Mr. Phillips misrepresented what I wrote by reproducing selective quotes out of context

Aug 20, 2015 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
I write in response to the letter captioned “The Village Movement was Guyana’s greatest entrepreneurial event” by Mr. Eric M. Phillips in the Kaieteur News of August 17, 2017 in which he, by reproducing selective quotes out of context, misrepresents a piece I wrote, “Granger addressed a matter of importance to all Guyanese” (Stabroek News, August 12, 2015) following President David Granger’s speech to a forum on the state of the African-Guyanese.
My letter was prompted by three factors:
1. Freddie Kissoon’s column (“What about a Black entrepreneurial class?”, Kaieteur News of August 1) in which he stated “East Indians dominate the economy ninety five percent to one percent for African, with other races making up the other four percent”, without giving any analysis of how this came about or offering any solution how to change the situation.
2. The Stabroek News report on President Granger’s speech in which he pointed out “salaried employment is very seductive (when compared with the risks associated with the maintenance of a business)” and explaining that “You can spend out your whole salary because you know next month you will get another salary. If you are a farmer you need to save money for fertilizer, seed, equipment, if there is a drought or a flood you need savings to tide you over but if you are a policeman and there’s a flood you still get paid. Some people do not like to take risks but …unless you change the economy, unless we create people who are entrepreneurs, manufacturers, we will always be victims of people who make decisions for us”.
3. The need to understand the linkage between the statistics quoted by Mr. Kissoon and the explanation given by President Granger of the security of salaried employment versus the risks associated with operating a business or being a farmer. This understanding of risks and rewards is very important if Guyana is to make progress in terms of national unity, ethnic security and economic progress.
Furthermore, at a time when violent crimes are so rampant in the society, we need to be mindful of how criminality could be fostered by false perception. Mr. Kissoon himself informed us in “The failure of the Buxton conspiracy”, a series of article he published in 2002, that “It is frightening what the violent youths of Buxton were educated in. They were told the most untruthful things about the government, the business class and the East Indian community… the glaring fact, the incontrovertible fact, remains that a group of seasoned criminals with no scruples or remorse in raping innocent women, robbed and killed people savagely because of their ethnicity”.
Let us be absolutely clear about what I wrote. I did not question the entrepreneurship of African-Guyanese or their contribution to Guyana’s development, so Mr. Phillips’ history lesson is misdirected. What I did point out in my letter was how the entrepreneurial spirit of African-Guyanese was sacrificed in the immediate post-independence period with the ready availability of “seductive” (President Granger’s description) salaried employment.
For the record, I reiterate what I wrote “With independence coming shortly thereafter and government jobs becoming readily available, many African villagers deserted the self-sufficiency of independent occupations – carpentry, cabinet making, blacksmith, gutter-smith, farming and the raising of livestock, opting instead for the apparent security of salaried occupations”.
This too is history Mr. Phillips, a history, which it seems, President Granger does not want to repeat, but some are not willing to face.
Instead of being critical of my letter, I believe Mr. Phillips could have better served his constituents by challenging President Granger to come up with a plan, with quantifiable targets to be achieved during his presidency, to address the imbalance Mr. Kissoon has mentioned.
Harry Hergash

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