Distorting fact and fiction
Frankly Speaking
(Frankly, I - and I daresay, you - have to be resilient and mentally tough to withstand the stresses created almost daily by local professional stress-makers. It's even more challenging when you essay to share views every week. The usual created issues, the manufactured "controversies". Oh my...). The local tele-activists continue to lead the way in distorting facts and even lies, (yes the latter is possible!); in interpreting events for gullible minds - for particular purposes. Having done their unfettered best in exercising their dubious "right" to express themselves and influence their victims, they announce solemnly that there is "tension and crisis" in the society. Created by whom? Take the spin put on three "issues" this week: The strike at the Chinese work-site, the Beal investment and the curtailment of the Guyana National Service. There is an almost "normal" industrial dispute at a work-site and because the employer is Chinese - and the grouses seem justified, a whole bundle of scorn is heaped immediately upon the Ministry of Labour. The "advocates" don't even enquire, or invite the side being instantly tarnished. If you care to observe how the effect is manifested upon the uninformed. So sad that the reasonably-educated can seek to exploit the feelings and mis-understandings of the underprivileged. The Beal negotiations and potential investment is, of course, fertile ground to plant dissent. Rich recourse for politicians, phony patriots and naturally, those political tele-activists who must sustain their "popularity" through sheer mischief-creation, representation of false causes and, on a few occasions, genuine mis-understanding of issues. For this record, I repeat that I'm for the Beal Aerospace Investment. I am not for the outright sale of our land. I have to agree too, that the rates for leasing are inappropriate and that the launching fees seem much too low. And I know at least two ministers and one negotiator who are not comfortable with the "arbitration" clause. But whether it is today, next week or month-end, the Beal Deal will be a done deal. Because I don't see the government backing down now. (If nothing else, they won't want to be, increasingly, political jellyfish). They are convinced too that the investment is good for Guyana. I happen to agree. Just look at what is generated by the professional oppositionists though. The US$3 per acre and tax holiday are being used to persuade persons to squat on state land! Lord! I know that international investors are not rushing in to this politically risky place. But if the government hadn't sold, the other aspects would not have afforded such fodder for protest. Well, whether the protesters take to the Courts or to the streets - or both - the messages are being sent to and received by whatever would-be investors who might still be interested. Quo Vadis, opposition? Transition: The GNS Naturally, the laying up of the Guyana National Service (GNS) colours was another item for emotional outbursts and finger-pointing. I can quietly boast about this: I was involved in the genesis of the GNS which flowed from the Youth Corps. I can tell of Elvin Mc David, Barrington and Reggie King planning things even before Norman McLean came on the scene. The objectives and ideals were noble, but like so many things Mr Burnham tried, it faltered. (Don't blame him completely - he couldn't be everywhere). The Guyana Chronicle editorial of this Wednesday captured, I thought, the assessment of the worth of the GNS accurately. GNS exposed Guyanese to Guyana; it stimulated interest in the heartland; it fostered, however, reluctantly, camaraderie amongst diverse Guyanese; it imparted discipline and skills to the largely "dispossessed"; it gave thousands a sense of purpose, etc. etc. (I know what I'm stating. I wrote books and I travelled to Kimbia with Keith Booker and Cyril Dowden, when not many knew where Kimbia was!) I also experienced waste and extravagance at certain centres. But those who seek to exploit the nostalgia, the successes of the institution must present a more balanced picture. Let Mr Hoyte and the present government tell them the exorbitant costs involved in keeping GNS, in its recent form, alive. The aggrieved must also admit that Forbes Burnham often used the GNS as an instrument of punishment for senior (errant?) public servants; it was a great "leveller" for him; the compulsory nature as it applied to students was not necessary; and the grand long-term objective failed miserably: The hinterland settlements it was supposed to spawn, never materialised. I never wore the uniform but, basically, I was a "GNS man". It would be fair to comment, I feel, that the PPP/Civic was never really a friend of the GNS in the form they found it. Even as I'm reporting what Permanent Secretary Keith Booker told me this week-end, I hope that the government can find an institution or structured programme to replace the GNS, whatever its faults. Too often, the alternatives fall short miserably. I have to go 1) Score one Mr Hoyte! Great stuff releasing an earlier version of the Beal draft agreement. The campaign is on! 2) Did you see how the girl journalists were badgering the Prime Minister and other negotiators at the "Beal" Press Conference? Well, I tell you. 3) No case was made out: It doesn't mean that the accused didn't do the crime. Just that the prosecution did not make out a proper case to convict. Western justice? 4) Two columns ago I hinted that Forbes didn't institute "Indian" religious holidays out of purely noble, altruistic considerations. Now I make bold to say that the committee should convert certain religious holy days to specific time-off days only for those who adhere to the particular religion. 5) St Vincent's PM James Mitchell is right. "Today fuh me, tomorrow fuh you". The protesters will make electoral politics obsolete if they are allowed to shorten elected governments' terms.
|