Government receiving opposition to greater accountability initiatives
THE Government of Guyana is probably the only one in the world which encounters opposition to its initiatives to ensure greater accountability and integrity in the conduct of public service.

At the same time when some people who should be the last becomes the first in lecturing the government about probity and the tenets of good governance it becomes a tragi-comedy. Some claim that is the price that must be paid so long as there is a commitment to democracy. Fine, I don’t suppose any democrat-liberal, conservative or social would have a problem with such praxis. The problem arises with the genre of the person or persons who seek to elevate themselves onto the moral high ground on such matters. Moreover, it is rather hilarious if not amusing to see such persons casting the first stone.

Here is my point; the government announces that integrity testing will be an integral part of the public service integrity testing framework with the objective being to address the frailties of the human factor.

Up springs “Pat in the box” and declares his opposition to integrity testing. Now who on earth would want to oppose integrity testing when almost every day ordinary people complain about corruption and the need to pay a bribe to get things done within certain levels of the public service?

Is Mr. Yarde saying that this particular, if not critical sector of the government apparatus must be insulated from integrity testing?

Surely, the answer cannot be as Yarde claims, i.e. to make integrity testing conditional i.e. to subject to government ministers and permanent secretaries to such tests. Mr. Yarde and his ilk must know that this is a mere smokescreen to hide their real intentions.

But it is precisely here when the politics become apparent and Mr. Yarde reveals his cloven hooves.

Like so many of his type who are caught up in the maelstrom of conspiracy theories, Mr. Yarde makes the impossible become the possible when he declares whimsically that integrity tests will be used as a tool to ‘dismiss people randomly!’

Wow! How much more ridiculous and cynical can prominent people in our country get?

True to his well established but fast fading track record Mr. Yarde made no serious attempt to fathom what integrity testing is all about, on the contrary, he dashes off to join the political bandwagon of critics, cynics and pessimists whose flavour of the day is to spout anti-governmental diatribe.

Contrary to Mr. Yarde’s description of polygraph “as retrograde, unenlightened, and a dictatorial imposition”, for the benefit of readers and more particularly, Mr. Yarde here the lay person’s understanding of polygraph.

(1) The term Polygraph is commonly known as Lie Detector Test

(2) Body functions are two categories: voluntary and involuntary.

Voluntary are the body movements we control.

Involuntary functions are the body movements we do not control.

Voluntary actions include dancing, climbing, singing, etc

Involuntary actions include the heart beat, sweating and breathing.

Polygraph measures the involuntary functions of the body.

The Test uses sensitive devices to detect the changes in heart rate, sweating and breathing when answering questions. The test is based on measuring the involuntary movements that take place when fear is being experienced about the discovering of untruths.

Telling lies causes fear of being detected.

Fear causes the involuntary movements of the heart (BP), the sweat glands (sweating) and breathing (respiratory rate).

In the test, a base line is obtained during neutral questioning then the questions that are important are asked and answered to which may be untruths. The question are repeated three (3) times leading to a 2-3 hour procedure.

The key is to tell the truth and avoid having to lie which is usually detected.

I am sorry I could not do more to help Mr. Yarde understand and appreciate the basic tenets of polygraph but this much I can do; for more information please contact the Academy of Polygraph Science Latin America, INC. at www.abhpolygraphscience.com.
CLEMENT J. ROHEE
Minister

False accusations impugning the integrity of others a ‘no-no’
I refer to my recent letter in Kaieteur News on the presentation of unverified information; this letter seems to have startled Freddie Kissoon and the Editorial Gang at Kaieteur News, pushing them to grasp for a defensive reaction.

Owner Mr. Glen Lall needs to consistently peruse the pre-published editorials before they reach the dissemination point; I would hope Glen does not lend legitimacy to the Editorial of August 20, 2009, for this kind of Editorial does immense damage to the credibility of the Kaieteur News. And I know Glen really struggled to elevate his newspaper today to the zenith of the newspaper business in the Caribbean and North America Diaspora.

The Editorial stated thus in part: “…Perhaps, the role of the state newspapers is to defend the government in the same way that the private media see their role as reporting on those things that the government would wish to keep quiet. Dr Misir should recognise this. He should know that no media house has a duty to reflect the positive views of the government only…The private media houses, regardless of the political affiliation of the owner or the reporter, always carry the news as they see it…”

I do not recognise or support this line of thinking as espoused by the Kaieteur News Editorial. The responsibility of the media is not merely to make public what any ‘government would wish to keep quiet’; then the thought of media houses carrying the news as they see it is nauseating; but if this is their modus operandi, then what has happened to objectivity and fundamental fairness, inclusive of balance in their application of ‘Guyanese’ journalism. And so, this is the compelling reason why I wrote the letter that columnists are presenting unverified information.

The Hutton Inquiry of 2004 had this to say on the communication of information: “…the right to communicate …information is subject to the qualification…that false accusations of fact impugning the integrity of others, including politicians, should not be made by the media. Where a reporter is intending to broadcast or publish information impugning the integrity of others the management of his broadcasting company or newspaper should ensure that a system is in place whereby his editor or editors give careful consideration to the wording of the report and to whether it is right in all the circumstances to broadcast or publish it…”

And today, media editors in Guyana have to be brought to book in allowing a few columnists’ unsubstantiated anecdotes, more akin to gibberish, impugning the integrity of public figures and distorting political history. Opinions and commentaries must be held to the same standards of accuracy with regard to facts, as news reports.

The Guyana Press Association (GPA), if it’s worth anything, must address the cavalier and unseemly work of some ‘columnists’ ‘editors’, and ‘reporters’.

In Guyana, the Fourth Estate, the media, needs to engage in a journalism of verification and fact finding rather than in a journalism of allegations. The Guyana journalists have been increasingly neglectful of their duty to seek out the truth, to understand and report issues from all possible angles.

Recent commentaries on both electronic and print media are deeply troubling; the commentaries continue to aggressively distort the political history of this country. It is one thing to have an opinion about something; but another to present this opinion as a fact. Opinions are not necessarily facts.

Freddie Kissoon can moan and groan as much as he wishes; his type of journalism is disconcerting and fundamentally out of whack. I will address his response to my letter in another context.
PREM MISIR

Standing firm on macroeconomic fundamentals
LAST year, during the month of September, the world’s economy began a downsizing trend. The fall of Lehman Brothers opened the eyes of millions globally to the reality of the severity of the damages caused by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis. Banks became fussy to lend, which eventually led to a global recession causing an outpour of analysis and debate about the austerity of the crisis.

Leaders worldwide were and are still now busy arranging meetings to discuss how the global economic crisis has affected their countries’ economies, and what type of government policy responses are necessary to help cushion the effects of the crisis.

Despite this crisis, developing countries were not severely affected as the United States (US) and European Union (EU) economies, since the banking systems of developing countries are small and had no involvement with the sophisticated financial systems abroad. However, the economic crisis still had some spillover effects on all developing countries, inclusive of Guyana.

Developing countries felt the effects of the financial crisis particularly in areas such as: trade, credit, remittances, private capital flows, and aid.

As a result of the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that world trade is expected to contract by 11%. Also the interconnectedness of the banking systems has posed a problem for developing countries to access credit from banks because of capital shortages in foreign banks. Remittances are one important asset and developmental tool to the economies of developing countries and the financial crisis has led to a decline in growth of remittances in the second half of 2008. Private capital flows and financial aid are expected to decline, which are crucial for the promotion of growth and development in poor countries.

The Global Financial Crisis has proved itself that no country is immune to its unexpected economic shocks which are responsible for the fluctuations in national income, output and employment. However, Guyana managed to maintain good macroeconomic fundamentals, with quite a stable inflation rate.

And, the IMF acknowledges this. The IMF report from the concluded Article IV consultation with Guyana lauds Government for the effective implementation of some policy initiatives and their ability to maintain macroeconomic stability, achieve real growth rate of 3.1 percent in 2008, following rates of 5.1 and 5.4 percent in 2006 and 2007, respectively, and stabilizing inflation rate; the inflation rate for 2008 was 6.40% which was lower than the 14.05% rate in 2007amid the global financial crisis.

The IMF Public Information Notice (PIN) No. 09/61 states that, “the fiscal deficit widened to 7.9 percent of GDP (6 percent target) due to measures adopted in early 2008 to reduce the impact of high fuel prices, most of which have since been eliminated. So far, the financial system has been relatively unaffected by the global turmoil.”

Guyana experienced the impact of the rise in world fuel and food prices at the beginning of 2008. Food prices in Guyana increased by 27.2%; and Government increased the tax threshold by 25% from $28,000 to $35,000 per month and removed the value added tax (VAT) from a number of items. The IMF report commends Government for the successful implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and progress in the area of fiscal reforms. The IMF report states that, “the Guyana Revenue Authority introduced a Total Revenue Integrated Processing System allowing for better monitoring of taxes and risk profiling.”

The IMF report commends financial sector reforms, which include measures to improve compliance with Basle Core Principles and the preparation of legislation facilitating the creation of a credit bureau, on money transfer agencies, and on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. The recently completed Berbice Bridge—a major public-private project—bodes well for increased private sector participation in the economy.

According to the IMF report, the Executive Directors noted that, by implementing prudent fiscal and monetary policies, the Guyanese authorities had maintained macroeconomic stability in 2008, despite external shocks and social pressures. Sustaining these policies will be critical to reduce vulnerabilities associated with commodity price volatility and possible spillovers from the global crisis. Directors commended the authorities’ commitment to further entrench macroeconomic stability, strengthen the financial system, and implement structural reforms.

The IMF recognizes the economic achievements of Guyana, and so Government remains committed to stabilize price levels and exchange rates, make certain that fiscal deficit is controlled, reduce unemployment, and keep an eye on the cost of borrowing money.

And in order to maintain this, Government intends to restructure the economy by reforming policies and investment strategies.
MARISSA LOWDEN

An academic should be honest and possess irreproachable integrity
AN academic is supposed to be honest and irreproachable in integrity.  They are not supposed to slander or libel people or engage in activities that will bring themselves or affiliated organizations into disrepute. Their writings are supposed to be cogent and logical and not replete with lies and distortions. Yet UG lecturer Freddie Kissoon is guilty of all those violations.

Freddie has egregiously and continuously distorted the views and comments of others as I, and so many others, have shown in responses to his writings – most recently with regards to the respected David DeCaires.  Freddie also misleads readers in his interpretations of social theories and concepts including that of Fareeed Zakaria.  And I am sure readers recall his erroneous explanation of the chemical element “Bismuth” a year ago. Freddie needs to be reminded that academic integrity and honesty are essential elements of a good teacher and he is sadly lacking in both.

Recently, someone reminded me how Freddie made the public feel he was “Dr. Freddie Kissoon”, only to be exposed by ordinary folks that he does not possess a doctorate. This, in academia, is called intellectual dishonesty that leads to serious disciplinary actions to the offenders.  In America, Freddie would have been shown the back door of even fourth rate universities and even grade schools.  But in Guyana, he gets away virtually with murder.

For several years, Freddie was called “Dr. Freddie” and was introduced everywhere as “Dr. Kissoon”.  Even students called him “Dr.” He never bothered to correct his title. Suspicions arose about his academic credentials because he never appeared very scholarly in his explanations of concepts and theories – not surprising since he continues to mislead readers about doctrines and social science concepts.

I am told that when quizzed about where he obtained his doctorate, Freddie finally admitted he did not possess a doctorate. It took him many years to correct a fallacy that was accepted by the public as a fact – the height of intellectual dishonesty. I remember a similar experience of the former President (Goldstein) of Kingsboro Community College in Brooklyn. For two decades, he was referred to and introduced as “Doctor” and even called himself Doctor. When he was asked one day where he got his doctorate, he could not provide answers.  Because of his “intellectual dishonesty”, he resigned from office from a job paying over U.S $300,000 a year.  Does Freddie possess that kind of integrity to resign from UG for misleading a nation about his academic qualification and for distorting comments of others? His acts of dishonesty are condemnable.

Freddie has shown no inclination to reform his behavior – to be truthful and honest and professional.  He engages in cuss outs with decent people including friends.  He attacks people unprovoked and without evidence to substantiate his claims.

As I indicated, academics must have basic moral obligations like honesty, integrity and decency. Freddie has not demonstrated these values. The world does not revolve around Freddie and his limited egotistical views.  Freddie must learn to respect others even when their views contradict with his and he should start being truthful.  It is not too late for him to reform his behavior and join the mainstream.
VISHNU BISRAM

Errant drivers should receive stiffer penalties
THERE are many reasons for accidents like over speeding, drunk driving, ignorance of rules, etc, whatever it may be.  Many have lost their beloved in unfortunate accidents.

Many of their victims even died while some suffer lifetime trauma.  A lot is usually said about what the problem is, there is so much offered in terms of solutions but drivers decide to take these things for granted. Unfortunately we all seem to be looking at the obvious and making judgements without looking deep into the problem.

Recently there was the launch of a zero tolerance on the nation’s road, but to some drivers that does not mean anything. We are convinced that ‘driver error’ is the problem: be it drunken or reckless driving .All these road users use the same space but for some the road is not wide enough and it is a race track. Their purpose is to get from Point A to Point B in the fastest manner possible.

There is only so much the traffic police can do, drivers don’t expect the police to baby-sit them, they are all responsible for their own actions. Most drivers are not aware of the concept of defensive driving. This is a global problem, not just in Guyana. Sometimes these drivers are granted a simple fine and sentenced for a short period; more severe sentences should be handed to them.
AMAR SINGH

Kaieteur News attacks on government, Ministry of Agriculture not surprising
THE recent spate of vicious attacks through irresponsible journalism that have been launched by Kaieteur News on the government and Ministry of Agriculture is not surprising, but should be of great concern to all law abiding citizens.

We should recall that in mid-last year when the Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud received a threatening text message allegedly from the country’s most wanted man and the now deceased Rondel Rawlins also known as Fine Man. Investigators revealed that it originated from an IP address used by the Kaieteur News.

As such, it seems that there is some truth to Kaieteur News’ collaborating with political and criminal elements to defame the Ministry and the Government of Guyana. What is the true objective of Kaieteur News? This is what the public wants to know.

The Kaieteur News has been quiet for a while and believes that this incident has been forgotten, but I would like to remind the many readers of threats on a senior government official which has now resurfaced in a new form; disguising itself under the false pretence of practicing investigative journalism.  

I would therefore like to quote the Caribbean Net News report of June 24, 2008 “Kaieteur News publisher, Glenn Lall stated that, if the information is true, it meant that “somebody hacked into our system.”

I don’t believe any of my staff would have done something like that, especially to Minister Persaud, because he features in this newspaper more than any other government official. We have already cooperated with the police in carrying out their investigations and any further assistance they would need we would facilitate,” Lall said.

Lall said that the suggestion was that Rawlins perhaps came into Kaieteur News, accessed the server and sent his message. He said that the allegations were a serious indictment on his newspaper and that the company was not taking these implications lightly. What has happened to this investigation?

I therefore suggest that all law abiding citizens of this country not to take Kaieteur News as it is portraying itself to be. The management of the newspaper claims to be a watch dog of the nation, but it is simply covering up its own inadequacies and connections to criminal elements.

Finally, I would like the Criminal Investigation Department of the Guyana Police Force to re-examine the threats that were made to the minister that originated from Kaieteur News as there seems to be some truth in the threats; which can lead to severe consequences.
RON Mc PHOY

Are these allegations being investigated?
ONE continues to read letters that deserve some kind of investigation by the powers that be. Residents of Sand Hills, Berbice River reported to Minister Irfaan AIi that Region Ten administration is discriminating against them and their children by denying them access to health care and education. Is any one investigating whether this is true or not? 

Also it was reported that police escorted an over loaded freight carrier over the Mackenzie/Wismar bridge at Linden in spite of warnings from Bridge attendants, causing it to get stuck?  Did Minister Persaud and Regional Chairman Mortimer Mingo do anything since they were present at the scene? Who is investigating these things?
N. AUGUSTUS
 

The problem with Obama's Health Care Plan
THE problems many Republicans want us to think about President Obama's health care reform has absolutely nothing to do with the impossibility of funding it, putting America into further debt, or the unjustified benefit of insuring all Americans.  The truth is that the Republican Party's idea of capitalism solely depends on the necessity of maintaining poor class that labors for sustenance.

Wealth in terms of knowledge and health surpasses money.  Any civilization that was able to resolve its health issues usually had the time and the peace of mind to pursue both knowledge and money adequately.  To keep a people poor to remain the cheap labor force for the rich, all you have to do is make them choose between health and food. The search for more money in the midst of poverty usually leads to crime, imprisonments, bad credit, no transportation, alcohol, drugs, and ultimately, unemployment.

The Republican Party will always wage a war against an affordable health care for all Americans because it will eliminate their wealth generators.  If the poor can adequately not worry about their health and begin to focus their minds on education and business in order to better themselves, then they would have transformed themselves from mere wealth generators to competitors for the American pie. 

Even the poor Republicans know that if the poorer class is maintained, which will create the wealth for the rich Republicans to acquire businesses, the business money will trickle down to them as the first to be hired and promoted.  They also know that if President Obama succeeds in his health care plan, thereby opening the door of prosperity for all Americans to compete for, that they now have to work twice as hard despite the fact that American will become a mightier, greater, and a more prosperous nation.
Ehi Aimiuwu
Business Instructor, Atlanta, GA. USA