Is Kaieteur News an arm of Govt’s Department of Public Information?

Dear Editor,

A competent investigative auditing team can easily debunk the scurrilous claim that NICIL is broke, as published by the Kaieteur News on July 30, 2017.

NICIL head, Horace James, is imputing this state of affairs to fraudulent practices by the former PPP/C administration. The cold hard truth is that NICIL generated billions of dollars for the treasury and had billions of dollars in assets and dividends at the time when the PPP left Office. If it is now broke, as James claims, then either the monies were stolen or squandered or both under this Administration.

However, this claim is the normal gimmickry designed to bamboozle the public with the government’s now recognisable pattern in the continuum of unfounded and unjustified accusations of fraud and corruption against the leadership and functionaries of the previous PPP/C administration. These specious claims are nothing but obfuscatory strategies to divert public attention from their mal-administration, squandermania, naked incompetence and outright corruption.

Kaieteur News is, as usual, in the forefront, as the coalition mouthpiece, peddling these baseless and libelous attacks against the former administration. Rather than publish the PPP’s Press Statement, which details the relevant facts on this matter, the Kaieteur News chose to respond to the statement. Imagine NICIL has not responded; the Government has not responded; but Kaieteur News has!

The truth is that Kaieteur News should have been the last entity to respond. The credibility of this media entity, especially in this instance, is compromised, as its publisher Glen Lall, has a pecuniary interest in distorting facts to corroborate the coalition government’s contentions against the former government and its functionaries, because Guyana Stores Limited, of which Lall is a co-owner, is one of the biggest defaulters. For this reason alone, any self-respecting and professional media outfit would have either recused itself from publishing on this matter, or at a minimum, would have exercised extraordinary due care and attention when so doing, to be as objective as possible. Obviously, these high ethical principles are alien to Kaieteur News.

It is obvious that, notwithstanding the indebtedness to NICIL of the financiers and cronies of the coalition partnership, who are direct beneficiaries of the government’s largesse, they are never persecuted or prosecuted like other entrepreneurs. The corruption and incest stink to high heavens and we hope that we will hear more on these issues from organisations such as Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc.

All the PPP/C’s transactions can bear scrutiny: National Hardware was sold land through a competitive bidding process; land to Movietown was sold above market value and today it is the only investment of its size and type in the country. However, despite that the Beepat’s business entity was sold land at a lower price, there has been no outcry. It is reasonable to conjecture that this is because of the honour bestowed upon Moses Nagamootoo for cutting the ribbon. Why the purchase price that Glenn Lall paid for a huge block of land at industrial site Eccles, which is similar to the prices that other investors were sold land by the Government, never made an issue by Kaieteur News?

If land sold by the Government to other investors were below market value, the same argument applies with equal force to the land which Glenn Lall purchased at industrial site.

Currently, Kaieteur News is on another mission: that of excusing Ramjattan from culpability for the crime situation and the tragic occurrences at the prisons in recent times. They are vulgarly arguing that Indo-Guyanese would feel insecure if Ramjattan is removed as Public Security Minister – a position in which he has failed abysmally. The reality is that Indians are in the forefront of calling for his head to roll.

Another motivation for Lall’s misleading the nation through ‘fake’ news, is that the coalition promised him a broadcasting licence.

The government has been engaging in actions that would deter investments in the country and further demoralise the private sector. The Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill of 2017, is another attempt at driving fear into investors and entrepreneurs.

However, what this Bill seeks to achieve is to dispossess proprietors of ownership of legally-acquired properties and to put government control over programme content of media houses, which directly contravenes all international edicts guaranteeing freedom of expression. This bodes ill for the nation and sets a dangerous precedent for entrepreneurship in Guyana.

This odious strategy of obfuscating the incompetencies and blatant corruption of this government and its functionaries, is no longer fooling the people, because the swath of disillusion engendered by an obviously uncaring government cuts across every divide in this country.

The rapidly deteriorating quality of life of Guyanese all across the country can no longer be excused by clumsy rhetoric and false promises. Hopelessness is engulfing the national psyche, which is mired in corruption and scandals on a daily basis.

People’s Progressive

Party