— co-opt members elected to help mobilise voters

THE Guyana Press Association’s (GPA’s) biennial elections have been postponed to January 7, 2018 due to a poor turnout at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the highly anticipated elections were expected to unfold.

On Sunday afternoon when the AGM was called to order by Assistant Secretary/Treasurer Fareeza Haniff at the Carifesta Sports Complex in Georgetown, there was not a quorum to facilitate elections for key positions, such as president, vice-president and treasurer.
Executive Member Nazima Raghubir explained to the few media operatives present that the constitution requires a quorum – that is, at least half of the association’s membership. According to the GPA’s records at the time, there were 28 registered media operatives that were eligible to vote during the elections. It therefore means that while there are associate members and honorary members, the press association would need a minimum of 14 registered members present at the AGM to facilitate the elections. This was clearly not the case on Sunday.

It was further explained that many media operatives would pay their membership fees only when in need of their Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) certificates, to enter the association’s media awards or when there are elections. Members are eligible to vote only if their fees are up to date and they have been in the media for three consecutive years.

Faced with the situation, Raghubir proposed that the elections be postponed even as she opened the floor for proposals from members on the way forward. Veteran Journalist and Executive Member of the GPA, Denis Chabrol, in agreeing with his colleague that the elections be pushed back, proposed that an interim committee be formed until the elections are held or two co-opt members be voted in to assist the outgoing executive body in mobilising media operatives ahead of the Sunday, January 7, elections. On the basis that the constitution does not provide for an interim committee, Chabrol’s second proposal to have two co-opt members voted in was taken on board and Capitol News’ Royston Drakes and Stabroek News’ Zoisa Fraser were voted in.

Meanwhile, Haniff, in delivering a statement on behalf of the outgoing GPA President Neil Marks who was unavoidably absent, took note of the fact that the association is the longest-standing press body in Guyana and the Caribbean.
“During my term as president, I have been fortunate to work with an executive that has supported many projects to improve the practice of journalism in Guyana, and for that I am tremendously grateful. Forgive me for singling out some of you, but I must. To Denis, thank you for always being willing to lend your vast experience and intellectual prowess in the defence of press freedom in Guyana and for always stressing the need for training,” Haniff said, as she read the statement prepared by Marks.

UNWAVERING SUPPORT
Raghubir, Haniff and the Secretary Iva Wharton were also singled out for their unwavering support for the work of the press association. The Government of Guyana, in particular President David Granger; the Canadian High Commission and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) were also recognised for partnering with the GPA to facilitate much-needed training seminars for reporters, photographers and videographers.
Marks said under his stewardship there were many success stories, but he must admit that one of the main goals was not achieved. “I regret not being able to achieve one of the most important goals of my presidency – that of establishing a working Secretariat for the GPA. I hope the new executive would pursue this vigorously, as it would serve as an effective way of managing our affairs.”

Nonetheless, through Haniff, he related that there many workshops aimed at improving reporters’ ability to report on various issues, including the democratic process in Guyana, health, and business.
“As president of GPA, I travelled to Kigali, Rwanda, where I nominated two excellent journalists from the Caribbean to sit on the first executive of press clubs of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. This body aims to pursue a number of initiatives, most notably funding for training programmes, while providing a platform for Fellowship with colleagues in the ACP Grouping.

YOUNG JOURNALISTS
“We nominated young journalists Nafeeza Yahya Sakur and Royden James to attend a summit in the USA, aimed at improving their knowledge of the oil-and- gas sector. It goes without saying that your new executive will have to pursue training in this area and I look forward to being part of those,” Marks’s prepared statement read.
The executive body was also pleased to have held GPA’s first Media Awards Programme after many decades, and it is their hope that the new executive will make this an annual event.

“I am thankful that we have been able to use our influence to mediate in workplace disputes to bring a fair settlement to grave issues. Many of our colleagues have also willingly accepted our guidance to improve their work and we are thankful that when there were infractions, many have been willing to heed our advice. We have reprimanded many of our colleagues, and we are grateful that they have accepted correction and continue to improve their work.”

It was noted that the work of the media in Guyana remains critical for many reasons, but especially because of an ever-changing, tense political landscape and the challenges of policing the oil-and-gas sector in pursuing its role to remain the watchdog for transparency and accountability.

According to the financial report, presented by Wharton and Raghubir, the GPA currently has $1.3M in its coffers – $1M of which was contributed by President Granger to facilitate much-needed training. The additional $300,000 was garnered from the media awards and the payment of membership fees.