Dear Editor,
The Reverend Gideon Cecil’s evasive and at times outright false missive (‘The Caribbean Press should be commended for its willingness to publish young writers,’ SN, March 6) is yet another example of the embarrassing lengths to which the Ministry of Culture is willing to go to distract attention from issues of accountability affecting the Caribbean Press
I’m going to ignore the red herring commentaries on the quality of my prize-winning work, as well as his adoption of Dr David Dabydeen’s discredited argument that my interrogation of the press is some elaborate extortion mechanism, and deal instead with his claims relevant to the issues at hand.
Cecil: “Although Mr Johnson wrote to 20 writers in June 2013 urging them not to publish their poetry with the Caribbean Press…”
This is misleading at best. I can quote verbatim from the e-mail of June 25, 2013 in which I urged a conditional participation in an embarrassingly flawed publication process, particularly in the aftermath of the ministry’s evasions and Dr Dabybeen’s unfortunate “doggerel” remarks on local writers, the very people whose work he had assured was at the printers six months before:
“It is my humble opinion that for local writers to take part without qualification in this is to help the Caribbean Press to provide a cover (flimsy as it is) for everything that was done wrong with the management of the Press. The Press was founded to publish local, resident writers as its main mission and it is only after vigorous interrogation that it is now scrambling to do so, conveniently offering – as if doing you a great favour – to use your talent as proof that they have shown actual commitment to their stated mission.”
I advised, inter alia, the following prerequisites for engagement…
“1) An unqualified apology by Dabydeen and Anthony to local writers for Dabydeen’s remarks and Anthony’s de facto endorsement.
“2) A general meeting – chaired by the Minister – in which the concerns of local writers vis-à-vis the way forward with Caribbean Press is discussed.
“3) A national, widely publicised call for submissions in order that all Guyanese writers have a shot at making it into some volume of either the fiction or poetry anthology series…
“4) Post-submission workshops open to all who would have submitted, funded by the Ministry…
“5) The establishment of an editorial panel of qualified people to determine the best submissions for publication.”
While none of this has ever been done, the individual writers that have come to me for advice on whether they should go ahead with publication have invariably been told as a minimum to demand the respect due to them for their intellectual efforts – not a single one has been told unequivocally not to go ahead with publication.
Cecil: “For my part, I decided in 2013 not to moan and groan as Mr Johnson does in his letters – an unfortunate Guyanese habit – but to try to do something worthwhile, especially when I learnt of the scope of the Caribbean Press, which I was previously not fully aware of.”
In a letter published in Kaieteur News on May 27, 2013, the writer notes, “I read with interest a great number of letters written by Mr Ruel Johnson pertaining to his criticism of The Caribbean Press and the mismanagement of this obscure Press that has faded into oblivion but is known only to a few who manages this Press that’s controlled by the Government of Guyana… The Hon Minister Dr Frank Anthony is asking for help with the Caribbean Press; until now he hasn’t mentioned where this press is located, he hasn’t posted a job vacancy… This press needs a competent… body of people to govern it before it becomes a next Caribbean White Elephant.”
The writer of that letter was Reverend Gideon Cecil. Almost a year later, no job vacancy has been posted, no open meeting has been called with the writers, and no board has been put in place; the only thing that has changed with regard to the Press’ management and oversight is Reverend Gideon Cecil’s engagement in its secrecy-shrouded operations.
Cecil: “Last Sunday, Mr Johnson posted some really bad things about me on my Facebook wall pertaining to the Caribbean Press to degrade my character, Dr Dabydeen and Minister Frank Anthony.”
Last Sunday, I used my Facebook page to call on the Reverend to clarify how it is that he acquired the work used in the publication he was originally listed as compiler/editor of, a month after he claimed he had no knowledge of the Press. It was the same query that I made privately to Rev Cecil at various times over the past few months for which he had no answer. I pointed out, as I have no problem doing here, the hypocrisy of Reverend Cecil of calling for transparency in the Caribbean Press one month, and then the very next becoming involved in that very mechanism which is still opaque and still as mismanaged as ever.
Cecil: “The Press has published 68 volumes of books thus far, books of great literary merit that cost millions to be printed, which I believe exceeded the Caribbean Press budget.”
I am unsure of what the Reverend’s point is here, unless he is saying that the ministry in fact spent more than the $56 million that the Minister himself said was spent as of 2012. If that is the case, then it strengthens even further my call for the Minister to publicise the detailed accounts of the Press, something he has refused to do either in public or in Parliament. Perhaps the Reverend can use his moral influence and get Dr Anthony to show precisely how he has spent taxpayer dollars on this venture.
“His greatest obsession is with Minister Frank Anthony’s thirteen-year-old daughter having a book published with the Caribbean Press. May I ask why, if the Minister daughter can write a book, it cannot be published if it has merit?”
I suggest the good Reverend actually read what I have said with regard to Ms Anthony’s publication, including in my very first letter in which I stated, “The Minister’s most unfortunate misstep in this is that he has tainted the first efforts of what may well be a talented young writer, his own daughter…” (SN, January 5, 2013) He might also want to consider his own arguments, that he knows a lawyer’s 13-year-old daughter who has publishable short stories of her own, as well as 50 students he believes “are capable of writing their own books.” When Ms Anthony’s work was selected, did these young people not exist, and if it is that they did, what steps did the management of the Caribbean Press take to ensure that they were all offered the same guidance and opportunity at publication that the Minister’s daughter was offered, and in a fair, open and transparent manner? The answer is, none.
While I expected the Minister’s silence, particularly on issues concerning accountability with regard to the Press’ operations, Reverend Cecil’s letter, as a deflection, is very enlightening. In the interest of transparency, the Reverend might help us clarify certain troubling things he might have inadvertently revealed in his correspondence.
First, could he clarify which schools he visited and the process he used to select the young writers included in Volume 1?
During what period specifically were these activities conducted and over what geographical area?
Who funded his trips to these schools as well as the talks and the writing workshops? Did he pay his own transportation and other related costs or did the ministry?
Was the Reverend paid or otherwise remunerated for his engagement, and if so, under what contractual arrangement, and for what amount? And, using his own standard of transparency, was the vacancy advertised?
Who now constitute the “competent” body of people that the Reverend himself called for to oversee the operations of the Press?
If it is that Rev Cecil was completely unaware of the Press’ operations in May of 2013, can he establish a credible timeline for his workshops, selection, review, editing, layout and design, proofing, printing and delivery of work that the ministry claims to be in receipt of as of March, 2014?
In closing, I reiterate my call for the Minister of Culture to provide the public or Parliament with verifiable records of the exact number of books printed by the Caribbean Press, the complete expenditure incurred on them, and the current location of those books as supported by invoices and delivery notes. This is something that he has been avoiding ever since the first year of the Press’ operations and which is unacceptable from a public servant, particularly a Minister of government.
Yours faithfully,
Ruel Johnson
