ON Thursday, two media entities carried blistering and damming reports of civil society groups criticising the Government of Guyana. Amongst the concerns were matters that dealt with the fast pace at which the PPP Government was executing its projects, due diligence, transparency and accountability issues, and general consultation and inclusivity issues.

The groups appeared to be concerned, on the surface, about Guyana’s development.
They feared that the PPP Government was out of control as one newspaper puts it, and would let Guyana down the slippery slope to corruption and partisan politics.
Firstly, these groups are masquerading as civil society organisations.

They are just fronts. They are paper organisations established with the sole purpose of criticising the PPP Government and its handling of projects.
If one were to analyse their advocacies, one would be left astonished.

They are antagonistic towards the PPP Government offering citizens no truth or facts on the subject matters.
Also, they do not represent a large membership or wide cross-section of Guyanese.

There are no public elections for some heads of the so-called civil organisations.
For example, the Guyana Human Rights Association comes to mind.

Others have no creditability, inclusive of the politically-biased Guyana Organisation of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP) and the Policy Forum Guyana Inc (PFG).
Did they even know about the political content and context of the statements issued?

Who are the members of the East Coast Development Committees (ECDC)?
And what does the Guyana Workers Union do that citizens should care what it has to say?

Secondly, these phantom civil society groups were silent all along under the APNU+AFC Coalition Government.

They appeared to be defunct and sleeping as the PPP, in association with some brave Guyanese organisations, took the then APNU+AFC Government to task for their partisan and corrupt actions.

They are willfully and one-sided, cherry-picking which issues they will be outraged about. Where were the voices of objection to the long five months when our democracy was threatened by the Granger Administration and the riggers?

Where were the voices when the now parliamentary opposition chose not to obey the law following the no-confidence motion and several breaches of the law?
Were they upset, livid, awake and concerned then about the issues surrounding the appointment of the GECOM Chairman and the lies concerning the US$18M signing bonus.

After all, Guyanese cannot respect them and the criticisms they have about what is going on, justified or not, about the government’s handling of the National Resource Fund, local government or consultation.
They are political roosters and front men being used to settle political and business scores for the opposition politicians who do not enjoy the favour of the PPP Government.

Thirdly, these quasi-civil society groups cannot seriously criticise the PPP Government’s work agenda and developmental projects by saying it is moving too fast.
This criticism is almost too laughable or ludicrous to be believable.

Perhaps, it has dawned on the masquerading groups but citizens want development and they want it now, especially with Guyana having oil and gas reserves which are the best in this hemisphere.
The PPP Government, it is hoped, will not slow down its pace but will ensure that the checks and balances are in place and functioning to ensure good governance, transparency and accountability and value for money.

In any case, the tone and spirit of the statement made by those intellectual authors in the so-called civil society groups seem like they intend on derailing the prosperity and progress of Guyana by calling for a slow-down in the manner in which they access their rightful patrimony.

Additionally, they use the environmental concerns as the weapon of choice and convenience to muster legal or other forms of support for their agendas.
Finally, civil society must believe in the facts and truth.

They should not allow themselves to be caught up in telling little white lies or the truth of convenience. They must practise constructive criticisms and telling the PPP Government like it is, behind closed doors before they venture out to the public.

The civil society statement cannot be taken seriously because its authors are hiding behind the cloak of political independence.