MISCHIEF is forever a characteristic that is the handmaiden of not only the idle, but also the reckless. It is a facet of human behaviour that is manifested by many persons, particularly those who have a particular agenda planned for a particular objective. Transfer this to the local media in Guyana, and a particular publishing house immediately comes to mind, because of its well known penchant for this kind of journalism.Last Saturday’s front page pictorial in the Kaieteur News of a core home under construction, the wall of which allegedly “…came crashing down” underscores the modus operandi of that journal.
Sure enough, press freedom abounds in Guyana; sure enough, all the media houses have been free to report, whether electronically or print. But reporting with a vendetta can never be understood as professional journalism, especially the type that is not objective, and also seeks to discredit a government, despite its numerous socio-economic programmes that have benefitted so many thousands of Guyanese.
As every Guyanese is aware, the government’s grand mission of affordable housing for especially low-income Guyanese has been lauded internationally for the great benefit that it has accrued to the thousands of new home owners. Never before has there been such a national project that has been so thorough in its reach and scope. Yet, the Kaieteur News has, from time to time, attempted to criticise this seminal intervention, for reasons that are clearly designed to undermine national development.
Of course, life is not perfect; and this simple truism can be transposed to national projects that have the best of expertise, and are being undertaken with the best of intentions in mind. With the national housing programme, the government has thoughtfully ensured that every level of income earner has equal access to home ownership; and the core home is one such programme that falls under this category.
Closer examination of the front page pix does not depict the scale of the collapse, if true, which the Kaieteur News wishes to convey to the public. In fact, there ought to be a pile of rubble, as should be in such an instance. Even if such an occurrence did take place, as can happen at times, it has always been remedied.
Obviously, the line that this media house wants to take is that the alleged collapse is the government’s fault. Nonsense! It is a well known fact that this Administration does not condone shoddy work, and that many contractors have been fired for sub-standard performance. Therefore, since these are contractual assignments, then it is the particular contractor who must bear the responsibility and remedy the deficiencies.
Why not highlight the almost 200 housing schemes of beautifully designed homes that are a living testimony of the nation’s socio-economic transformation? OBSERVER is certain that there are many beneficiaries among Kaieteur News’ staff, whether directly or indirectly, so pervasive is the housing programme.
This is another facet of the Kaieteur News’ waste of print again dedicated to its plot of destabilisation. The good thing is that the thousands of beneficiaries will ignore such mischief.