Dear Editor,
Sometimes I wonder why certain things in Guyana are so inherently incredible. On March 04, 2021 while I was passing through Main Street, Georgetown I observed the colours of the flag of Guyana posted on the front of the building of the Bureau of Statistics. Guess what? It was upside – down. I wondered what is happening with the stats in the building when the outside is upside – down. I proceeded to Brickdam and discovered, to my chagrin, that the colours of the Golden Arrowhead was displayed on the fence and the face of the Ministry of Natural Resources building and, like the Bureau Of Statistics, it too was upside – down. I again wondered if what is happening outside of that building is a reflection of what is taking place inside, but then again there is a saying, do not judge a book by its cover. I then went to the National Cultural Center to attend the Opening Ceremony of the Police Officers’ Annual Conference 2021. Flying proudly on stage were the Presidential Standard on the right and the Guyana Police Force’ on the left. I smiled, because they were in their rightful positions. Cheers to the police for getting the protocol right.
Last year I wrote a letter to the editor expressing my displeasure with the improper positioning of our flag during a ceremony at Moleson Creek at the proposed landing site for the Guyana/Suriname River Bridge. The Suriname flag was positioned on the right and the flag of Guyana on the left when it should have been the other way around. As a schoolboy, it was embedded in me, that in Guyana, whenever the flag of Guyana is flying alongside another flag it must be on the right of that flag and that when it is flying among other flags it must be in the centre and slightly above the other flags. In my letter I pleaded for us to respect our Symbols of Nationhood: the National Anthem; the National Pledge; the Coat of Arms and the National Flag – the Golden Arrowhead. I am perturbed that after over half a century we are showing disrespect for one of our symbols of nationhood – the Golden Arrowhead – the flag. I again make a clarion call for us to respect our symbols of nationhood. I hope that I will not get the opportunity to flag this issue again.
Sincerely,
Clinton Conway
Assistant Commissioner of Police
(Ret’d)
