…from a man of the cloth
The Chairman of the ERC is a man of the cloth…a Christian Bishop with a Doctorate, presumably in Theology. He represents Christians on the Commission, so he should know more than a thing about sins of commission and sins of omission – which are both sins in the eyes of God. Sins of commission we all know about…but sins of omission – not doing something we KNOW we ought to have done – are frequently swept under the rug. With ordinary folks who mightn’t know, we might overlook…but a BISHOP?
What is your Eyewitness talking about? Well, if you asked that question, you obviously haven’t read the Bishop’s riposte to Commissioner Haji Rohan Khan’s (another man of the cloth – representing Muslims) stinging take down of his term as ERC Chair since 2018! The problem is, Bishop Smith’s letter raises more questions through his omissions than offers answers to Haji Khan’s rebukes. Take Khan’s accusation that, under Smith’s leadership, the Commissioners awarded a Christmas bonus of $150,000 to each other (they’d originally proposed $200,000) which was way about what the Govt awarded to public servants.
Said Smith: “As is customary, the year-end honorarium (ex-gratia payment, in this case for COVID-19 relief) was approved by majority decision for staff members and Commissioners, including Khan. Government announced a payout to the Public Service which came weeks later, but the ERC had already made its decision on a payout in November for the aforementioned reason. The Government payout, therefore, was not applicable to the ERC in that instance.”
Really? Note that the good Bishop is silent on the quantum of what Khan claimed was a CHRISTMAS BONUS. But Smith says it was a “COVID-19 relief” decided on BEFORE the Govt’s COVID-19 $25,000 to public servants. True, but the Government had announced a $25,000 COVID-19 relief to the ENTIRE NATION on Sept 7. Wasn’t that a signal that this was a ballpark figure for the ERC Commissioners? Why was it okay to presume that the ERC Commissioners were deserving SIX TIMES more than the average citizen??
Then, on Khan’s call out on the ERC’s silence on the W. Berbice riots following Granger’s provocative statements, Bishop Smith wrote, “following the murders of the Henry cousins and Haresh Singh, the Commission, in a press release (September 7, 2020) condemned the killings.” But Haresh was killed on Sept 9!! How could that release include his murder??
But Bishop Smith’s major sin of omission was not to even mention Granger’s provocative statement to the W Berbice rioters to form a “self-defence society”, but to condemn Khan for calling for the victims to defend themselves.
…by Henry Jeffrey
Politically, Henry Jeffrey has been around the block and some. He started out with the PNC, went over to the PPP (Civic) after 1992, and now seems to be back with the PNC. Reporting on a talk he delivered to the PNC Executive last week, he claims that, back in the sixties, “the British Government…offered shared governance to the Guyanese leadership similar to what they were proposing at the time in Cyprus”.
But back in 8-21-19, he’d asserted that “although the problems in the two countries were similar and required similar solutions, the British recommendations for Guyana were DIFFERENT… Britain, in 1960, established the Republic of Cyprus (and) implemented shared governance arrangements.” But in Guyana “they introduced a PR system that enhanced the ethnic support of the PNC/UF Opposition and brought them to Government. With some subsequent TWEAKING by Forbes Burnham, this PR arrangement has left Guyana in the present constitutional stranglehold.”
Seems Jeffrey “tweaked” the truth to blame the PPP as much as Burnham “tweaked” elections!!
…and being a Christmas blow-blow
A prominent businessman threatened the G/town Mayor with a $200M lawsuit if he didn’t apologise for accusing him of being a deadbeat.
Apology wasn’t offered, so was the lawsuit filed?
