Ministry of the Presidency clarifies the President’s statements

The Ministry of the Presidency, in responding to a letter by Mr. Neil Adams, published in the Guyana times on Monday, October 31st, wishes to clarify on statements made by the President in his address to Parliament on October 13th, 2016.
The Ministry is categorically condemning these assertions and is disappointed that such a letter could be published, despite the fact that the President’s speech was publicised via television, radio, the internet and other communication platforms. The assertions carried therein have no basis in fact and were clearly designed to mislead the public.
Contrary to the letter, in his address to Parliament, the President said: “Dreams of a ‘good life’ turned into a horrible nightmare at the dawn of the new millennium. The most unforgettable experiences and most frightening evidence of our descent into chaos were the bloody, drug-driven, decade-long ‘Troubles’. The ‘Troubles’ will be remembered as the darkest hour in our history. It was a time of the un-investigated assassination of a Minister; of the investigation into the alleged implication of another Minister in the direction of a ‘death squad’; of the alleged implication of yet another Minister in the acquisition of a computer to track the telephone communication and location of adversaries targeted for assassination. It was a time of arbitrary arrests; of disappearances and of torture of young men; of the surge in armed robberies, narco-trafficking and gun-running. During that first, deadly decade, there were 1,317 murders and 7,865 armed robberies.”
The Ministry is urging media entities to act more responsibly. While the Government of Guyana promotes and supports press freedom, it is also important that the media responsibly treat their role to provide accurate information to the members of the public.

Sincerely,
The Ministry of the
Presidency