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Tony Vieira asserts that Craig was an incompetent chairman

Oct 21, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,

I wish to alert you to an ongoing situation that has caused many of us much discomfort. I cannot and will not respond to any person, who violates the provisions of the law and I am bringing to the attention of any interested person the following provisions and penalties in section 10 of the Broadcast act number 17 of 2011.
Confidentiality.
(1) No member, officer or employee of the Board shall, without the express written consent given by or on behalf of the Authority, publish or disclose to any person, otherwise than in the course of his duties, the contents of any document communication or information which relates to and which has come to his knowledge in the course of his duties under this Act.
(2) Any person who, being actually or constructively aware that the information referred to in subsection (1) was published or disclosed without authority, knowingly receives that information, commits an offence and is liable, on summary conviction to the penalty specified in section 44.
(3) If any person having information which in his actual or constructive knowledge has been published or disclosed in contravention of subsection (1) unlawfully publishes or communicates any such information to any other person he commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to the penalty specified in section 44.
Section 44 says the penalty is 6 months in jail plus a $200,000 fine.
What I am going to say is that the facts of this matter have not yet been revealed by the Commission of Inquiry [COI]. Publishing just Craig’s parting lies is wrong and a criminal act, the rest of us have to be silent since we have to live here.
Did I think that the man was totally incompetent to be the chairman of a broadcast or any other authority? The answer is yes! Did I ever voice that opinion publicly? The answer is yes! Did I at GNBA meetings use language which Directors Ameena Gafoor, Abiola Wong Innis, Jocelyne Joshia and acting CEO Mrs Boyal would find offensive? The answer is no. Did I raise my voice in frustration at times? The answer is yes!
Did I in resign twice from the GNBA in exasperation with Craig? The answer is yes! Did I move a no confidence motion against him? The answer is yes! Did I think that his incompetence went far beyond his inexperience and total lack of knowledge of broadcasting? The answer is yes! Let the COI do its work; all will be disclosed, especially since he has now resorted to imputing the reputation of the PM and members of the GNBA.
It is not as if I was not in Parliament and was on the Public Accounts committee with Winston Murray and was alternating chairman with Gail Teixeira on the Economic Services Committee with Irfan Ali, Komal Chand and Gail Teixeira, and ended my periods as chair of the ESC with no argument or dissatisfaction on either side of the political divide.
The record is there in parliament to prove it. Your reporting in the KN tells me that, like Craig, you do not understand the fundamental flaw in him. He thought that as chairman he had more power than me and the other directors of the GNBA. According to the act number 17 of 2011 it is clear he was just a director like us, who happened to be the chairman, and this was made clear to him by the Prime Minister at a meeting with all Board members not so long ago. So, when he said that I had no right to speak to the media but he was doing so, the answer to all the problems in this entire matter resides just in that fact. Craig did not comprehend his position and I refused to tolerate it. Was it my understanding that if I resigned as a director of the GNBA, 4 other directors would resign as well? Yes it was.
To accuse me of being above others in class and colour is completely ludicrous, I spoke up for the Afro Guyanese since I saw a vicious attack on them by the PPP, since 1992 and when I sat in Parliament, I sat between Basil Williams and Debby Backer of the PNC/One/ G, that speaks for itself.
Tony Vieira

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