PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar has, again, denounced the crusade to taint everything with corruption.
This time, taking a swipe at sections of the media, he also pointed to the impact such reports can have on the country’s international relations and its economic well-being. It follows the Head of State’s remarks last Friday, at the opening of the Third Building Exposition, where he condemned the vicious attacks against the government, especially the Ministry of Housing, by Opposition political elements, noting that there seems to be a campaign, by the Opposition, to paint everything with corruption.
Speaking at the start of the Conference of Heads of Missions, yesterday, at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, he emphasised the need for them to be mindful of this and ensure that the image of the country is not damaged.
He said: “While, of course, I respect the freedom of the press and I respect the important role that the media can play in development of a society and it has an important role to play in our circumstances, at least sections of the press seem to be on a crusade, a total crusade to paint every single important project and every single important step that we take in a negative light and to taint it with the brush of corruption.
“I suspect that, probably, the intention of that is mainly internal politics but whether they consciously or unconsciously know it, it will also have an impact on our international relations,” President Ramotar pointed out.
As such, he told the diplomats: “And that is where your job becomes even more important for us in order to try to ensure that the image of our country is not damaged.”
Additionally, President Ramotar insisted that this also affects the economic well-being of the country.
He explained: “Of course, in Guyana, we don’t have all the resources either in our Private Sector or in our Public Sector to have all the investments that we will need to develop our country, to increase the production and productivity of our nation and to create new jobs and more jobs for our growing and more educated population and, therefore, having the need to attract investments from abroad, creating partnerships and alliances with governments and business abroad is very, very important and this is very, very vital to our country.”
He said:  “We have to ensure that the true picture of our country is well known abroad…that we are reliable partners, we take our decisions seriously, we hold up to our commitment and we are open to do business with the rest of the world.”