The unacceptable excuses of our elected politicians

Sep 06, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,

We all expect human beings to have an “off day” from time to time. We all do and make allowances for the occasional miss- spoken words, phrases, utterance. Our words sometimes do get tangled as it exits the mouth.

What we cannot defend is the habitual day to day “barrage” of nonsensical excuses the people of Guyana have been bombarded with the past 18 months from the members of the Collation.

It is so very painful to hear the pathetic excuses coming out the mouths of our elected leaders. It leaves one to wonder the “mind” behind the words Are these the politician Guyanese are placing their hopes on to get the nation out of our present dilemma? Here listed is just a few “doozies” from our elected officials

David Grainger – President.

“Bond Fiasco…. Health Ministry attempted to avoid pitfalls of previous administration – Granger” KN Aug 12, 2016, the Head of State asserted that “the Ministry of Public Health attempted to avoid the pitfalls of the processes which prevailed under the previous administration,”

Joe Harmon – Minister of State.

We do remember the early response of the Senior Minister trying to defend the Gigantic fifty percent raise. In his explanation, We have to pay people so they don’t have to steal… (to paraphrase)

“No apologies- Government justifies salary increases – Harmon” KN Oct 07, 2015

Following news of over 50 per cent salary increases for Ministers of Government, Minister of State Joseph Harmon has stated that these increases are justifiable considering the quality of Cabinet members and thus the Government has no apologies to make….. The Minister also stated that there could not be a situation such as in the past administration, when Ministers were prepared to accept “lowly” salaries, but would engage in corrupt practices.

Harmon apologises to “hurt” Guyanese, but not PPP KN Nov 22, 2015

“I said I have no apologies to make to the PPP but in the event the Guyanese people felt offended by my statement then to the Guyanese people I would say… if they feel hurt or offended by it… I would say I apologized…(but) not to the PPP because I don’t think they deserve it.”

Raphael Trotman – Minister of Governance

“Salary Increases designed to ensure parity in Govt structure” KN Oct 15, 2015

The recent salary increases for Members of Parliament (MPs) are not exorbitant said Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman, yesterday. In fact, he believes it is “fair.” He said, too, that the increases were necessary to address certain disparities in the salary structure in the three arms of the government the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary…….To those who are incensed by the salary bumps, Trotman said yesterday, the administration is not numb to their concerns. He said, “Trust us. You trusted us with government on May 11 and we ask you to continue to trust us and believe in us.”

Winston Jordan – Finance Minister

“Finance Minister justifies salary increases” KN Oct 14, 2015

Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, said yesterday that the salary increases for Members of Parliament were necessary for three reasons; to outline an income for Vice Presidents which did not exist before, to correct anomalies in the payment structure and finally, because the work load has increased.

Khemraj Ramjattan – Public Security Minister

“Opposition loses motion on curbing rise of suicide rate” Aug 05, 2016

“They want to steal our thunder with this motion, and come and pontificate as though they are the genuine Popes and Bishops of the issue and they are not.

“Much ado about nothing?…We have become embarrassed by the forensic audits – Ramjattan” Aug 28, 2016

“When we did the audits we found such rotten things in there and initially, we suspected rotten things were taking place. So we said that if indeed there are rotten things which involve criminality, …. Ramjattan said, however, that a number of the forensic audits only have rottenness to the extent that allows the administration to remove certain “elements” and change around systems.

“That shady bond deal… We are humans, not a Cabinet of Angels; we will make mistakes –Ramjattan” Aug 25, 2016

“Think of it like a game of cricket. One man drops de ball at a crucial point in the game. Wuh de Captain must do? Box the man behind he head, tell he walk off the field and call a truck to drive over him?……. “We in the AFC, cannot in view of the partnership arrangement, go and box him (Norton) on his ears and ask him to walk out of Cabinet

Basil Williams – Attorney General

“Govt. US $5.7M settlement …No court records found for BK “US$10M claim”

“….So if you disparage me as Attorney General, Chairman of the PNC, wha’ else? Member of Parliament…then y’all come and beg for me to pull back case I had against y’all. I don’t know nothing about BK. Go ask (Minister of) Communities.”

Muhammad Raoof

1 thoughts on “The unacceptable excuses of our elected politicians”

Arthur Young September 6, 2016 at 7:59 am

“This above all, to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man”
– Polonius in ‘Hamlet.