Disapproval of govt handling of ads issue, judiciary appointments high

Less than ten per cent of the business surveyed approve of the allocation of government’s advertising.

The question on the allocation of government advertisements was one of seven in which respondents were asked their views on government’s handling of issues which arose or were considered critical in 2007. The other questions were about government’s handling of macroeconomic policies; the offer of forests in the global warming fight; the opening of the markets for flour; the breach of the Common External Tariff on cement; the campaign against motorists and the handling of appointments to the judiciary.

The government won overwhelming support on the offer of forests, the opening of the flour markets and the campaign against errant motorists but scored very poorly on the questions about the advertisements and judiciary appointments.

According to the survey, just seven of the 74 respondents said they approved of the manner in which the government allocated advertisements for the year. The majority disapproved.

Twenty-nine government ministries and agencies, withdrew advertisements from the Stabroek News in November 2006 re-allocating these to the Kaieteur News, the Guyana Chronicle and the Mirror, the ruling PPP/C’s organ.