– after journalist refuses to apologise to REO

THE third statutory meeting of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Five was adjourned Thursday,  when  a Guyana Times reporter accused of being disrespectful to the Clerk of Council Ovid Morrison attempted to cover the meeting without offering an apology to Morrison.

Morrison had on January 27 last year complained that during the first statutory meeting of 2017, he had a discussion with Guyana Times reporter Andrew Carmichael about inaccuracies in his reports on the RDC’s work.

Carmichael, he said, had become annoyed and terminated the conversation by abruptly walking out of the meeting and slamming the door behind him.
“He slammed the door and I felt that this was being deliberately disrespectful not only for myself as the REO of the region, but for the Council itself,” Morrison said.
He said he subsequently wrote a letter to the manager of Guyana Times complaining about Carmichael’s disrespectful behaviour and informed the manager that an apology would be necessary from Carmichael, to enable him to cover any other sitting of the RDC at which he presides as the clerk.

Morrison said there has been no response from Guyana Times and he was mildly surprised to see Carmichael at Thursday’s meeting, after all that had transpired.
Morrison said he pointed this situation out to RDC Chairman Vickchand Ramphal, who said that he would not support the reporter being banned from the meeting until he offered an apology.

Ramphal said he felt there should be a thorough investigation into the incident, after which the council would determine if Carmichael should be banned, pending an apology.
Ramphal ruled in the meantime that the reporter be allowed to stay.
Morrison at this point requested the intervention of the police to get Carmichael to leave.
A policewoman was sent from the neighbouring Fort Wellington Police Station and she approached Carmichael and told him that he was not wanted at the meeting and he should leave.

Carmichael, however, refused to leave.
The policewoman retreated without taking further action.
Morrison left the meeting at this point and took up a position on the verandah.
He remained there for about two hours, during which time Carmichael remained in the boardroom and there was no further action by the police.
Ramphal subsequently declared the meeting adjourned and along with Vice- Chairman Rion Peters and other councillors of the PPP, left the venue.
Meanwhile, an APNU+AFC councillor accused the PPP/C chairman of the RDC of deliberately inviting Carmichael to the meeting, knowing fully well that it would not go down well with the REO and the APNU+AFC councillors.
“The whole thing was a deliberate stratagem by Ramphal to evade discussion on motions on the emblems for Region Five and the three-year vision for Region Five, which had been tabled for discussions at the meeting by APNU Councillor Dolston Hutson,” the councillor said.