Rotting duck meat: How the people of Guyana think about it

Dec 08, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Kaieteur News – The Director of Veterinary and Public Health (DVPH) of the Ministry of Health and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) of the Ministry of Health within a span of four days were in action. Expired duck found was confiscated. Imported meat from Brazil was seized.
The DVPH and GLDA then did a strange thing. I used the word strange to avoid libel but readers must read between the lines. They publicly identified the Brazilian supermarket the stuff was removed from. But the very people who exposed the Brazilian establishment are refusing to name the importer of the rotting duck.
I could identify the importer which is a big business firm but libel will visit me because when the company sues, for obvious reason, GLDA and DVPH will not testify on my behalf even if I subpoena them. Now brace yourself for a country, perhaps the only one in the world, where the society is stuck in mental bondage.
I called the DVPH, Dr. Dodson, on a Saturday afternoon. Dr. Dodson was polite but then I got a rude awakening. He said he was in Alberttown and do not want to give me the name because he wants to get the spelling correctly. He indicated he would do that on Monday when he peruses the document in his office.
I contacted him in his office the Monday. He informed me he will be in touch. I liked his tone just before he came off the phone. He said, “I will be in touch, my brother.” I like that. In my 32 years in journalism no interviewee has ever called me, “brother.” Now just to get the name of the importer of an action he was involved in days before, he couldn’t give me. I called again. He said he had work to do. From there on Dr. Dodson was impossible to contact.
The next stop was deputy head of GLDA, Dr. Dwight Walrond. He said “no comment” because he has to get permission from his boss, Dr. Grayson Halley, to talk. I asked Dr. Walrond if it was not unprofessional for GLDA to name one firm but not the other. That did not go down well. Dr. Walrond said I want to write about the issue so I can stay relevant in Guyana. He then put down the phone so I didn’t get to tell him that once Guyana has people like him, his boss (Dr. Halley) and their colleague, Dr. Dodson, columnist like me will always be relevant and newspapers will continue to sell.
For two weeks I have been phoning Dr. Halley; about five times each day, using different phone numbers but I cannot get in touch with the gentleman. For two weeks now, I left several messages with his secretary. Two companies’ meats were seized and those were the only names revealed to the public.
My next stop was the Ministry of Health. I called the Permanent Secretary, Malcolm Watkins, a former UG student of mine. I explained the unfairness and indicated to him these are the kinds of action from public officials that would lead people to think something unsavoury went down. After 20 minutes, he called to say that he has been informed that the investigation on the stink (my adjective) duck meat is still ongoing.
I told Mr. Watkins that I cannot accept that explanation for the simple fact that another importer’s identity was revealed to the public and that was unfair and discriminatory treatment by the state. Now that I have revealed the discrimination, I would urge the Brazilian Embassy to get in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the President to lodge a complaint.
This is where the Americans stand out in the world. The US Embassy in Guyana would have seen red if the DVPH and the GLDV had sanctioned an American firm for an illegality by publicly identifying the American business place in Georgetown but refused to do the same for another importer.
I guess it is up to the Brazilian Embassy to protect its citizens in Guyana. Guyana has had excellent relations with our colossal neighbour since Independence and it is certainly unsatisfactory that a Brazilian business place could be so shabbily treated.
I guess readers will shrug their shoulder and say this is how Guyana is and do what most Guyanese do – harbour that intense desire to leave. But there is another set of Guyanese who would say the following, “What is Freddy writing about such a trivial matter when look what James Bond and Gary Best got away with.” I guess they are right. I will have to write on the luck of Gary Best.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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Rotting duck meat: How the people of Guyana think about it

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