Edghill must be condemned for preventing questions from any stakeholder

Jul 28, 2013 News

…APNU’s Harmon calls forum a charade to elicit a statement of support

Junior Finance Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill, should be condemned for seeking to prevent questions from any section of society, particularly the media. And further, the National Stakeholders Consultation was nothing but a charade meant to elicit a statement of support for the US$840M Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project.

Joseph Harmon

This is according to Joseph Harmon who holds the Shadow portfolio for the Public Works and Transportation Sector within A Partnership for National Unity.
“Edghill cannot arbitrarily decide who they will be taking questions from when you invite stakeholders…The media is a stakeholder.”
Harmon said that the Junior Finance Minister cannot at such a forum decide where the questions come from but rather deal with the questions put forward and that the media has a legitimate right to ask questions at such a forum.
Harmon said that Edghill and the People’s Progressive Party have been too entrenched in making such arbitrary decisions.
During the National Stakeholder forum held at the International Convention Centre, Minister Edghill at the beginning of the second round of questions said, “I would not be taking questions from the media.”
He has since sought to distance himself from preventing questions from the media during the forum.
Asked about the rationale behind the forum, Harmon told this publication that it has now become a well documented tactic of the PPP to hurriedly gather a group of persons together and without presenting any documentation to be studied prior, make presentations and issue a statement of support.
He said that this obtained just prior to the Budget Cuts when the administration gathered up a number of persons at Office of the President and subsequently issued a statement in support of, and rejecting the then proposed cuts.
According to Harmon, “You can’t take 10 persons and get them to write a statement and say that this represents the views of 300 persons.”
He was referring to the statement issued following the consultation on the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project.
On Thursday last when the President exited the forum, during the question and answer segment, a number of the persons in attendance at the Conference also exited the meeting.

Bishop Juan Edghil

It was subsequently proposed from an individual in the audience remaining that there should be a statement of consensus.
At this point Bishop Edghill requested from the remaining persons in the audience that wanted to be a party to drafting the statement to come together in a group and assemble in a side room to draft the statement.
The group of persons that volunteered included representatives of Community Policing Groups, the Religious Community, the National Toshaos Council and FITUG among others, including Kit Nascimento, who represented the Private Sector Commission.
That statement read, “We, the stakeholders in attendance at the National Stakeholder’s Forum held on the 25th July, 2013, at the Guyana International Conference Centre, representing umbrella organizations, active networks and groups of civil society, declare our unequivocal support for the Amelia Falls Hydroelectric Project.
We appeal to all policy makers to engage in constructive, sincere and meaningful dialogue in order to urgently conclude the realization of this project. We so declare.”
The media representatives present did not contribute to that statement.