RUMOR-MONGERING

Mar 19, 2017 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Guyana is a rumor-mongering society. Rumor-mongering is one of the mysteries of life that many find pleasure in doing. Fanned by the social media, rumor-mongering has been in constant over-drive in the country. It is obvious that most of the citizens will never be able to live without rumor, which thrives on sensational and salacious stories.
While it is difficult to understand the motivation of those who indulge in spreading rumors, the truth is, it is done to impress the public, to cause strife or to sabotage governments.
Some rumors are more vicious than others in that they could destroy relationships and the careers of individuals. Others can be quite ruinous to the government and to the country. While rumors have and will continue to be a part of life in Guyana, they should not be dignified with a response from the government if they do not pose any serious threats to the nation. Whether or not rumors originate from the opposition, they spread like wildfires and tend to take on a life of their own. They could make or break people, especially those public officials suspicious of alleged wrongdoings. However, the government’s public relations team should be more proactive in debunking rumors.
Two of the latest and perhaps very dangerous rumors are the recent arrests and questioning of the opposition leader and several ex-ministers and ex-officials of the last administration by the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU). The opposition characterized the arrests as a witch-hunt against the leaders of the PPP and that they were designed to divert attention from the failures of the government to develop the economy, create jobs and reduce the high crime rate.
The other rumor is that the government intends to close the sugar estates so as to spite the sugar workers who are supporters of the PPP and who will inevitably vote for that party irrespective if the government continues to subsidize GUYSUCO and save their jobs.
The first rumor has caused many, including supporters of the PPP, to cast the government in a bad light as being spiteful against the leaders of the PPP. The second rumor is even more devastating to the 18,000 who earn their livelihood working at the sugar estates. It is an attempt to fool the sugar workers into believing that the government intends to close all the sugar estates. However, the government public relations team seems incapable of debunking this kind of rumor. This should be the remit of the Ministry of Information which has been very quiet on a number of rumors by the opposition.
Those in the opposition who love their country should resist the temptation to spread these rumors, although the job of the opposition is to create animosity against the government. The opposition should be more responsible because it is obvious that such rumors could cause growing concerns and heightened tensions among the sugar workers.
The truth is that the government has not made a decision on the future of all the sugar estates. It is insisting, though, that it will not kill sugar. It has admitted to being ready to close the loss making sugar estates given the high cost of maintenance.
And where the estates are closed the government is creating conditions for the continued employment of the sugar workers.
Rumors are not truths and cannot be prevented but the government should have an efficient public relations team in place to debunk those rumors that are considered detrimental to unity and to the country. The government must preserve all that is good.

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