Food for the Buxton gunmen and Ms. Bone

Aug 06, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
I did an opinion piece apart from my daily column for Monday, July 24, 2017 titled “Why did Buxton reject the 2017 prison escapees?” After publication, that is the very day, the editor, Adam Harris received several calls. People would call the editors; they never call me and I think I and readers know why.

One call originated from a cultural organization that took objection to the following words in the article; “Food at a certain cultural organization was cooked in Georgetown for the gunmen and sent up to the home of a certain lady in Buxton.”
It is unbelievable (but this is Guyana) that a cultural organization would call Harris suggesting that it points to them. That is the barest of description that has not even an inch of flesh on it.

There are more than forty cultural organizations in Guyana of which a dozen of them are always in the news. Why would one of them call to say the article refers to them? Which among three hundred lawyers in this country would say it points to them if the following words appear; “There is a lawyer in Guyana that doesn’t pay NIS.” For the record, I stand by what I wrote. I had information from persons that were involved including the lady that distributed the food.
People call Harris and I think out of concern that the paper is not sued, he wants to pacify those who may very well have something to hide. I don’t blame Harris.

Why waste time with these kinds of people. Then Ms. Bonita Bone, common-law wife of Ronald Waddell, complained. I got it wrong about where Waddell was buried. He was cremated but I wrote he was buried at the back of Buxton. I mixed up the body being taken to what is commonly referred to as the “Gulf” way down at the back of Buxton. I regret the mistake and sorry to have offended Ms. Bone’s sentiments. Ms. Bone registered her complaint and asserted that I was motivated by malice.

I am not going to dwell on the feelings of Ms. Bone. It is pure human nature for people to deny the questionable things their loved ones were involved in. More importantly, history is constantly unearthing facts about people that not even their close family members including wives knew about.
Let me be brave enough to tell Ms. Bone at the expense of being called malicious, I know what I know about Waddell that she may not know. And I know that because it is my job to know it.

It is a fact that during the funeral procession in Buxton, Waddell’s body was taken at the back of Buxton to the “Gulf,” at which point mourners and journalists were asked not to proceed. Maybe Ms. Bone was not there or maybe she was.
A minister got in touch with Harris too over the article which stated that two Cabinet Ministers in the current government had contacts with certain members of the gang in Buxton during the Buxton-based conspiracy. I regret the shape of those words and withdraw them and I apologize.

But in my investigations, I came upon evidence that two high profile opposition politicians back then had contacts with the gunmen. I stand by that. In his response to the call from the Minister, Harris quotes me as saying that such an accusation was made by the then President Jagdeo. What Mr. Jagdeo said and what Harris should have researched is the fact that Jagdeo told the nation in the media that he had a tape that reveals that high level opposition figures were in Buxton at the time. Harris can still ask Jagdeo if he said that.

After receiving these calls, Harris and I had some disagreements. Harris said to me he knew what went on in Buxton. He said he even spoke with some of the gunmen. I then asked Harris why he thinks he is the only one that knew what went on in Buxton during those years, 2002-2006. In his response to these callers, Harris wrote the next day, the following words; “We regret that what was published yesterday would end up in the archives and would serve to mislead some researchers.”

Harris didn’t tell readers what is it that would mislead researchers – my article on what happened in Buxton in 2002-2006 or the denials of those who want their denials to go on record. Fortunately, my article is now part of the archives and so is this letter. Researchers if they know their job will know how to separate facts from Alternative facts.
Frederick Kissoon

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