By The Piper
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Give Jack his jacket; so the saying goes. It means, of course, that credit must be given where earned. The APNU-AFC has done some good things and these must be acknowledged. Jack, however, might have that jacket taken back because of some practices that smell of shameless corruption. In the meantime, the PPP has made a bad decision (so far) to stay out of parliament.
President Granger has promised to open a staff school for the civil service with the intent of producing incorruptible civil servants. I suppose the president envisages a kind of Whitehall on the Demerara, where the administration of government will be done on the merits, and without nepotism or political bias. The idea is simple, and if the APNU-AFC can muster the courage to be as impartial as the civil service they want, then progress is indeed possible. For this to happen, the APNU-AFC must set the example by immediately stopping the ethno-political firings now delivered on a daily basis.
Minister Rupert Roopnarine is currently charming the educational sector. His optimism must be inspirational for those who do the difficult work of educating our citizens, but we need more than nice words. He may start by raising the pay of teachers and providing opportunities for further training and study. A strong public education system is critical to the country’s development. It is a no-brainer that U.G. needs more resources and a more qualified faculty. We await the news on this front. What we do not want to see is the waste of resources to make President’s College better than Queen’s College and Bishops simply to resurrect a PNC pet project.
Bad things are also happening. The PPP should not delay its entry into parliament. What is the point of having Nandlall and Edghill make complaints here and there but without any institutional pathway of seeking redress. Moreover, some of the issues that they have chosen to address demonstrate poor judgment, if not worse. Why in the world would they want to criticize the sacking of the Lenora policeman who was involved with the sickening abuse of a teenager? Ramjattan did the right thing.
Rather than ad hoc and disjointed statements to the media, Freedom House should be releasing its record of accomplishments on a rolling basis. Shamelessness is no foreigner to Guyanese politics, but I think we have reached a new low.
The appointment of Christopher Ram and Anand Goolsarran to carry out forensic audits is the equivalent of having Pik Botha and Adriaan Vlok investigate the ANC. The analogy is based on the well known and unapologetic hatred of the PPP by the two men. The audits may be needed, but as it stands, the findings will be pronounced Dead-on-Arrival. The two gentlemen, who are indeed well qualified on the technical side of things, are simply too biased for the task and even moderate critics would consider these appointments government corruption. In the meantime, the duo should inform the APNU-AFC government that they have reconsidered the matter, and because of the real conflict of interest, they are stepping down. If they do not, the only likely effect of the project would be an investigation of their own appointments.
If people must be fired in the best interests of this nation, then the government must do this. There must be no sacred cows, or, goat, or donkeys! This government was elected to execute its mandate for a better Guyana. Undesirables must be rooted out, whereever they are found and whomever they are! The government decides this. No one else.
The inews moderators seem to be practising double standards. They refused to publish my response to Emile Mervin’s statement that the Indians are political misfits. This is a most outrageous statements despite the fact that the PPPC being a ass based political party with a significant number of Africans in the previous administration occupying high offices. Also, under the previous administration, Guyana was the envy of many Caribbean countries and was described as ”the only bright star”. Guyana recorded many years of continuous economic growth while others remain stagnant or contracted.
If according to Emily, Indians are political misfits, how come the country achieve so much progress despite the then opposition not supporting any project initiated by the PPPC?
Ask Carl Greenidge what progress Guyana made under his stewardship as the finance minister. Emile, you don’t have a conscience.
The two auditors are true professionals who are the best choice for the forensic audits.They have been tracking the PooPy Party’s indiscretions for many years, but were not able to review any douments.Now as official auditors, they can and know exactly what they are looking for.If they find nothing , they will say so.The word forensic explains it all and protects the innocent , but identifies the guilty with forensic evidence.The only thing DOA , will be the guilty.
The piper once again is the mouthpiece of the PPP. The firing of workers for unethical and inept is justifiable. It is not “ethic cleansing” or as you say, “ethno-political ” firings. Since the former government employees were overwhelmingly indo-guyanese, the release of employees appear to be that way. The current government should continue to weed out those who are bad apples, and corrupt.
Your comments are skewed towards the protection of the PPP members, their mismanagement and poor leadership of the nation. The current government has demonstrate that they are very impartial. The blatant mismanagement and ineptness of the former government should not be disregarded but addressed. It is the nation’s right to know.
The education system for the past 23 years has failed the people mainly the children and those who are now adults. There were no interest in building the nation educationally for the high tech positions that are needed to retain our natural resources. We have to rely on outside experts all the time. It is time to reignite the brilliance of Guyana. There is no pet project, the education of every Guyanese must be the priority.
The piper is extremely bias and is showing that his/her agenda lies with the PPP.
Piper, you are blowing a lot of hot air with no substance.
evil has no face, whether the person , is east indian or mix african or africian, they have to go, it not wheather it race, problem, it being blown out of properation, by the oppersation, party to foster support for thier evil agenda,
Mr. Editor, how long as the APNU/AFC been in office? Are you expecting perfection. It seems you are. Considering what the APNU-AFC has taken over, it is a herculean task for them to put the country back in shape and if they have to ethnic cleanse, which in my opinion is a very stupid statement you used, because almost all the people in power positions during the PPP reign were people of Indian descent.
Mr. Editor shame on you for trying to decry what the APNU is doing, shame, shame, shame on you to write this article and it is not even three months yet. In some companies, when you are hired for a job there is a 3-6 month trial period. This is more than a job, I suggest you rethink what you wrote and have the decency to admit you did not properly think things out. I was a child when Forbes Burnham came into office and a young woman living abroad since I was 18 years old. It was people like you who betrayed him, and I was hoping that Guyanese learned their lesson with the 23 years of subjugation by the PPP to all except their good friends and family members.
Well said brother there isn’t more to add to what you have so eloquently expressed. Let truth and justice have their way. The PPP and their supporters cannot have it both ways.
Give Jack his jacket, but not with your hand glued on the collar.
After 15 years of abominable lows under Jagdeo-Ramotar, expectations are high for Granger-Ramotar to deliver on several fronts.
They got off on a shaky start with renaming ministers/ministries, increasing the number of ministers and shuffling around cabinet appointee duties.
The cabinet chairing issues became topical then faded, as focus turned on firing political appointees or square pegs in round holes.
Unfortunately, the majority of political misfits are Indians, so the impression is that there is an ethnic cleansing taking place. Well, that is because there was ethnic patronage in the first place.
On the appointments of Chris Ram and Anand Goolsarran as independent auditors of government agencies, their past criticisms of the PPP have nothing to do with their ability to provide an impartial audit, because audits are guided by accounting principles and not antagonistic politics.
Moreover, government agencies belong to the people, not a political party, and if the PPP did the right thing while in power, it would let the present government (its biggest critic) hire whoever it wants to audit agencies. Dare the auditors to find malpractices.
The PPP, for its part, has to figure it what it wants to do, going forward, but this government was elected to do what the PPP failed to do, so it has to deliver or it will be replaced. Hopefully, the initial bad optics will give way to a more stabilizing walk towards better governance.