King Solomon was a great and wise man but this Solomon fell very far from the tree
– APNU contradicts contentions by their own Regional Chairman

OLD Kai is not amused at the latest stance taken by the APNU Region 10 Chairman, Sharma Solomon to revive their ‘shut Linden down’ campaign.
This is the same individual who never hesitates to preach about the need for attracting investments in Region 10 and particularly Linden, to provide more jobs and other opportunities for residents. How he expects to achieve this by signaling to potential investors that because of a narrow political agenda, he and his crew can bring all business to a halt whenever they fell like, is a mystery.

Now we are told that the ‘shut down Linden’ campaign is based on reports, that President Donald Ramotar will be visiting the township to attend the opening of a new office for the People’s Progressive Party. Mr. Solomon is clearly more interested in political grandstanding than being genuinely concerned about the welfare of Lindeners, as he is willing to hurt the business community in order to achieve his political objective.

Solomon based on reports in the media has indicated that ‘all of Linden’s important sectors, including the business sector, have signaled their commitment to the undertaking’. Do they have a choice? None of these businesses would want to be targeted and destroyed as was the case during the last ‘shut down Linden campaign’ organised by Solomon and his APNU/AFC colleagues which went horribly wrong.

Old Kai has some of his roots in Linden and a few longtime ‘sparring partners’ have whispered that there is a climate of fear, no one wants to speak out against the dictatorial attitude of the APNU officials in the region because they do not want to be targeted. Thus, participating in the ‘shut down’ campaign is being seen as one way of them publicly showing their loyalty to the APNU and its Linden strongman or as they are calling him, ‘little Kabaka’. In so doing, they hope that they will be spared by the APNU thugs.

Even the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry hinted to this much in a recent statement as it called for a probe into the Linden Committees set up after the accord to look into allegations made by Sharma.

According to the release, “during that period (the previous violence prone shut down campaign by APNU), the GCCI and other private sector organisations received numerous complaints from business persons, stating that they cannot operate as usual.”

If we are to believe Sharma Solomon, then these very businesses which complained about being affected are now willingly trying to harm their financial interests.

That apart, there is a great disconnect somewhere between APNU and Sharma Solomon as one of the two is lying to members of the public. The genesis of this revival of the ‘shut down’ campaign is reportedly the non-implementation by central government of aspects of the Accord. However, APNU in a press statement on January 17, 2014 on the issue had this to say, “The Partnership laments, also, that the PPP/C administration has still not implemented the essential elements of the 21st August 2012 agreement between the Central Government and the Regional Administration seventeen months after signing it.”

But the Stabroek News in an article on January 23, 2014 contradicts APNU’s position as it quoted the APNU Regional Chairman as saying, “The letter, Solomon explained, will reiterate the region’s ‘dissatisfaction’ and ‘disgust’ at the fact that none of the commitments made by government 17 months ago have been honoured.”

Now the APNU statement clearly indicates that elements of the Accord have already been implemented by Government but it contends that the essential elements are still outstanding. On the other hand, Sharma is claiming that none of the commitments have been implemented. Someone is misleading the public. This is nothing new as we can recall that several of the APNU leaders, including Solomon were caught misleading the Linden Commission of Inquiry.

In reality, no matter how much the PPP/C government reaches out to work with the Opposition, for example with this Linden accord, it will never be enough or as was exposed above, will be twisted to suit the agenda of the opposition.

One thing for sure is that this Solomon will still be lamenting that investors are not coming to Linden 10 years from now. Old Kai encourages that before he begins to open his mouth to accuse others of being liable for stifling the region’s potential, he first looks in a mirror to see the real culprit responsible.