Dear Editor
PLEASE permit me a bit of space in your very popular publication to respond to a letter published this week under the name, Aryan Ghosh. Though it appears to be one made up for letter writing purposes, it was nevertheless carried and needs responding to.
The writer referred to a slew of ills he thinks and says have and are being committed by the Coalition government, including the appointments of ex-senior military officers to high state positions or to conduct commissions of inquiries among other tasks assigned to them from time to time.

Let me say this now. Government is right to do so. As many will know, the state has spent millions on these officers from around age 18 when they enlisted on the cadet course and similar amounts in training and exposure opportunities over the decades until they retire at the ripe young age of 55.

Having said this, what should the state do with these patriots who were trained by the state at high expense once they retired; allow them to roam, leave the country, serve other nations or engage in idleness? I prefer that they be gainfully employed at home to pay back a nation which had invested so much in them. It is clear that the writer is a PPP supporter. Many are still able-bodied.

So while we are on this Mr. Editor, we must note the fact that the PPP had itself appointed many of these self-same ex-military officers to high positions during its time in office. These had included ex- military chiefs-of-staff Norman McLean and Mike Atherly; seniors Fabi Liverpool, Chabilall Ramsaroop, Jawahar Persaud, Gary Baird, Captain Mike Charles, Major Floyd Levi and LT. Ronald Gajraj, among others. Gajraj had served as a controversial home affairs minister. Gajraj apart, none of these are known for any acts of infamy, barring Mr. McLean and some of the misdemeanors he is alleged to have been involved in in the past.

The writer also suggests that Guyana as a country is heading to dictatorship similar to the situation in Venezuela. He must be losing it big time.
That person must know that this is an unfair assessment of what is taking place in Guyana today. During the time of the PPP, there were no local government elections from the mid-90s until after government had changed in 2015. And I hear that another round is scheduled for November and general elections are in 2020 as we all know. Also, GECOM is preparing for house-to-house registration to ensure that the voters list is clean. How on earth then can anyone come to the conclusion that a dictatorship is in the making? This is so unreasonable as I sign out for now.

Regards,
Earl Hamilton