Government rejects and condemns Kaieteur News misinformation…
THE Office of the President rejects and condemns the recurring practice of Kaieteur News misinforming the public as part of its deliberate attempt to discredit the government. The matter surrounding Kaieteur news’ handling of the planned procurement of the 90,000 Laptops to be distributed under the OLPF initiative is a case in point. The following statement was issued by the Office of the President last evening:
The Minister within the Ministry of Finance disclosed that the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) initiative entailed the procurement of laptops at an estimated cost of US$295 which is provided for in the 2011 national budget. An initial Kaieteur News reaction last Thursday, February 3, stated that the OLPF project had procured 20 Laptops at a cost of US$585 each.

The Office of the President, in a press statement on the said day, Thursday, February 3, denied that the 20 laptops were bought by the OLPF. The statement disclosed that five laptops were bought for the administration of the OLPF initiative.

Today (February 6), Kaieteur News again highlighted the procurement of 20 laptops, still trying to suggest to the public that the procurement was related and intended for OLPF distribution. In so doing, Kaieteur News has purposely ignored the press statement by OP that clarified that only five laptops were bought intended for the OLPF administration. If Kaieteur News had observed the journalistic principle of verifying its information, then it would have known that the 20 laptops were for the various units within the Office of the President and Cabinet.

The Kaieteur News is suggesting that the government is hiding the real cost of the OLPF from the Guyanese people. Government’s handling of the OLPF clearly shows there is no basis for this conclusion.

With the access to information about government procurement, all Guyanese are aware that the Government of Guyana procures laptops for its administration and agencies from time to time. The prices are determined primarily by the specifications sought by its users. The planned procurement of laptops for distribution to 90,000 families under the OLPF project would have modest specifications, and as a result, the cost will be at the low end.

This misinformation about the laptop procurement by Kaieteur News is intended to create mischief and to disparage government projects.  Kaieteur News is part of that carefully designed ongoing plan.

The Kaieteur News should know that exploiting the government’s OLPF initiative to create confusion among the Guyanese people and try to disrepute the government will attract our most severe condemnation and is unlikely to resonate with the forward looking and development-driven Guyanese.

The Kaieteur News commitment to publicise erroneous, misleading and sensational stories are unbelievable but true. The level of inaccuracies in its daily editions represent the most callous, reckless and unethical journalism.

The pattern of misinformation by the Kaieteur News is testimony to its abandonment of all pretence of objective journalism. It seems content to seal its reputation as the official mouthpiece of the opposition political parties, even if its reputation is based on distortions and misrepresentation. This newspaper has moved beyond being deliberately malicious and calculatedly provocative, the statement concludes.