Dear Editor,
In full disclosure, whenever I write a letter to the press, I always identify myself as a PPP/C Member of Parliament. That way, the readers know with which political party I am associated with and can judge whether or not my opinions or criticism of the Government are credible. Full disclosure not only acknowledges possible conflicts of interest, but it is meant to keep the writer honest. Failure to do so compromises one’s integrity and exposes their biasness.
Mark DaCosta is a paid PNC/APNU Campaign Manager whose main task is to discredit the PPP/C using gutter-politics, misinformation, and propaganda. His failure to disclose his association with the PNC/APNU is a deliberate attempt to hide his true identity and to mislead the Guyanese people into believing his lies and deception. But as the campaign manager, writer, and columnist for the PNC/APNU, Mark DaCosta cannot be trusted to tell the truth.
It is ironic that in his letter, “Irfaan Ali and the PPP Cannot Be Trusted”, published in the Guyana Chronicle on July 9, DaCosta accused the PPP/C of doing exactly what the APNU/AFC has done over the past four years they were in office. But as always, this Government blames the PPP/C for everything that goes wrong in the country although the PPP/C have not been in office since 2015. Let me, therefore, remind the dishonest Mark DaCosta, whose memory is as short as he is, that it was the APNU/AFC who destroyed the sugar industry and put over 7,000 sugar workers on the breadline. It is this Government, under the incompetent Minister of Public Security, that caused crime to increase significantly, despite the blatant lies being parroted by Mark DaCosta that “major crimes have been reduced by 50 per cent”. How can anyone be such a bold-faced liar when Guyanese are murdered almost daily during some senseless robbery that is covered daily in the media, except the Government-propaganda newspaper that carries his letters?
It is the Government he protects, that is wreaking havoc in the education system since they took office. Despite spending over $172 Billion over the last four years in the sector, President Granger, himself, admitted that he was “not happy with the results in English, Science and Social Studies”, while commenting on the recent NGSA results. Based on figures provided by the Ministry of Education, 61 per cent or 8,723 of the candidates were unable to pass Social Studies. The failure rate for Science and Mathematics stood at 57.6 per cent and 58 per cent respectively. Further, the figures translate to 8,294 and 8,236 candidates being unable to pass Mathematics and Science respectively.
It is the APNU/AFC Government that placed a heavy financial burden on UG students by raising tuition by over 35 per cent, and the entire population by raking in $88 Billion more in taxes than what the GRA raked in under the PPP/C by the end of 2014.
And it was this APNU/AFC Government that fired 1,972 young Amerindians enrolled in the CSO Programme, depriving those hinterland communities of over $720 Million per year, which continues to push our Indigenous People to the point of destitution. By comparison, APNU/AFC ministers and Vice President paid themselves over $245 Million annually, mere weeks after they gained office in 2015.
And now for the mother of all lies. In his letter, Mark DaCosta deliberately misrepresented a recent report published by a Nasdaq Contributor, Prableen Bajpai, stating that, “…under the APNU/AFC coalition, Guyana now has the fastest growing economy in the world.” The truth is, under the APNU/AFC, Guyana’s Growth Rate Projection (GDP) grew by 3 per cent in 2015. In 2016, our GDP grew by only 2.6 per cent and by a dismal 2.1 per cent in 2017 (https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/04/14/guyana-records-lowest-growth-rate-in-decades/). In 2018, our GDP improved to 4.1 per cent, and it is projected to grow by 4.6 per cent this year. So how is it possible for Guyana to have the “fastest growing economy in the world”? What the Nasdaq Contributor, Prableen Bajpai, actually said in his report, is that the “Guyana’s economy is ***expected*** to grow by 33.5 per cent and 22.9 per cent in 2020 and 2021 respectively.” (https://oilnow.gy/featured/guyana-is-the-fastest-growing-economy-in-the-world-says-nasdaq-contributor/)
This is, of course, after oil production would have started next year.
I feel sorry for men like Mark DaCosta and the attorney who represented GECOM at the CCJ hearing. It is a hard sell trying to convince anyone except some PNC hard-core supporters, that this APNU/AFC Government has any morality and decency left, and so they give baskets to a faithful few to fetch water, knowing fully well that an unscrupulous character would do, say, and write anything for money.
Sincerely,
Harry Gill
PPP/C Member of
Parliament
