MALCOLM Harripaul’s letter:  “The PPP/C has exceeded the  PNC” makes for  interesting but, not surprising, reading since it comes from someone whose hatred for a party that he once supported, brackets him with Freddie Kissoon the nation’s perennial, frantic  hater of a progressive administration. In capsule, Harripaul’s missive seeks to compare particularly the Hoyte phase of government with the almost 19 years of the current PPP/C government. Again, let it be emphasized that the PNC regime was a dictatorship that extirpated the freedoms of the entire nation. Of this, there is no need to repeat, much less to debate, since the events of perhaps the darkest period that falls within its post-independence history is well known and documented.  

Harripaul has made mention of, particularly, the Hoyte presidency during which he contended that that  Head-of State/Government captured, prosecuted, jailed and even  hanged criminals. Just to remind the critic: that under the Burnham regime, crime was actually encouraged, particularly with the Rabbi’s House of Israel being one of the principal executors of many dark deeds, inclusive of murder.

The writer has always argued that given Hoyte’s stature and senior rank within the PNC and government, why did he not dissent with his government’s inaction on such an activity? It was known, that Burnham often respected his members, when they held to their principles. Maybe such deliberate inactivity, may have been that  party and government’s strategy in terrorizing the Indo-segment of the population. 

But there are three points of Harripaul’s letter that must be exposed because of their unfactual and nebulous content.

Beginning with his contention, stated matter-of- factly  that Mrs. Jagan used her influence to secure the release of  both Errol Butcher a/k “Taps”, and Rabbi Washington from the infamous House of Israel, from their  respective prison terms.

To the best of memory, Errol Butcher, well known South Georgetown businessman with proven criminal  underworld  connections, was convicted and jailed for  five-years against which he had appealed, and which appeal had been determined almost at the end of his sentence. In fact, it was reported in the then press that he sojourned at the Timehri Prison facility.

The “Rabbi”, as Washington  had been mostly  described, had a five-year extension on his lengthy manslaughter-given sentence, by the Guyana Appeal Court. As was explained in the press of the day, he  requested of the American government to secure his release. They agreed to represent his case, on condition that he tell all he knew about the inside workings of the Burnham regime. He was subsequently released. 

To quote the deliberate, sensationalist Kaieteur News that is the premier private media’s purveyor of misinformation, puts Harripaul squarely in the pew of liars.

First of all, the particular two-storeyed concrete house reported to have a price cost of  $5M, was  displayed as  front page photo-caption and  repeated in Harripaul’s letter. Given the stated components of the particular two-storeyed house, as stated on page 11 of that private print, in addition to the completing process of plumbing and guttering; painting, electrical installation, and fencing, is such a cost practical, even  realistic, given the cost of building materials?  

Finally, it was the remit of the PPP/C when in opposition to accuse the PNC government of corruption, as it surely did exist. And since this sin is a perennial one, present in every state throughout the international system, it must be reminded that the PPP/C government never denied its existence in this nation. In fact the party’s General Secretary did question  its actual levels.  

No one can deny that the current administration has been effecting regulatory and administrative controls to deal with the issue of corruption. In his  2011 budget presentation, Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh outlined a series of measures that lend towards the proper streamlining of government functions, with the aim of curbing illegalities.