Jagdeo to file complaint with ERC over Govt’s threats to divide Guyanese

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has taken Government to task over comments made by one of its senior Cabinet and party officials at a recent political rally.

Jagdeo has said he plans to file an official report with the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) and the international community, as the comments seek to divide Guyanese.
He was making reference to an online news report wherein Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, remarked that the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) will target Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) supporters and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) that sabotage Government.
“The incendiary nature of his speech, that could affect ethnic and political harmony, and we would like the ERC to have a full-fledged investigation of this matter…” Jagdeo said on Monday.
Harmon was quoted in the reports as saying, “The foolishness got to stop! No NDC, because it’s controlled by the PPP, will take Government money and just spend it on PPP areas.”
The Minister went on to say, “It’s got to stop, and we are going to work and fix that.”
He further said APNU/AFC supporters on the ground have complained of suffering because a lot of PPP people are stymieing the work of the Government.
“Stymieing the services which are to come to people, and they are still there. Well, no more of that; no more of that, comrade; no more ‘Mr Nice Time’ business. We got to fix these things,” Harmon is quoted as saying.
The PPP General Secretary has said the minister’s comments point to a direct threat to a large section of people based on their political affiliation.
Jagdeo dubbed a lie Harmon’s comments about the PPP-controlled NDCs disrupting the Government’s ability to deliver services to Guyanese. He questioned how the PPP could prevent the Government from doing its job when in fact Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan has insisted on approving the budgets at the NDC level.
Another issue which he said continues to fester is that overseers report directly to the minister and his ministry, rather than coordinate with the elected officials at their respective NDCs.
“As far as I am concerned, it is not the PPP-controlled RDCs that are the problem; it is the REOs. They work at variance with the elected officials,” he concluded.
Jagdeo did not stop there, but went on to state that Minister Harmon’s excuse is baseless, especially given that the Coalition Government controls Region 10 and Four, and Georgetown.
“What is his reason for the failures to deliver in those areas? Who is styming the work there? They control those area…they cannot blame the PPP,” he asserted.
He also made reference to media reports about the Auditor General’s Report, and pointed to officials from Linden disregarding Tender Board Laws in 2017 to award 14 contracts allegedly to friends.
“We are seeing unbelievable levels of corruption. It is all being done with the complicity of the Government… It is incompetence, bullyism and corruption,” Jagdeo stated.
Jagdeo also used the opportunity to blast the coalition for their poor showing at the recently concluded Local Government Elections, which he described as a massive defeat.
According to the Party General Secretary, his party almost doubled the margin of votes between PPP, APNU and AFC combined, which moved from about 24,000 at the 2016 polls to over 45,000 in 2018.