYSUCO among other ugly things.
It was very shocking to hear the weak attempts of some Ministers to make a case for the opposition not to cut certain items in the budget. They were long on words but very short on analysis to justify the inclusion of certain sums in the budget. This was understandable because, in the past, the PPP/C did not have to come up with reasonable explanations for its actions, let alone justify them, to anyone. Unconscious of the political change, they appear to be in that same old mode. They need to snap out of it to move the country forward.
Further, government’s action to mobilize and organize public servants to protest the opposition, in front of parliament was, to say the least, very funny. Those who were asked to go and protest went with no real conviction that they were acting in their own best interest; many expressed the view, publicly, that they were acting in the interest of those who are receiving “fat cat” pay cheques, in the very ministries, where they- traditional public servants- work for pittance. Guyanese are never fooled.
As the saying goes- “he who feels it knows it”. While there were a few known PPP/C servants, not necessarily public servants, shouting and carrying on, the majority of public servants on the protest line was just amused and took the time to catch up with old friends from other agencies.
However, the process of the debate itself facilitated certain shocking revelations including the overcrowding of the Local Government Ministry with four Ministers (past and present), the inappropriate arrangement of NICIL, and the squandering of tax-payers hard earned money on NCN and GINA. Over the last few days, these two corporations occupied the enviable spotlight in the media for two reasons: First, the opposition cuts to their subsidies and government’s reaction to opposition action.
The opposition was right to cut subsidies at GINA and NCN. Tax-payers’ money should never be used to fuel government propaganda and support political party activists posing as journalists and reporters. GINA operated as the mouthpiece for the PPP/C with access to substantial state resources. That could not be right and should not be accepted.
On the question of NCN, one would have thought that with the utterances from the opposition about their intention to cut support to that channel that its management would have changed their politically biased ways of favouring the PPP/C. That did not happen.
Even recent programmes on the budget debates, in parliament, were almost entirely on what the PPP/C Ministers said. Hardly any word on what members of the opposition said. And when NCN reported on the opposition it was almost always in a negative way.
Their approach is not only unfair but unprofessional. It gives professional journalism a bad name. It is clear that at NCN it is more about politics than it is about professional reporting and journalism.
Everyone knows that NCN will continue to spew political propaganda. No one is fooled by their antics about cutting jobs. Maybe management will use this opportunity to get rid of those who have not shown loyalty to the political philosophy of the network but they will keep those who are supportive of the PPP/C. NCN has the money to do that and they will do that.
NCN has been on the receiving end of tax-payers’ dollars for about twenty years. Why would it not have money to keep its present staff?
However, cuts in subsidies alone would not cause NCN to reform, reorganize and be more professional; the opposition must do more to initiate change in the undesirable state of affairs there.
This is a very serious point because the opposition must know that government used tax payers’ money to invest in NCN’s communication infrastructure- transmitters, cameras and allied equipment, sound equipment, graphics, editing and design software, and training of staff.
Moreover, the frequency spectrum, which NCN uses is a national asset owned by all the people of Guyana; not by the PPP/C.  All Guyanese should share in the benefits of its use by that television channel regardless of their association or non- association with any or all political parties.
Therefore, it is not just about subsidies but about really calling NCN to account for their stewardship of those things paid for by the public purse.
Even where the Network is supported by advertisements they still need to be accountable because the corporations that advertise with that television network- NCN- are supported by the public. Perhaps, those businesses that advertise with the channel should stipulate that it must grant air- time, and coverage to events and actions of opposition parties.
No corporation or company should want to advertise with a communication channel (radio/television) that has been consistently unashamedly discriminating against the political opposition of a country because it is not good for the development of the country and certainly not good for business.
But there is a more fundamental issue- the right of every Guyanese to be kept informed on the actions of its representatives in parliament. NCN needs to respect that right and begin to allot time to the opposition. This is not something the opposition should negotiate but demand now for the sake of the people who have elected them as their representatives.
Name withheld

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