PLEASE allow us to clear the air on pronouncements made by APNU’s Public Relations Officer, Malika Ramsey on the May 13 airing of Nation Watch, which stated that employees of the Government Information Agency (GINA), were forced or threatened to make statements condemning the 2012 budget cuts. We would like Ms. Ramsey to note that our comments/statements were in no way induced by force or threats and were purely the independent expressions of our sentiments, as we stand to lose our jobs, with the opposition-engineered budget cuts.
We would also like to enlighten Ms. Ramsey that we are Guyanese and we have equal constitutional rights to freedom of speech and freedom to protest peacefully, like any other Guyanese. In this case, the only difference is that violence is/was absent from our demonstrations.
In a political sense, we are carrying out our duties, just as Ms. Ramsey was doing during her attack on us on the television programme of Nation Watch. We do understand where she was coming from.