I saw them with my own eyes
Stabroek News
May 24, 2002
Dear Editor,
I am glad that Peter Grainger and John Khasseyanyn [ please note: link provided by LOSP web site ] (SN22/5) feel that I am a fit subject for internet research. If they search more, they will find much written by me about Guyana for a wide variety of respected publications. I hope they find it elucidating.
It is only a pity that their short sightedness and myopia about some very unpleasant periods in Guyana's recent history blinds them to the very obvious about the soi-disant 'Residence', its previous usage and the relics of what most internationally now accept as a period of dictatorship, kept in the garages of Castellani House. I saw them with my own eyes. My journalism for 'The Guardian' was rock solid.
This government, which has now been freely and fairly elected three times, might have chosen to 'rub noses in the past ' far more than it has. Their reluctance to do that is a tribute to their democratic roots. That is very deserving of praise.
Incidentally, I think Castellani House is still way underused by the ordinary Guyanese. It is now a fine national art gallery. Beauty is now contained within those walls.
Yours faithfully,
John Mair