A stakeholder’s hypocrisy

May 13, 2012 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Perhaps, the most precious right we enjoy which must never be surrendered is the right to have an opinion. It is a belief we hold as part of being rational humans. It may not be arrived at by extensive research into knowledge. It may not have come about because we delved deeply into the subject. We give birth to it because it inheres in our capacity to think as humans.
An opinion, even if it cannot be defended, should be expressed, because in so doing we let the world know that we can think for ourselves. It may not be a worthwhile world to live in if we are afraid to express an opinion or feel too insecure or inferior to display a thought we have, a belief we possess. Whoever we are, however we feel, we must be free and feel free to have an opinion.
I have no training in art, but from the little I know about art, I find it inexplicable that Paul Cézanne’s “The Card Player” remains the most expensive painting ever sold (US$250M). I would not rate that painting in the first ten of the world’s most precious art work. The first time I saw Jennifer Lopez in a movie and the first time I heard her sing, I couldn’t understand how she became a superstar. She cannot sing or act and probably would never have passed an audition in both categories.
It is my opinion that cricket’s most accomplished and competent fast bowler has been Glenn McGrath.
This brings me to my country. Opinion-making in Guyana is almost non-existent. Fear of reprisal or retaliation or degradation deters Guyanese from speaking on things they have strong feelings on. Then there is the libel factor. You are bound to get one if you go on to express your viewpoint with frequency. Do you know that during the budget debate last week, an OP consultant sent a lawyer’s letter to a well known professional over the use of the word, “massive” to describe his salary?
It has to be the most asinine judge in the world to find a person guilty of slander because he/she describes a consultant’s salary as massive.
In Guyana, since I became a public commentator in 1988 I have become a relentless victim of my open opinion-making. It has not deterred me, even though it has put me in the poisonous books of all types of powerful people, not only in power and politics, but in all spheres of life in Guyana.
I do not have a very high opinion of our private sector people; there are a few that are of admirable quality, the bulk of them though, are people who display no sense of social responsibility. They enjoy status in this country they do not deserve.
Acts that threaten the very foundation of this country pass without even a whisper of condemnation from the private sector that Guyanese credit with being a priceless stakeholder.
Readers of this column would be familiar with my opinion on the Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Mr. Ramesh Dookhoo. Keeping within the strict limits of the law, I have constantly described Mr. Dookhoo as a stakeholder who has political inclinations that disqualify him from holding the position of Chairman of the Private Sector Commission.
Last year, before the national elections, I acted on the information of the editor of this newspaper, Mr. Adam Harris, that Mr. Dookhoo would like to speak to me. I called. I didn’t catch him. He contacted me later when I was at a meeting at the TUC. I left the meeting to answer my phone. I was polite, but I should not have been when he told me that he has no political bias one way or the other.
It is my right to say that I don’t believe him. Since that conversation I have been critical of his leadership of the PSC.
Now we have the PSC descending to the level of insane abdication of its patriotic duty. The PSC has written to the Leader of the Opposition asking for a discussion on how the budget cuts will affect the private sector then in the same letter, the PSC shamelessly told Mr. David Granger that if the opposition has a problem with the way NCN is run, it should speak to the government about it.
Why should Mr. Granger alone speak to the ruling politicians about the nastiness of NCN? It is for stakeholders like the PSC to tell the Government that it must stop the caricature named NCN. I call upon Mr. Dookhoo to resign.

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A stakeholder’s hypocrisy

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