Dear Editor,
In 2015, I wrote extensively about the lies and deceit being perpetrated by the AFC, not to mention the cronyism and corruption. However, once again, the lying and deceitful nature of the AFC is coming to the fore prior to the Local Government Elections (LGE).
It behooves an RDC Councillor to stringently adhere to the facts and evidences on issues which he or she attempts to highlight to the public via the media. This is so since an RDC Councillor holds a key position and responsibility which is geared to foster socio-economic development of the Region.
Many times, at the RDC statutory meetings, Councillors would be rebuked by the Regional Chairman for making unsubstantiated, irresponsible, and reckless statements, and he treated both sides of the House in an impartial and objective manner.
On Saturday, 25thAugust, an RDC Councillor, Mr Devin Sookraj, made a reckless allegation against factory workers at the Blairmont and Rose Hall Estates. He was at the time hosting an AFC TV program ‘Alliance on the Move’. He claimed that these factories were sabotaged by workers under the directive of GAWU and the PPP, and that was the reason for the downfall of GuySuCo. He further claimed he was going to bring a former GAWU representative on the said program to substantiate his spurious and scandalous claim.
It must be recalled that a Commission of Inquiry was held by the Coalition Government in 2015, and it listed a number of reasons why GuySuCo suffered a decline, but nowhere did the COI mention sabotage as being one of the reasons. Therefore, as an RDC Councillor, Mr Sookraj should not have been obsessed with wild allegations to gain political mileage to garner some votes, since the LGE is around the corner. This irresponsible Councillor needs to understand that the AFC has exhausted its baggage of lies and deceit, and they can no longer fool the populace. No number of lies can resurrect the AFC, and he should know that.
Instead, Mr Sookraj should educate the people of Region 6 what his party has contributed to the socio-economic development of the Region since 2015. He should tell us what the AFC is doing to alleviate the sufferings and deprivations of the more than 4,000 sugar workers in Region 6. This Region, which was worst hit by the wanton dismissal, has been on a downward trajectory with no solution forthcoming. Instead, these AFC officials are on television ‘cussing’ down people who have been working assiduously to bring solutions to these problems, whilst they remain muted on the plight of the residents of the Region.
It is a fact that Mr Sookraj, as an AFC Councillor, has never made any recommendation which can assist the sugar workers, yet he is on television spewing nonsense in his trademark incoherent manner. Mr Sookraj and his counterpart, Mr Dereck Basdeo, should be more vociferous in persuading people why they should vote FOR the AFC, and NOT why they should NOT vote for the PPP. The PPP has always been the vanguard of the working people of this country, unlike the AFC, which is hell-bent on extracting the last drop of blood before they are kicked out! The people can no longer be fooled, so stop fabricating lies!
I am positive that both these ‘gentlemen’ would want to be nominated as Councillors at their respective NDC, so they should tell their constituents what they have done so far. I know they have been around selling lies and making deceitful statement about the many ‘things’ they will do for them.
Sookraj and Basdeo should also explain to the residents of Region 6 the ‘legality’ of the $120 million contract which was awarded to AFC bigwigs, and the basis for the MoPI vehicles being used to transport sand for a private venture.
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
RDC Councillor,
Region 6
