Misinformation and false promises by Government affecting Guyana

Oct 01, 2019 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

The old saying goes that, “no news, is good news” it even gives us hope. In our present situation in Guyana false news and information is dangerous and alarming on the other hand. This now illegal government has been on the path of false promises, false and malicious information and lies from the day that they took office to date – and it keeps getting worse. Aside from the ill governance and massive corruption within the administration, the information that is released from government officials and agencies alike are all ninety percent false. It has come to the point that one cannot take for granted anything at all that is said on behalf of the government by the press or their officials. All governments worldwide of course, always have, television, radio and other media that reflects let’s say, the “positive” side of things for them. In contrast, the opposing parties have their source of information broadcast, which is usually very critical of the ruling party. Any smart person would listen objectively to both sides because the truth is always somewhere in the middle.
Now, aside from day-to-day news and with serious reference to vital information, we expect almost identical language from both sides regarding press releases, addresses and proclamations that will be used by the citizens as guidance. It is absolutely important to be credible and this government dangerously fails in this area. Citizens are now totally relying on the opposition for accurate and reliable news in order to guide us. That is a total shame on the government’s part. The state-owned newspaper takes printing misinformation to new dimensions and thus takes the prize. Most of the headlines are so questionable that it is just a waste of printing paper in my opinion and as everyone knows, this newspaper is the major mouthpiece of the government.
Take the recent case of the House-to-House Registration process from start to finish; almost every headline was misleading, almost every announcement by then president Granger and his administration was misleading. The only way to get accurate information on what to do was via Mr. Jagdeo’s weekly press conferences and other interviews and programmes by the PPP administration. If I had listened to the other side, I would have totally wasted my time bothering to register when it was not necessary at all and I am a person who hates to waste time on things. The PPP fought for and succeeded so far in protecting our constitutional rights to vote.
Now recently (about a week ago), Mr. Granger croaked and mumbled around regarding a date for elections. Moments afterwards, headlines screamed like sirens…only to retract like screeching brakes shortly after because on closer inspection of what was said by the president, left us all in doubt. Thankfully, after the PPP voiced annoyance at his ambiguous announcement and the international community chimed in, he was forced to give us a definite date for elections (I won’t bother to repeat it, let’s hope it prevails). Now all is well right? Absolutely, no way! The “official” gazette published the duration for the Claims and Objection period…and just as we suspected it was erroneous…they ummm miscalculated the days “accidentally” adding two additional weeks! I think that was corrected, but don’t be too happy just yet. Mr. Aubrey Norton also announced a few days ago on NCN that people need to check that their names are on the list and report to the nearest GECOM office to verify same, otherwise they would not be able to vote! He added that we must also ensure that “phantoms” who were added to the list by the PPP are removed! In the same breath he is making a last minute attempt to misinform the public again by saying that we all need to verify with GECOM although our names appears on the PLE. Mr. Norton, you and your government are the ones who were trying to use the House-to-House registration process to “deregister” legitimate voters. Shame on you all (again). GECOM never discussed removing legitimate voters from the list once their names are already there. We are however, patiently awaiting Mr. Jagdeo’s press conference to hear his opinion on that matter.
These outreaches that the illegal government continues to make, at the expense of taxpayers, are another headache. Look at that picture of a muddy road to Lethem being replaced by that of a photo-shopped finished road and the heading that said “promise kept”! What promise? The road has not been built as yet! All that this administration can do is peddle false information.
There is nothing that disillusions people more than false hope and promises – which is the only thing that this now illegal administration is exceptionally good at doing.

Sincerely
Shane Lindie

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