Minister of State Joseph Harmon yesterday donated the value of his salary increase for October to the people of Crane, West Coast Demerara, for the installing of street lights in the village and proclaimed that he will donate the same amount from his November and December salaries to communities in Berbice and Essequibo.
“Well, as everyone knows I come from Pouderoyen, I born and grown deh and so when we came into office after the May 11 elections the people from Middle Street [Pouderoyen] came to me and said we want to do a village day and we want to run some lights in the street,” Harmon said yesterday at the People’s National Congress Reform’s (PNCR) annual regional conference at the Vreed-en-Hoop Secondary School. He said that after the residents made their request he had to deny them as it was not budgeted for the region. He added that because he came from the area he took it upon himself to personally provide the money to pay for the lights. “So I took my salary for the month of June and I gave it to the people to run those lights. So people could say I arrogant and all of that,” Harmon added, stating that subsequently residents from Crane also asked about lights for their community to which he promised that he would do something. “Today I want to donate to the people … the value of the salary increase I received which comes up to $217, 000,” he said, adding that in November he will make a similar monetary contribution to the people of Angoy’s Avenue, the community in New Amsterdam, Berbice that he adopted and in December to a village along the Essequibo Coast.
Harmon had been strongly criticized for the manner in which he defended large salary increases for Cabinet ministers. He had stated among other things “I’m not going to make any apologies whatsoever for ministers getting an increase in salaries, they deserve it”. The APNU+AFC administration also came under severe pressure over the salary increases for the ministers and other categories with the opposition PPP/C stating it would not be accepting the increases and possibly donating them to charitable causes.
While the PNCR event was convened to deliver a regional report and to elect new members, Harmon used the opportunity to highlight several other issues.
“(Opposition Leader) Mr (Bharrat) Jagdeo believes that Guyana belongs to him. He has without being elected as the leader of the PPP been bullying and asserting his leadership to the party,” he said, stating that he believes it is important that he addressed some national issues and bring clarity to them.
“Now all of you know and have seen all the publications and have lived through the period of heightened tensions, in some cases, where the Venezuelan government have sent vessels to our shores. Where naval vessels have actually gone into the rivers, our rivers, and threatened our people, the miners, the residents of those areas,” Harmon said, stating that President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro is persisting with the tune that the 1899 arbitration which settled the border between the two countries is not valid. “In effect what he is saying is that the accord was achieved on the basis of bullyism,” Harmon said, adding that Venezuela is contending that the British bullied the Venezuelans and therefore the entire arbitration is null and void. He said that while sometimes in an arbitration you have to give up something, Guyana has given up a lot, including land to the Venezuelans. “We have songs like a blade of grass and then we have someone like Jagdeo to come and say now that give the people a piece. What’s wrong with him? What is wrong with him?” Harmon asked.
This appeared to be a reference to Jagdeo recently stating that his administration had been considering the granting of a sea passage to Venezuela as one option to end the border controversy with Caracas. Jagdeo emphasized that trading of land was never on the cards.
Harmon, also a senior figure in both the PNCR and APNU, said that in some countries such acts are considered treasonable behaviour. “But I want y’all to understand the psyche and mentality of the person and the party which he represents,” he said, charging that over the last 23 years “they (the PPP/C) have actually given up, given away Guyana to the foreigners, to their friends and families”.
In addition to the border controversy, Harmon, a retired soldier, criticised Jagdeo for his comments reported in yesterday’s Guyana Times that the government has injected APNU/AFC activists into the army.
“Can you believe that? Our sons and daughters who of their own free will and accord decided to put their lives on the line for their country he is calling activists…This is the mind of the person that we have to deal with and we have to understand that there is no greater service that a man could give to his country than to lay his life on the line for the defence of his country and I’ve had the honour of doing so”.
He accused Jagdeo of marginalizing the army during his presidency.
“What we are finding now is an army that is without the necessary resources to defend this country. Under Jagdeo and the PPP they made this defence, the defence of this country, weaker than it ought to be,” he said, adding that given the resources which the country has they have weakened the resolve and capacity of the army to defend its territory.
“When Mr. Jagdeo goes pontificating on the television about this and about that, understand the background, understand the history, and understand the facts about what is taking place. He has no more rectitude. He has no right to be making these statements,” Harmon declared.
“We have to say it as it is. I am not afraid to say it as it is because these are facts,” he added.
