Dear Editor,
First, I wish to extend condolences to both the Guyana Defence Force and the relatives of the soldier who lost his life in a recent shoot-out in Buxton. This is a sad new chapter in the State’s long running battle to ameliorate the Buxton brouhaha, and it does not bode well for the image of the State or the army when the military institution that is designed primarily to defend our borders is engaging in straightforward police work in civilian communities.
It has been almost a decade since President Bharrat Jagdeo promised to have a SWAT team formed as part of a reformed Guyana Police Force, and despite being allocated 20 million US dollars by the IDB for police reform, there is still no reform and there is still no SWAT team.
How much longer must our army be engaging in straightforward police work, when there is money to reform, restructure and reorient the police to do its job professionally and effectively?
Second, if I am to follow the logic of columnist Freddie Kissoon’s article, “Joseph O’Lall says Jagdeo worse than Burnham,” (Kaieteur News, January 23), that indirectly quoted fired GNEA CEO, Joseph O’Lall, as saying he believes President Bharrat Jagdeo is worse than Forbes Burnham, then I have been right all along in my growing suspicion that the Jagdeo-led PPP regime is headed towards a dictatorship.
I don’t know Mr. O’Lall personally, and it is possible he may be extremely angry at the President for taking bread out of his mouth and the mouths of his family members, hence his harsh public assessment of the President. But if he is a die-hard PPPite, this may make his assessment all the more convincing, because a true PPPite is not supposed to go public with such angry language against the party’s sitting President. Will the PPP now add to Mr. O’Lall’s grief by censuring him?
Nevertheless, though I am over six thousand miles away I, too, have picked up on Mr. O’Lall’s perception that the President has long been displaying dictatorial traits, so no big surprise here. Question: even if the PPP leadership is not on board with the President’s behaviour, doesn’t its deafening silence still make it complicit in the effects of his actions?
Despite HPS Dr. Roger Luncheon’s explanation that Mr. O’Lall was fired for disobeying a Cabinet order, why shouldn’t the public believe the firing is more related to Mr. O’Lall’s insistence on pursuing criminal charges against Buddy’s in his fuel smuggling case now before the court?
As far as the President’s relationship with Buddy’s goes, there are certain facts the nation still does not know. For example, how did the President arrive at his 100 million-plus dollar figure when he doled out taxpayers’ money to Buddy’s to expedite completion of his private hotel in time for CWC 2007, or, given that the loan was not repaid on time as promised by the President then how much has actually been repaid to date, or who negotiated the decision to recoup the outstanding balance from Buddy’s by having government rent out rooms.
In the President’s business dealings with Buddy’s, there has been no sense of responsibility, or adherence to full blown transparency and detailed accountability. The President is treating the government like it is his personal property to do whatever he likes. Where is the political opposition’s call for a probe on the spending of taxpayer’s monies here?
Finally, now that Mr. O’Lall is fired, no one knows what will become of the Buddy’s case that is still before the court.
Yours faithfully,
Emile Mervin
