From the Diaspora…IS THE PPP SELLING OUT THE SOVEREIGN RIGHTS OF GUYANESE

Feb 10, 2013 News

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By Ralph Seeram

The villagers “arrested” the thief; they took him to the village office; they held him down on the steps of the office. Some held his feet, other held down his arms outstretched, then chopped off his left arm, severed his right arm. Both fell to the ground, he would never steal again.
Why did he suffer this fate at the hands of vigilantes? He was a known cattle thief, not only that, he was noted for stealing batteries and starters from village farmer’s tractors. The villagers were fed up, and decided to take matters in their own hands.
This incident took place more than forty years ago on the Corentyne. The thief survived to tell of his ordeal in court, but no one was convicted. Dozens witnessed the amputation of his arms, but no one testified to witnessing the incident. The villagers themselves raised funds and hired lawyers to defend the men.
Such it was back in the day. Thieves feared repercussions from the hands of their neighbours or the courts. This week I was reminiscing with some friends about tough judges in Guyana.
The name of the late Justice Akbar Khan, known as the “angry god” came up. He was not only feared by criminal defendants but by attorneys as well. He drove fear into criminals, especially white collar thieves.
Attorneys will try all sorts of excuses to postpone their cases before him hoping to get another judge at the next Assizes. He was fair, but if you were found guilty, prepare for the harshest sentence under the law. He had no tolerance for public servants stealing taxpayers’ money.
A close friend of mine who became a public servant got charged for fraud, and his case was set to be tried before Justice Khan. As a reporter then and covering cases in Justice Khan’s court, I told my friend to try not to have his case before him. His lawyer tried everything to postpone the case but the “angry god” will have none of it.
My friend was found guilty and sentenced to seven years for stealing a few thousand dollars. I think about if Justice Khan was around today and imagined what he would have done to a Minister of the government found guilty of stealing taxpayers’ money.
Is there any Justice Khan on the bench to drive fear into criminals today? Criminals have no fear of the law today. This can be seen from the number of bold daylight robberies taking place in Guyana today. The business community is in fear, the robberies and murders used to be blamed on the drug trade, but this is no longer the case.
Legitimate businessmen are the targets these days and these criminals are well armed. The police cannot do it alone they need strong support and strong messages from the bench. We need more Justice Akbar Khans, and I should also mention Justice Vieira to send strong messages to criminals.
The recent shootout between the police and the three would be robbers demonstrate how dangerous police work has become.
There are some who love to criticize the police whenever criminals are killed in a shootout. They forgot that in a fire fight anyone is liable to get killed, and this includes policemen. The policemen or women are also husbands, wives, fathers, uncles or brothers or sisters of someone, and they are putting their lives on the line to protect the public.
There must be some appreciation for these brave men. Some opposition politicians are quick to criticize the police actions whenever they see they can gain political mileage for it, but hardly have a word of commendation when they put their lives on the line to uphold the rule of law. There are businessmen who are now thinking silently of the Roger Khan era.
Some time ago, the Police Chief of Orange County where Orlando is located was speaking at a public forum. He made it clear, “If you pull a gun on my men they will shoot to kill” Can the Police Chief in Guyana make such a statement?
The opposition and the human rights nuts will crucify him.
Now that I got that off my chest let get to what I really wanted to talk about. Whenever I come to Guyana, I get a little depressed if not a bit guilty when I have to go to the visitors’ line instead of the one for Guyanese, because I carry a US passport. One of the things I am always afraid of is if person or persons ahead of me are coming to Guyana to work. This kind of holds up the line a bit as they apparently have to go through some paper work. Invariably most of these are Chinese.
I mention this because of a news item this newspaper carried about no Guyanese workers at the Marriot job site. Now this is a serious matter and I did not see any outrage from the trade unions or from any other organization for that matter. This matter is at the heart of our sovereignty. How can the PPP government allow this?
They had to agree to something in the contract giving the Chinese contractors full control of who they can employ. The government had to know that these men were coming in to work, they had to give them permission, if they did not then they need to deport them. You can’t be spending Guyanese tax dollars and giving employment to Chinese workers. I can understand that the contractors may need a few technical personnel, but little or no Guyanese workers? That is a total disrespect to all Guyanese tradesmen, and the country as a hole.
To make matters worse the Government is maintaining silence. The opposition parties ought to demand to see the details of this controversial contract. Is the PPP government selling out the rights of Guyanese to the Chinese?
Seeking to justify this state of affairs the PPP-controlled Guyana Chronicle through a frequent letter writer called T. King sought to justify EMPLOYING Chinese workers. This poor excuse for a propagandist said that former President Barras Jagdeo promised hundreds of jobs, but did not say hundreds of jobs for Guyanese.
These are the idiots the PPP has for carrying out their propaganda. The opposition must stop all funds going to the Guyana Chronicle, the quality and standards of journalism at that newspaper could not go lower. Just look back to the days when Carl Blackman was editor of that news paper.
Sure the paper carried the line of the PNC then but the quality and caliber of the journalists then would make those at the Chronicle look like novices.
There is that old saying about” beware of people bearing gifts” the Guyanese people will have to wake up and question the Chinese “invasion” of Guyana with their overpriced gifts. The Skeldon factory is a good example.
Ralph Seeram can be reached at email” [email protected]

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