Kaieteur News plans print run today
Stabroek News
January 3, 2003
Just days after arsonists severely damaged the pressroom of Kaieteur News, the paper is expected to begin printing today, says publisher, Glen Lall.
Around 3.30 am on Tuesday two gunmen barged into the Eccles Industrial Site pressroom and robbed and brutalised four pressmen before setting off two explosions. Severe damage was done to the press, its electrical system and stored newsprint.
Yesterday, Lall said a technician had come from the United States and is now working on the press. He hopes that at least three units of the press would be working in order to bring out today's edition which would be in black and white. He said he also has persons working on the electrical system and the roofing of the building. Lall had told Stabroek News that neither the building nor the press had been insured against damage by fire.
Lall was upset with the response of the police stating that other than a senior police officer who briefly visited the scene early on Tuesday morning, it was only yesterday afternoon that a team of policemen visited. He said they took statements, took a few photographs and samples of the burnt material and left.
In a press release yesterday the PNCR expressed outrage at the reported arson attack on the newspaper's press facilities. It said the act represents not only a further escalation of the sorry security situation in the country but represents a sinister blow to the freedom of the press and of expression. It urged the force to bring the perpetrators to justice.
And a Government Information Agency (GINA) release said that in an invited comment, Information Liaison to the President, Robert Persaud, strongly condemned the act.
"The torching of the printery of Kaieteur News was an outrageous act and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms," he was quoted as saying.
"The Government defends strongly the right of the publication to express its views freely in conformity with the laws of the country. This fundamental right must be respected by all," he added. The release said that in an effort to assist the management of the newspaper to continue publishing, the state-owned Guyana National Newspapers Limited has made available its printing facility.
