Dangerous domination

Nov 20, 2013 Editorial

American author Robert Anton Wilson may well have been referring to present day Guyana when he opined that “a monopoly on the means of communication may define a ruling elite more precisely than the celebrated Marxian formula of monopoly in the means of production”.
Nothing has more pellucidly defined the objective of the ruling elite of this country than the barefaced and unrelenting mission to control the media landscape and telecommunications industry. In short, to have power over what we all see, hear or even think.
It is not only the unmitigated greed that rankles; it is the unrestrained arrogance and ruthless deception.
Yes, ruthless deception.
For instance, those pioneer cable TV providers who would have been particularly excited about being able to operate in a burgeoning industry, would undoubtedly have put everything they had on the table, in terms of ideas and proposals, when they were told to do so. None among them could have dreamed about what was to unfold.
In hindsight, they may have thought it enlightening or a sign, that such great emphasis was placed on the possibility that there were no guarantees in terms of licencing, but more suspiciously, that they should not expand or further invest. They were duped.
Considering all the expansion that has taken place in the five-year period since, it is safe to say that those exchanges were heartlessly insincere; they also provided a solid launching platform for those who now dominate the industry.
How interesting it is that only those few well connected individuals were given the go-ahead to spread their wings, and have since gone countrywide. Apparently only that select few had the knowledge and wherewithal to do so.
The whole plot was hatched in the then leader’s ‘vision’ for Guyana to be on par with the rest of the world in Information Communication Technology. That vision created a big picture that was impossible for the covetous in the cabal to resist.
Wireless technology, which provides high speed internet access to our homes and offices with the additional benefits for mobile users, is increasingly becoming the exclusive property of a handful of so-called ‘visionaries’.
We were told that we have to close the digital divide, which would require more advanced technologies than other countries have; that this wireless technology would allow us to “move fully into E-Government mode, hooking up our schools, our hospitals and everything else so that we can deploy technology to the service of our people”; that Guyana’s level of competitiveness and efficiency in health, education, agriculture and manufacturing will improve significantly.
It was emphasized that the aim is to make these services affordable to all Guyanese. And it all sounded so nice. That was until those who refused to be hoodwinked, decided to speak out against the use of taxpayers’ dollars to fund multi-billion-dollar ventures that would only benefit a handful of persons financially, but more alarmingly in this case, would represent the core aspect of the main architect’s primary objective – complete monopoly of the communication sector.
How hypocritical that the telephone company was being relentlessly blasted about its monopoly in the telecommunications sector, while the stage had already been set for the steady takeover of the spectrum and the national airwaves by friends and family of the powers that be.
In terms of infrastructure, it must be stressed that all that has been erected to date has cost the beneficiaries nothing. They will give the impression that they have spent their lifetime earnings to make it easier for Guyanese to experience the joys of technological advancement.
It’s an illusion that the greatest of magicians would applaud. The problem is that taxpayers cannot show any such appreciation, because the magicians in this case are clearly using this nation’s money to not only build an empire, but to prepare the landscape that would leave only them with the significant means of communication.
Even if given a chance, no one else would be able to compete.
All Guyanese – every man, woman and child – will eventually understand fully the brazen indiscretion that has taken place right before their eyes. The scheme is slowly but surely being revealed. The reality of this situation is frightening.
Someone has to bell the cat, or we could be facing a future of dangerous domination.

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