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Basil Williams is deaf to the national cry for justice

Oct 19, 2012 Letters

 

Dear Editor,
PNCR/APNU Member of Parliament, Basil Williams, seems oblivious to the reverberating sounds coming from the voices of the Guyanese populace. More than the cry for justice, there is a loud whisper that Mr Williams seems to miss; the call for results-based performance within the almost sleeping camp of his party.
That Basil Williams was called to task to explain why he was absent throughout the period of the ‘Linden Struggle’ was indicative of the awareness of those who are the direct constituents of APNU. While the people are largely left to confront the hegemonic rule of the PPP/C in heightened forms of resistance, the lukewarm response of their political representatives will no longer be tolerated. Members of the Commission of Inquiry visited Linden on October 3, 2012. Mr Williams was there, in my opinion, in the capacity of a guide. The media was out in full force. The people were vocal and the police seemed subdued.
We left the Wismar/ Mackenzie Bridge and headed to One Mile, Wismar. A crowd gathered and got the ear of the commissioners. A victim who had sustained a gunshot wound to the face during the ‘Struggle’ was there also.  It was at that point that Mr Williams got rejected by the people of Linden.
I ventilated the questions and concerns of the angry crowd by asking Mr Williams why he never came to Linden while the protest was ongoing. Seemingly embarrassed, Basil Williams response came in the form of a threat. There were witnesses there who heard what he said to me. Mark Benschop heard him and asked why he was using threatening language.
Basil Williams subsequently penned a letter to Stabroek News under the caption ‘It was not the people of Linden’, where he stated, in response to Stabroek News October 3, article headlined, ‘ Lindeners demand justice as shooting commission visits’, that the article was erroneous because it was Mark Benschop and myself and not the people of Linden, who were attempting to attack the solid record of representation of the people of Linden by his party’s leaders.
It is this display of blatant arrogance by a senior APNU leader that qualifies the notion that perhaps APNU is more concerned with image building than solid representation and proven leadership on behalf the downtrodden who are now fighting an almost lone battle.
Had it not been for the sterling efforts of human rights lawyer and AFC executive Nigel Hughes, the poor and struggling Guyanese would be receiving a bullet every time they speak out or protest. That is my view.
On the 28th of September 2012, I joined a group of about 30 protesters, mostly women, outside Bosai’s main gates at Linden. We were protesting the mere presence of Prime Minister Sam Hinds in the town of Linden.
Prime Minister Hinds was there to commission dust collectors. APNU Vanessa Kissoon was standing next to me, as what appeared to be an official vehicle approached to exit the main gates.
As the vehicle slowly drove past the protesters, I recognised Basil Williams in very dark glasses, looking straight ahead. For some reason he always reminds me, whenever I see him, of an ’80s Pop Star.’
I shouted to him three times to to exit the vehicle and speak to the protesters. He exited the vehicle reluctantly.
Perhaps, if he had me as a sidekick the performance of his party would have been tremendously enhanced.
Norman Browne
London

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