Dear Editor,
Dr. Devanand Bhagwan, in his Aug 25 letter, commented on “Should the composition of GECOM staff reflect what Guyana looks like?” Of course, his answer is “Absolutely!” Bhagwan informs readers that “Indians consist approximately 40% of the population in Guyana; Africans about 30%; and Amerindians 10%. Therefore, (he adds that) “the ethnic composition of GECOM ought to reflect this ethnic composition.”
GECOM, I posit, must not be the only entity to consider. I think of the Guyana Police Force (and the Guyana Defence Force by extension) and you will see that Guyana really does have a huge imbalance in terms of racial distribution in certain key areas. Just reflect on the following people who headed the force sometime in the past. These Commissioners include Felix Austin, Carl Austin, Lloyd Barker, Balram Raghubir, Floyd McDonald, Laurie Lewis, Leroy Brummell, Henry Greene, Seelall Persaud and Leslie James. Now we have Clifton Hicken. Need I make my point?
So, Ogunseye, may be right or wrong, I do not care. If he thinks that “The message is crystal clear … (and that) PPP/C wants the composition of GECOM staff to change – (as) there are too many Africans, ” then he is on the right track. That is the way it should be. In fact, Ogunseye self-destructs. His unsubstantiated claim is that “Even in the face of internal and external criticism of its policies of exclusion, the party, through its new enforcer of racial quotas, held no hesitation to boldly express and press forward with its agenda of political and racial domination of the country.”
So, again I refer him to the GPF. I remind him too that an erstwhile Com-missioner, Seelall Persaud, under the David Granger administration, was unceremoniously and illegally ‘sent on leave.’ Like Bhagwan, I refer Ogunseye to what Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson did to Vishnu Persaud, rejecting the highest ranked candidate for the post of Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) of GECOM”, via “… using his deciding vote to vouch for Roxanne Myers, a less qualified candidate, who is African (see KN letter, https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/06/19/the-fact-of-the-matter/).
A final note is in order, and for this I ask that Ogunseye cogitate on this: “In the past, each of us has made statements condemning African Guyanese atrocities against Indian Guyanese, and we condemn them even more strongly now, as the violence becomes more brutal.” (Eusi Kwayana, David Hinds, and Andaiye in a letter to Stabroek News, September 1, 2002). It is indeed time to get real. It is not only GECOM and GPF, but also the Public Sector/Service and the Government Media that need this ‘balancing off.’
Sincerely,
Deodat Singh
