Dear Editor,
I am compelled to write this piece. I am appalled at the gullibility and ease with which politicians, and in this case government, can influence the views of their followers, followers that are supposed to be intellectually savvy. There is no doubt in my mind that the recent move on the owner of KN by the GRA is a tit for tat response to the revealing and extremely informative news coverage of the Bai Shan Lin project/s in Guyana. The move is an extreme case of attacking the messenger, and thus hopefully destroying the credibility of the news coverage. I think it may also be an attempt to scare and thus suppress in-depth news coverage. What is astonishing, and I dare say it should not have been surprising, is, a supposedly intelligent blogger writing that Mr Lall’s alleged tax issue is “now they (Press Lords) have egg on their face(s).” The strategy employed in this instance is an over-used game plan and to the extent it can still be effective is an extremely strong indication of the stranglehold politicians continue to have on their supporters.
To suppress news coverage in my view government, in this case, seems to be going to the Bible to create their analogy – he who is without sin should cast the first stone. To show why this is preposterous, please allow me to breakdown the dynamics of this situation and thus express why I am surprised that Guyanese can still fall for this.
First: A government is elected by a majority of people. When in office that government is required to represent all the people. The politicians that make up government run for the office on the premise of doing good or furthering the good of the nation, using their method and sometimes ideology to elevate the status of all. The campaign promise is always about doing better than the incumbent government.
Government is not a business. One of the responsibilities is overseeing, creating and enforcing checks and balances for businesses to ensure fair play in society. It is also expected that, even in the global marketplace, government would stand firm in protecting the sovereignty of local businesses and pay much attention to the job opportunities for the country’s workforce. In its dealing with foreign investors, government should never give those investors more favourable opportunities or deals, especially in areas which will adversely affect the locals, who in some cases may have helped propel them into office.
The government of a developing country as ours should have been laser focused on the transfer of technology and the inflow of capital to struggling businesses. They also have the opportunity to ensure proper roads are built, ie, infrastructure which could serve the communities and the investors. When an investor comes and goes with stuffed pockets, there should be tangible development Guyanese can look at to dignify the investment. We the people expect investors will be attracted to incentives, but a total giveaway is not smart business in our interest. Definitely, not like Omai – gone – and all that remains is the remembrance of a leaking cyanide-laced pond.
Second: Reporters and the media are the eyes and ears of the people. Their protocol gives them the opportunity to delve and check on our leaders and anyone in society for that matter. They are tasked with reporting the positives and the negatives. It is totally up to each reporter to follow whichever leads he/she chooses and report, again at their choosing, when they have facts to back up theories. There is no point asking why a reporter does not report this and that. Anyone can be a reporter and has the right to report what he or she wants. But, obtaining the facts is what counts.
We the people are mostly too busy with our daily lives, so we depend on reporters. One can understand why reporters are hated by those who are accountable to us – an American president was forced to resign in office owing to reporting – but reporting is an integral part of our democracy. Reporters are tasked with giving us facts so that we can decide if or when politicians are deviating from campaign promises, or worse, becoming involved in skullduggery. Of course, reporters can editorialize, and insert their personal slant and biases in the news. However, that is their prerogative. Mostly, we the people can tell the difference.
Third: Most media houses that employ reporters are businesses. They operate to make a profit. There is an ongoing debate in the US on how media should get their income, given the type of responsibility they embrace, but mostly it is through business innovation and advertising they can continue to do the work society depends upon then to do.
One must surely understand that it is the prerogative of businesses to seek legal ways of ensuring and enhancing profitability. All businesses try to avoid, for this argument, taxes as much as possible – it is expected. In so doing businesses normally employ attorneys to look for loopholes in the laws. There is nothing illegal in doing that. The intent of the law is not enough to cause or claim culpability.
That brings me to the interplay of government, Bai Shan Lin, reporters and KN. Of course, all the above is known and is well established. So why should I waste time mentioning them here? It is to highlight the gall with which all the norms can be easily wiped away and mudslinging and deception accepted as gospel by gullible supporters.
Bai Shan Lin is a business. The business executives can do whatever they can get away with to create dominance and ensure massive profits for their investors and shareholders. In their ledger, it will be categorized under CODB – cost of doing business. I have no beef with them on that score. However, the persons tasked with representing ‘we the people’ surely need to be under the microscope.
It is my understanding that about 13 local logging firms were gobbled up Bai Shan Lin. These were companies that were in business for a long time, desperately seeking meaningful financing to claim the Guyanese dream. They were placed in a situation where they realized that selling their businesses to a foreign mega company is the only way to save some face while not breaking even on the efforts they had already made and put into their businesses.
Businessmen buy and sell business every day, but this situation is reprehensible especially when there are a multitude of different approaches at the disposal of the government to ensure a better way out for the businesses. Not even Richard Branson can step into the American marketplace and purchase an airline outright. One must also note the ease and complacency with which government can sit back and watch traditional businesses in Georgetown sell or rent their property to foreigners, and then leave the country.
Thanks to some innovative reporting, a lot of ordinary Guyanese have come to realize that the quality of deals Bai Shan Lin was able to negotiate from this government supersedes the deals of Barama, GT&T and Omai. These were deals that were highly criticized as giveaways by this government when in opposition.
Now the owner of KN is brought into the mix as a comparison. Going after Mr Lall driving or utilizing vehicles imported by returning Guyanese is so absurd it is difficult to express. Was he breaking a law? How long has he been breaking the law? Was there a deliberate wait for the right moment to extract the most mileage before confronting him?
We need not complain about Guyanese misusing or utilizing the loopholes in the re-migrant laws to import vehicles. The same is done when many government officials and workers get duty-free concessions. After three years there are government workers who sell their duty-free vehicles and go for more. In many cases, the deals are long done with only registration transfers made at the end of the waiting period.
If there are loopholes in the laws bring in the attorneys and fix them. Ordinary persons finding loopholes in the law are not breaking the law. On the other hand, when one considers the ridiculousness of the vehicle importation laws for local Guyanese it is no wonder Guyanese would want to be innovative. Import duty close to 100% of the cost of the vehicle? In which language can that be fair?
However, let us not forget that there is an end to the biblical story. When all the sinners disappeared without casting a single stone, the woman was told – go and sin no more.
Yours faithfully,
F Skinner
