A country called Guyana

Aug 17, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Another day another drama. This time the President is being quoted as saying that the reason for the request for the Police Service Commission to put promotions on hold has to do with complaints which were made against officers.
But if this was indeed the basis for the letter which the government issued to the Police Service Commission, why was it not stated in the letter? What would it have taken for an additional paragraph to have been added indicating that this is the reason. It does seem bizarre that the Police Service Commission was asked to not proceed with promotions because of charges made against officers. It is strange because it is the very Police Service Commission which is charged with undertaking the disciplinary action against police officers.
And if this was indeed the reason for the missive issued by the government to the Police Service Commission, then why did the letter emanate from the Ministry of the Presidency and not from the subject Minister, the Minister of Public Security.
The media clearly got caught off-guard when the explanation as to the letter was provided. They should have followed up by questioning why, in the circumstances, the controversial missive was issued by a Ministry which is not responsible at all for public security. Is the Minister of Public Security being sidelined?
Another day, another drama. We are told that a Minister within the Ministry of Communities is being moved to the Ministry of the Presidency as a Minister of Public Affairs. But what is this Ministry of Public Affairs.
It is an unknown quantity in Guyana, as the Ministry of Social Cohesion was when it was first launched. What exactly does a Minister of Public Affairs do? This Ministry is as ambiguous as the meaning of public service announcements under the Broadcast Act.
Another day, another drama. The government says it inherited the Exxon Mobil deal from the PPPC. It said that the question of the government renegotiating the deal does not arise, since this is not acceptable behaviour when dealing with international contracts.
How then does one explain how the royalty of one percent was said to have doubled to two percent. Was this not a renegotiation?
So is the government saying that it is not possible to renegotiate some of the deals made under the PPPC administration? What is the government really saying?
Another day, another drama. We are told that Guyana’s growth numbers are not that bad when one considers that some countries in the Caribbean are struggling to find growth.
But is this not the same government who told us that the PPPC’s growth rate was not good enough and that the economy needed to grow much higher if real development was to take place?
Not to worry, Guyana’s growth will skyrocket when oil production starts and the improved growth rates would have had nothing at all to do with the policies of those who would take credit for it.
It was just like during the ERP growth years when the boast was about the highest growth rates ever achieved in Guyana. Everyone forgot that when you hit rock bottom, there is only one way you can go and that is upwards.
Another day, another drama. A man left home with his brand new motor car and came back home with a bicycle. His wife asked him what happened to the motor car which he had just purchased for $2.5 M.
The man told her that he had sold it for $500,000. The wife almost caught a fit. She asked him what sort of deal was that. How could he sell the car for one fifth of its value? “That is a bad deal that you got.”
The man asked “Why does it matter if it was a bad deal or a good deal? It was a done deal. We should move on.”

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