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The wife of a prominent doctor made an accusation against me

Jul 28, 2014 Letters

Dear Editor,
I got several calls yesterday that were responses from a letter I wrote in KN yesterday on David Granger’s leadership. All the callers felt I was unfair to Mr. Granger with respect to the University of Guyana. All the callers were nice and courteous with the wife of a prominent medical practitioner who is a very strong admirer of Mr. Granger saying with a serious tone, “Freddie, what changes could Granger bring at UG when look how much you did at UG but UG is still the same? So we can say you failed too!”
There was actually no time to offer a critical account of the weakness in her observation but I briefly said to her, I know how she felt, she is right in many ways but it is not as simple as she makes it out. I suggest she read my position in this letter. The lady’s accusation was that despite my activism, UG is still the same.
Yes I admit, the PPP still dominates UG and has destroyed it. But how can you compare my small record at attempts at change at UG with that of the opposition in Parliament, which has enormous popular support in Guyana and resources to fight the PPP. Here is the point I want to make to this goodly lady. In my activism at UG, I never cooperated with the PPP-dominated Council to strengthen the PPP’s hegemony at UG. APNU since the 2001 elections has done just that through Dr. Rupert Roopnarine and it marks a big blot on Mr. Granger’s performance as Leader of the opposition.
First, APNU made a most offensive and horrible mistake by doing what the PPP has done for decades at UG – put party people rather than independent professionals in the Council. I fought with my union for years to depoliticize the Council and to get Guyanese to reject a Council with five PPP Parliamentarians and seven PPP card-bearing members.
Up came the APNU, and in 2012 did the unthinkable – put an opposition Parliamentarian on the Council in the form of Dr. Roopnarine. APNU took the wind out of our sail by doing that. We could no longer criticize the PPP for stacking the Council with its Parliamentarians.
Secondly, the record would show that APNU’s Council representative, Dr. Roopnarine has consistently voted for the PPP’s positions on the Council. There is hardly a policy disagreement between the PPP and APNU at UG.
Dr. Roopnarine even voted with the PPP in some egregious ways like the dismissal of the two most senior financial staff without one shred of evidence being brought against them. My union colleagues told me he later apologized but if I was at UG I would have rejected his apology because it was not sincere.
Dr. Roopnarine in the Council supported the student fee increase. An unthinkable act of assault on the children of the working class of this country. Dr. Roopnarine chairs the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on UG. That Committee has met once and we are just two years away from a General Elections, meaning of course that that committee will not be able to make any significant changes at UG, not that I believe Dr. Roopnarine is interested.
Now surely, that lady cannot and should not exonerate Mr. Granger from these mistakes at UG. Mr. Granger must know what Dr. Roopnarine is doing. Dr. Roopnarine’s praxis since 2011 is open to serious question. I was told by trustworthy people that he was soft in the negotiations between APNU and the PPP over the Linden crisis in August last year. One negotiator told me, Dr. David Hinds and Lincoln Lewis, that after each session, Roopnarine would stay back at OP and spend hours taking to Gail Teixeira.
Look at his open defence of the Cricket Bill. GINA carried a statement by Roopnrine challenging anyone to show where the Bill puts power in the hand of the government.
Obviously Roopnarine didn’t read the Bill and was humiliated when the Government agreed with the West Indian Board to depoliticize the Bill thus the non-assent by the President which the WI Board insisted on.
I end with a clear statement that I don’t think Roopnarine is the only APNU leader that has disappointed the Guyanese people since 2011 elections, but I replied to this lady because she called me about Mr. Granger and UG and Mr. Granger’s position at UG has been a failure.
Frederick Kissoon  

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