TIME TO LOBBY FOREIGN GOVT’S AND INT’L ORGANIZATIONS

Oct 26, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The PNC, when in power, was extremely dismissive of public opinion. It did not care much about public opposition to what it did. It did not care, because the PNC did not need public support to stay in power. It rigged elections. When it was bothered by what the media wrote or announced, it simply nationalized the dailies and the radio stations.  And when the few independent voices raised their heads in protest, the authoritarian PNC descended upon them with libel suits and newsprint bans. It even sent its goons to kill a media operative; others were terrorized to leave.
That was in the era of socialism. What resulted in change was international pressure. In return for western help, Desmond Hoyte was forced to liberalize, and as part of the liberalization he had to accept the liberalization of the media. This is how Stabroek News was born. But Hoyte, despite providing space for a private newspaper, did not relax the stranglehold on radio and the Chronicle. The State monopoly on radio continued and the State-owned newspaper continued with its one-sided reporting as it had done under Burnham.
But despite this control of the media, and by extension the influence on public opinion, the Hoyte administration did not ignore the concerns expressed in the media over his government’s procurement of a power barge at a time when citizens were forced to endure power outages for six hours per day and at times longer.
The purchase of the barge became a political hot potato. Even though the then independent media was marginalized, Hoyte still conceded to the demands for an investigation. He recognized the larger implications for investment and western assistance if he failed to be responsive to the concerns over the barge. As such, he ordered a commission of inquiry, and when its report came out, his government accepted responsibility for not exercising greater oversight over the project.
The PPPC today may believe its own propaganda that it is under siege by the independent media. But far from facing a belligerent media, the PPP has gotten away with a great many excesses and has refused to make concessions to public opinion. And to its discredit it has hounded the private media and perverted the State-owned media far more than the PNC ever did. The PPP has been a pit bull attacking the jugular of the private media in Guyana, especially the Stabroek News and the Kaieteur News. It is a shameful and disgraceful record.
The scandal over the acquisition of the power barge now pales in comparison to the scandal over the Skeldon Sugar Factory. Burnham’s nationalization of radio now pales in comparison to the cronyism involved in the liberalization of radio and television under the PPP. Burnham’s failed glass factory is soon to be matched by the white elephant that is being constructed at Kingston. And Hoyte’s attack on the independent media is like child’s play when compared with the attempt to muzzle the Kaieteur News and destroy its publisher.
This is the PPP’s record. This is the record of the party of Cheddi Jagan who must now be tossing in his grave, wondering how his party could have been hijacked by such callousness, mediocrity and indecency.
Hoyte launched an inquiry into the acquisition of the power barge. The barge, which served time during the Vietnam War, was still however functioning after the commission of inquiry. But it was under-performing.
The Skeldon Sugar Factory is still functioning years after it should have been operating at peak capacity. But it is also under-performing. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to fix it.
Yet the PPP has refused to launch a commission of inquiry into the construction of the Skeldon Sugar Factory. It has refused to allow for an audit of the construction of the Sugar Packaging Plant at Enmore, which Kaieteur News had offered to pay for. It has been secretive over the investors in the Marriott Hotel deal.
In other words, unlike Hoyte whose government was administering an economy transitioning out of socialism, the PPP which operates in a liberalized economic environment has been unresponsive to demands for investigations into what many see as botched projects under Bharrat Jagdeo.
Instead of doing what Hoyte did; instead of launching a commission of inquiry into the fiasco of the Skeldon Sugar Factory, the PPP continues to be dismissive of public concerns over this issue.
Foreign powers placed pressure on Hoyte to hold an inquiry into the barge. This was seen as necessary for continued external support for the power sector. Hoyte gave in to the pressures.
It is time for foreign pressures to be placed on the PPP administration. It is time for the European Union, which provides support to Guyana for the restructuring of the sugar industry, to insist that any further assistance to the sugar industry be contingent on a commission of inquiry into the construction of the Skeldon Sugar Factory.
It is time for Norway to be asked to ensure that an investigation is launched into local deforestation rates before any additional monies are released. And it is time that the Caribbean Development Bank be asked to insist on a management audit of the Guyana Revenue Authority, before it commits any additional funds to reforms of that body. And it is long overdue for visa restrictions to be placed on the government for its attack on democratic institutions.
Those foreign governments, international organizations and financial institutions that provide assistance to Guyana must bring pressure to bear on the government of Guyana. But they are not likely to do so of their own free will.
A powerful local lobby is necessary. It is time for such a lobby to agitate for pressure to be brought on the PPP administration. Otherwise democracy will go through the window. Kaieteur News will be forced to close its doors. Stabroek News will be suffocated. Guyana will be left with the Guyana Times and the Chronicle.

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