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FM
Former Member

UNCLE DONALD STEPS OUT!

 
April 4, 2012 | By | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom 

Source - Kaieteur News

 

Sometimes the most important things in the news go unnoticed. Over the past few days, there have been two reports in the news that have hardly elicited comment – and in Guyana the slightest thing can cause a storm in a teacup.


Yet, these two reports which appeared in the Kaieteur News may be the most positive developments in the country since Uncle Donald took office last November.


The first report quotes Guyana’s Ambassador to China, David Dabydeen, as saying that the President of Guyana is fully committed to transparency and openness. He also observed that the President was not opposed to documents being released to interested and affected stakeholders to facilitate greater scrutiny.


These are sound bites for sore ears.


But it gets better. In another report published yesterday in the same Kaieteur News, the President himself is quoted as saying that if what the newspaper is reporting about the rented generators at the GPL is true, then this is something to be concerned about.


It has taken some time in coming, but now we are seeing the Uncle Donald that everyone knows about and expects. Now we are seeing him stepping out and saying the things that people have come to associate with him.


One of those things referred to by the Guyanese Ambassador to China is that secrecy breeds suspicion. It sure does. There have been a great many secret deals signed under the Bharrat Jagdeo administration and there was an unwillingness of that administration to level with the public about some controversial deals.


Uncle Donald no doubt believes that some of these deals are good for Guyana, but as he has also shown recently, he is prepared to throw away those deals that he sees as rotten and intervene in those that are not living up to expectations.


Earlier this year, the government took the bold decision – bold because it exposes the administration to lawsuits – to cancel the contract for the construction of the Amaila Falls Access Road which was granted to ‘Fip’ Motilall.


It is hard to recall any time in the past, where a major contract was recalled because of non-performance. There have been many underperforming contractors in the history of this country, going way back to independence, but one can hardly recall a major contract being pulled.


Uncle Donald, however, had had enough of the slippages on the Amaila Falls Access Road contract and decided that the arrangement like a bad marriage had to end.


Uncle Donald ended that arrangement, much unlike what happened in the past, when extensions were granted for works which should have been completed.


Another sign that Uncle Donald may be moving slowly but surely in the right direction, was the briefing held for the opposition parties on the hydropower contract. This was a political masterstroke on the part of the President.


Given the hard time that the opposition was giving him in parliament, Uncle Donald could have simply buried them with paperwork or refused to answer their questions. One opposition leader himself conceded that the government was not obligated to answer questions put to them in parliament.


The president, however, opted to hold a confidential briefing, and the opposition parties were quite pleased by what they heard, so much so that the hydropower deal seems to have fallen off the radar of their criticisms.


Uncle Donald has therefore been doing his thing without a great deal of fuss, and those who know him will appreciate that this is the man’s style. He is not a fussy person; he does not crave attention. He is a simple, decent man.


It would have been lovely, though, if instead of hearing certain things through his ambassador to China, if those things could have been announced up front by the President.


The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and it is therefore left to be seen what Uncle Donald is going to do about those hefty rentals being paid by GPL. He certainly should ask for an explanation and then act after being advised about the matter.


He is going to receive a great deal of support in Guyana if he does the right thing, and those who know him will testify that he is a man who likes to do the right thing, even if it means upsetting some of the former political bigwigs who may be sitting a little uneasy now that Uncle Donald has signaled his intentions.

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Cheddi and Janet Jagan must be turning in their graves – says daughter at memorial

April 4, 2012 | By | Filed Under News 

Ms Jagan-Brancier speaking to the audience

“My parents were probably the most incorruptible people you would ever find; their honesty and integrity were of very high standards, but unfortunately do not exist or I don’t see it in many of the leaders of the party and government.”
The comments came from the daughter of the late Guyanese leaders Dr Cheddi Jagan and Mrs Janet Jagan. She said that the current leaders of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and government lack “the very, very, very high moral standards” which her parents embodied when they were alive.
Mrs Nadira Jagan-Brancier scolded the party for putting out platforms using her parents’ name— particularly her father’s— and not living up really and truly to what her parents had stood for. “It is not enough to go out there and make lovely speeches about who my parents were, what they did and the legacy that we’re carrying on”.
She said that her parents fought for sugar workers, the poor and down-trodden in Guyana and in the world. “That’s who they stood for, and again, I think the party has moved away— not the party but certain elements in the party— from these very, very important values that held the party together and what makes the PPP what it is and so for me, when I look at some of the things happening, my parents must be turning in their graves— but they must be churning up in the waters of the rivers (in which their ashes were sprinkled)”.
She said that if the PPP is saying that it is following Cheddi Jagan and Janet Jagan as a living guide, “the only way you can follow them is to return to basics, return to who this party is which is the working- class party, obviously you have to support other people, but the base of this party is a working- class party, get back to being a non- corruptible party, so people can’t point a finger and say ‘there is so much corruption, why should we worry?”
The daughter of the late leaders then pleaded with the PPP/C leaders and members to get back to the high and moral values. “If the leaders don’t show the moral values then people won’t do it, and you’re children won’t grow up with moral values. And if your families don’t show moral values, then society as a whole will lose that”.
“Their lives were involved in politics so their time for me and my brother was very limited…They weren’t there the amount of hours that most people would have their parents around, but the times that they were, it was what they called quality time, not quantity…so the times they spent with us— memories that I will have for the rest of my life”.
She noted that her parents were very normal, simple, and humble people and a “very, very loving couple”. She recalled sitting down for breakfast in the mornings around the family table and listening to the news from Guyana or the BBC “and you weren’t allowed to talk”.
She noted that they lived very simple lives and told the gathering that the house in which her parents once lived, is now open to the public. “The house is there and I really encourage people to use the opportunity to go in Bel Air and see the house where they lived…They lived a very simple life; they didn’t have big ostentatious homes that you see nowadays that government officials and party officials have, which is a very sad thing, personally”.
Ms Jagan- Brancier also encouraged persons to visit the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre in Kingston. “This was when my father was Premier from 1961 to 1964”.
“Most people think of my mom as only writing for the Mirror and other political things; my mom wrote a lot of children stories— I hope that people who have children would know this. She was also a poet and wrote some beautiful poems.”
Mrs Jagan’s prison diary, she said, are all important documents that Mrs Jagan-Brancier urged persons to read. The Cheddi Jagan website is also another feature that she urged the public to access information www.jagan.org “and on this website, you will find information”.

FM

Only a few months are President Ramotar is the Caribbean's BEST President. This Gentleman will take Guyana to the Promise Land. I am PROUD to call him my President. The GUyanese People are BLESSED to have such a dynamic Leader.

Nehru
Originally Posted by Nehru:

Only a few months are President Ramotar is the Caribbean's BEST President. This Gentleman will take Guyana to the Promise Land. I am PROUD to call him my President. The GUyanese People are BLESSED to have such a dynamic Leader.

You need to put on your jester's gear and run ahead of the president banging your tambourine and touting his good works! Unfortunately, you have more work there than you can handle since he is up to his ears in the crime of corruption.

FM

Nehru like them thiefman gon em-bar-rass U now.

 

Jagan daughter want to know how a Duck with no experience become President.

 

Nadira say the enemy of the people is not Nagamootoo, Ramjattan or AFC....

Nadira say them got nuff thiefman, Vultures, Parasites, Pimps and Prostitutes in the PPP and in Govt today under Ramotar & Jagdeo.

 

How come Varshnie go round de bamboo with Baa-rat......and Mannie is de First Lady????

FM

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