AFC Press Conference - September 28 2011 | Guyana Community Discussion Forums

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Former Member

AFC respects the role of the media in the electoral process...unsure about commitment of others to a free, fair and open process
Read by Raphael Trotman, Leader of the AFC, Prime Ministerial Candidate

The Alliance For Change has received a draft Code of Conduct relating to the media, purportedly prepared by GECOM and intended to be signed by all contesting political parties at the upcoming General and Regional Elections. Intrinsically, the AFC has no objection in principle with the execution of one or several codes of conduct, as it has set and maintained its own standards of conduct and decorum since its formation as a Political Party in 2005; whilst other stakeholders seem bent on using every surreptitious and scurrilous device to gain votes by any means necessary.

In so far as the Media is concerned, we therefore commit to:

1. Adhere to the principle of fairness and equitable access to the media for all parties.

2. Respect the integral partnership role the media has to play in the conducting of these elections.

3. Refrain from banning any media house or any media individual operative from any press conference, rally, or political meeting open to the general public or the media.

4. Refrain from subjecting any media worker to individual ridicule or censure in the execution of their duties.

5. Refrain from directly or indirectly threatening, coercing, or otherwise subjecting to duress any media owner, publisher, manager or editor.

6. Refrain from the covert use of new media - blogs, online forums, social networks, e-mail - to circumvent or otherwise subvert our commitment to any aspect of this Code of Conduct.

The more general issues of concern that the AFC would like to see addressed in a Code of Conduct for all political parties are:

1. The guarantee equal access by representatives of contesting political parties (including scrutineers and polling day staff) to polling Stations without the fear of intimidation and malice.

2. That the Party in Power and their representatives (including Ministers) shall not combine their official visits with electioneering work, and shall not make use of official and state machinery or personnel during the conduct of these elections.

3. That Government transport including official aircraft and helicopters, vehicles, machinery and personnel shall not be used for the furtherance of the interest of the Party in Power.

4. That no contesting Political Party shall bribe eligible voters. That the independence of all state institutions that support the conduct of these elections (including but not limited to GECOM, the Advisory Commission on Broadcasting and the Media Monitoring Unit) shall be guaranteed and in the event of breaches of this code, action be taken in the interest of ensuring a free and fair poll.

The AFC is therefore not anxious to sign on to anything right now without receiving assurances from GECOM, State agencies such as the Guyana Police Force, and even the other contesting parties, that we will all conduct ourselves in an exemplary and fair manner.

The AFC sees as significant, the role of GECOM in being able to hold itself out as an independent and uncompromised agency that is capable of enforcing the Media Code that it now asks others to abide by. The AFC has not forgotten the multitude of ills committed against it in 2006 and beyond which understandably causes it to be weary of empty promises being made. For the benefit of all we repeat some of them:

· The poaching of polling agents to work for GECOM at a higher stipend;

· The payment of moneys to PPP/C and PNC/R polling agents on Election Day;

· The “miscalculation” of the Region 10 Seat to the PPP/C; and

· The non-payment of scrutineers’ money to the AFC and GAP/ROAR even after an Order of the Court of Appeal was made to do so.

The AFC will be engaging all stakeholders to address these burning issues in the days and weeks ahead with a view to arriving at a mutually convenient and acceptable Code of Conduct that we can all agree to be bound by.

Source

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Former Member

Mahdia: A community in need of care and attention
Read by Dr Sewnauth Punalall, AFC Executive Member

On Fri Sept 23 – Sat Sept 24, 2011 an AFC team comprising party Leader and Prime Ministerial candidate Mr. Raphael Trotman, Mrs. Latchmin Punalall, MP, and Dr. Sewnauth Punalall made a successful visit to Mahdia. This visit revealed a great contradiction existing at the heart of the nation. On the one hand we witnessed a bustling town; growing rapidly as a result of rising prices of raw gold, yet on the other hand we saw social degradation, squalor, and disorder. This was painful.

Like every other hinterland community life is not easy in Mahdia and during their short visit this team noticed the many daily problems which make life very difficult for residents here. As one enters Mahdia the first unsightly scene is a large garbage dump in the vicinity of the airport. It is obviously true what the residents say that there is no proper site for garbage disposal and therefore illegal garbage dumps, which pose a serious health hazard, can be found in many places. It is amazing that there has not been a major outbreak of diseases in the mining town. It was not so long ago that hundreds were affected by a fire that swept through the Arcade and we all recall the familiar sight of several Government Ministers hurriedly flying in with their basket of promises. Unfortunately, neither promise to rebuild the Arcade and to provide housing in a new settlement have been kept, and though the Government may have forgotten what it promised, the people of Mahdia have not.

Some parts of Mahdia have been without potable water almost six months and residents have to purchase this vital commodity from supply trucks which charge as much as $ 6,000.00 for a 400 gallon tank. A liter of bottled water is sold for $ 500.00. The roads leading to Mahdia and within Mahdia are also in a deplorable condition. This makes traversing very dangerous, difficult and slow for the travelers. These roads have numerous potholes and are slushy and slippery when wet and dusty under dry conditions. Clouds of thick dust arise when it is sunny making visibility very poor for drivers as they pass one another. This may have contributed to two serious accidents on the Mabura trail on Friday. Two persons perished and many others were seriously injured in these accidents.

It is a travesty for this government to have turned its back on the people who live and work in these communities, without a care for its moral, social and health infrastructure, yet is more than willing to cash in the gold that is delivered to the gold board. An AFC government will do all we can to improve the infrastructure in Mahdia and other hinterland communities so that lives can be saved and so that the living can lead happier and healthier lives. It is our belief, that mining communities such as Mahdia which pump millions of scarce dollars into our national economy should have an equitable share of the pie to ensure safe roads and good social services. An AFC government will not only ensure that order is restored and that there is a stricter application of the rule of law in these communities, but just as importantly, ensure that the people’s holistic health and wellbeing are taken care of.

Source

9/30/113:08 PM

Former Member

The issue of ongoing violence in schools
Read by Cindy Sookdeo, AFC Youth Activist

The Alliance For Change (AFC) notes with great concern the ongoing violence among students in schools. The most recent occurrence of this episode was reported in the Kaieteur News of September 22, 2011. What is alarming about this episode is the level of violence that is involved. On most, if not all, occasions the injured student(s) will have to be rushed to the hospital (for instance, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation) and remain there for several days under intensive care whilst the police will be called in to investigate the incident and institute criminal charges on the perpetrator(s). The AFC recalls the experience of the Lodge Community High School where three incidents of violence occurred in one week.

The party notes that violence among students in schools continues in the face of a 10-point plan “to promote safe, acceptable behaviors and positive values in school”, as announced early last year by the Education Minister, Shaik Baksh. The party recognizes the inadequacy of, and the poor thinking that informs, the measures included in the 10-point plan, among which are: (1) the strengthening of the security systems in schools; (2) the searching of students at some schools; (3) the re-launching of a national mentoring programme that will be extended to all schools; and (4) the introduction of child-friendly schools in Region Two. The party also recognizes the lack of awareness that informs the Education Minister’s assertion that: “Too many parents abdicate their responsibility to pay some interest in the [sic] children’s school life.”

What is obvious from the Ministry of Education’s 10-point plan is a total failure to recognize, much less understand, that violence in schools is not an isolated phenomenon; it is a reflection of and cannot be separated from what obtains in the wider society. Therefore, a sensible approach will be to understand what goes on, at least at the level of the family. The subject Minister and the Ministry of Education seems unaware that studies have shown that there is a link between poverty and violent behaviors among school-age children. They seem unaware also that for many homes that have school-age children, the head is often, if not all, times a female who instead of being at home and assist in the proper socialization of her child (or children) has to earn to eke out a living. The unawareness is evident in the Minister’s assertion quoted above.

It must be recalled that it was only recently that the AFC protested the inhumane treatment meted out to the sweeper-cleaners employed by the very ministry. In addition, it should be noted that the inhumane treatment meted out to the sweeper-cleaners is occurring whilst the president of Guyana has set aside for himself a multi-million dollar retirement package to be paid for by the hard working tax payers, many of whom have school-age children and live in poverty.

The party, therefore, until it gets into office later this year, calls on the subject Minister and on the Ministry of Education to relook and broaden the 10-point plan that must, among other things, focus on and seek to improve the conditions under which school-age children are brought up.

Source

9/30/113:10 PM

Former Member

PPP tells lies at their public meetings
Read by Gerhard Ramsaroop, AFC Executive Member

We have been receiving reports from our activists and sympathisers, of lies and slander being peddled on the PPP platform at their public meetings. In order to hear this for ourselves, I, along with my wife, attended the PPP meeting in Enterprise last night (27th September, 2011). The meeting was kept in the exact location the AFC held theirs just over two weeks ago. The crowd was in two distinct sections, those attending, numbering around 40, and those about 50 feet off to the south, numbering around 50 who had gathered to heckle the PPP.

The meeting got underway at 6:15 pm, and the first speaker, Neil Kumar, immediately attacked the AFC, saying our message varied in Indian and African areas. He was heckled and booed and spoke for around ten minutes. One Seeraj then came on next. He said that AFC stood for Alliance For Compromise/Confusion and that APNU meant A Parasite, Nasty and Ugly. He too spoke for about ten minutes, and was also heckled.

At around 6:30 pm Anil Nandlall came on. He said Ramjattan was a racist, that he would take away jobs and seize lands from Indians if an AFC Gov't comes to power, that he did not appreciate the qualified children of cane-cutters and rice farmers having jobs in the PPP Gov't. He also said that Ramjattan said he would shut down the sugar industry. For this he was roundly shouted down, “Lie! Lie!”

Nandlall continued his attacks on the AFC, tying Trotman to slow fiah, mo fiah, on the basis that Trotman was a member of the PNC at the time. Of course, he failed to mention that Trotman never took to the streets, and it was Trotman who asked the PNC to apologise for its past. He was booed while saying this. He went on to say the AFC was irresponsible and lacked experience. That only the PPP Gov't is in a position to pronounce on VAT, that the AFC is only making empty promises to reduce it. In effect he was saying that VAT would not be reduced under the PPP. At this point, someone shouted, “Abee cyan eat road!” Nandlall's speech focused otherwise on the difference in Guyana in 1964 to 1992, and said we have now leveled out, and will rise in the next 5 years, which again drew heckling.

Nandlall spoke for 45 minutes, with the protest crowd growing quiet toward the end - out of boredom my wife surmised. Buoyed by this, Nandlall told them that their silence meant that he was getting through to them. In response, Nandlall got the loudest shouts from the protest group, “The PPP must go! We don't want to hear about 28 years! Tell us about the 19! Vote Key! Time for change!” Thereafter he wrapped up and the meeting ended at 7:15 pm.

The AFC condemns the PPP for these vicious untruths, racial incitement and slander. It goes to show however, how much ground the AFC has made, right up into their heartland. So far, the AFC has only had one incident where the police arrested an intoxicated person at a public meeting. This happened in Enmore, and Mr Khemraj Ramjattan and I intervened and asked the police to release him. Mr Raphael Trotman also offered his legal services pro bono. However, he was charged with cursing the police and has been placed on a two year bond.

Source

9/30/113:11 PM