– acting CEO of ERC says

IN light of the current political climate in Guyana, there has been a notable increase in the racial tension among citizens, and it is especially being pedaled through social media.
Confirming this, the Chief Executive Officer (Ag) at the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), Renne Chester, told the Guyana Chronicle that the commission is working assiduously to ensure that persons are reminded of the implications that come with denigrating another by race.

He said that prior to the March 2 elections, the commission would have met with the political leaders to ensure they know the role they have to play to guarantee a unified Guyana, especially during this crucial time.

“Anticipating tension around the elections season, we took a number of steps to encourage peace and harmony before and after the March 2 event. We met with some of the executive members of most of the political parties including the two major parties prior to elections day to discuss campaigns free of infringing on national unity. We drafted for the first time in the ERC’s existence, a three page code of conduct document, that all 11 contesting parties signed on to February 14, as part of their parties’ commitment to uphold peace and carry out political activities free of discrimination and intimidation,” Chester shared.

In addition, he said that the commission had also formalised a temporary ‘Swift Response Committee’ that assiduously investigated reports of racial infractions during the campaign season and wrote executive members of the party on matters found to be racially inciting.
Chester noted too that in January of this year, ERC produced and launched its ‘I AM US’ movie that ran for eight days free of cost at the Caribbean Cinemas movie theatre.
He said over 1500 Guyanese attended the film which promoted the need for each to accept their ethnic and political differences while still living in harmony.

“Many were emotionally touched by the film and vowed to be conduits to share the message of peace and togetherness. This movie was then aired on most of the local television stations for over two weeks, uploaded on our YouTube channel and share on social media for all to enjoy the film. Several PSAs were launched with story lines to galvanise all to dispel suspicion of each other and rather to embrace our differences as strength. These PSAs are excessively shared on social media… In addition to the before mentioned initiatives, the commission shared a number of video messages by the Chairman, calling on citizens to exhort tolerance and respect for each other in a plural society. These messages were supported with press releases iterating the need for every Guyanese, irrespective of race, culture or class, to get on board and do their part of building a more unified Guyana,” Chester said.

However, despite all these preliminary preparations, the racial segregation is still rampant, as such, he said that they are working as best as they can to hold persons into account.
“What I can say to you, is that our media monitoring unit is still virtually monitoring social media and other media for comments or statements being made that is racially inciting or exciting. Our media monitoring team would usually insert warning messages in the comment field of those found to be spewing racial remarks, reminding them of the Representation of the People Act and the penalties that will follow if such behaviour continues unabated,” Chester explained
He noted too there are a number of cases that their Investigative Sub-Committee has successfully closed amicably, and a few more actively being investigated.

“The press can most certainly expect in the near future our usual press release sharing generic figures and topologies of complaints we have brought closure to. Our educational campaign continues to target Guyanese both on and off social media in an effort to curb racial insularities… Only recently, we launched our ERC diversity challenge campaign on social media to encourage Guyanese to create use their time to spread positive messages by creating a video with friends and families of a different race transforming into ethnic wears and having fun with it… The reality is, harmony is everybody’s business and all must get onboard to promote harmony and good relations throughout Guyana,” he said.