Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 16, 2010 Features / Columnists, My Column
By Adam Harris
I was at a press conference hosted by President Bharrat Jagdeo not so long ago when I heard him say that reporters in Guyana are lazy. Being a reporter myself, I rationalized. I told myself that perhaps the president was generalizing, that he was not including me in the equation.
The President also asked that investigative reporting be done. And indeed there was hardly any such reporting at the time he addressed the press.
I am also an editor and when I returned to the office I immediately waded into the reporters. I supported President Jagdeo; I told the reporters under my control that they had to step things up; that they had to research their topics.
I am never happy when one of my reporters goes to a press conference and becomes a leech, only preparing to write what is offered or to fashion a news item from questions that other reporters ask.
The reporters took me seriously. They have had to, in the past, endure a good cuss out from me and I am not one of those who minces words. Their anger never fazed me because I knew and they knew that whatever I was doing was for their own good.
And so it was that I became very angry when Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and Head of the Privatisation Unit, Winston Brassington, launched a most scurrilous attack against Kaieteur News.
What rankled me was the fact that they accused the paper of almost every ill under sun, knowing that they were not merely being unfair, but dead wrong.
Their first deliberate sin was to suggest that the newspaper was anti-development. Imagine that these honourable men had the gumption to say that there was “controversy in the media surrounding the legitimacy of the Amaila Falls and Marriott projects.”
Kaieteur News has always said that it welcomed the development of Guyana’s hydroelectric facility. However, the newspaper has a problem with one of the parties involved in the development of this project.
The two men, Dr Singh and Mr. Brassington, ventured to the medium operated by the government through the Guyana Information Agency (GINA) to lambaste the newspaper. There Brassington reportedly commented on a headline that read, “Contractor never built any roads in the states of Georgia or Florida”.
The GINA report continued, “Brassington said that the official position was that the contractor built roads in the aforementioned US states, but “we didn’t say that they built public roads. There are a lot of huge private developments, with significant roads, that have to be built and the contractor was involved in that.”
I have built a bridge across a drain to drive my car into my yard. Does this qualify me to build a bridge across the Berbice River or any river for that matter? And so it is with Makeshwar Fip Motilall; and the award of the hydro road contract to him.
The truth is that at no time did Motilall’s name surface with any road construction. And in the United States, regardless of whether the road was private or public, this would have been recorded. I make bold to say that somebody lied. But Brassington wanted Kaieteur News to take his saying so without question. This will never be done.
What he does not say is that at every turn, a reporter contacted him and he refused to answer any question. Instead, he chose to be critical of a perfectly valid and accurate report because it challenged what he wanted to sell to the nation.
Kaieteur News did not say that when Motilall submitted his bid he included people who had undertaken road construction and used their curriculum vitae. I am saying so now. He told the government that these are the people who would undertake the construction on his behalf.
He has a few more days to present these people. Kaieteur News waits.
What is wrong with reporting truth? Motilall has never successfully completed any project except selling two plots of land in Florida.
GINA reports, “He (Brassington) then referred to the fact that the following day, April 22, the headline in the Kaieteur News asked “Was Due Diligence done on Synergy Holdings?” This was addressed at the press conference on April 15, where all of the information was presented.”
The truth is that Brassington said that the insurance company that posted the bond for Motilall had to do due diligence if it was going to post money. In short, the government was satisfied to award a contract because an insurance company posted a bond that is one-fifth the cost of the project.
Dr Singh was no different. I have to relate to him in a personal matter. Suffice it to say that my comments may affect that interaction and that is the least of my worries. I am too old and too professional to worry.
He complained that “the newspaper focused on the most sensational stories, creating the impression and stating that the intention was to shock and surprise the readership and capture an audience based on reporting extreme events with graphic pictures.”
What is wrong with that? A newspaper is not a hymn book. It has a responsibility to report the news honestly. That is why Kaieteur News is the largest selling newspaper in Guyana. It hiked its price because of a reduction in advertisement from the government and this has not affected the circulation. The people want it and they know why.
“He reflected that in recent months, there has been a clear pattern of reporting by the Kaieteur News that is based on distortion and manipulation, showing a descent into “what can only be described as unethical, corrupt journalism, of the worst kind,” quotes GINA.
Kaieteur News was the first to report on the now controversial construction of the ramp at Good Hope/Supenaam. We called the ramp a white elephant because for nearly two years it just sat there.
The government then decided to do something about it. This is now an ongoing story with accusations flying back and forth.
Dr Singh was also dishonest when he said that the newspaper distorts facts. The fact that the Auditor General reports on corruption is enough for any newspaper to pick it up. “A lot of what the Kaieteur News classifies as corrupt is information that is extracted from the Auditor-General’s report. The fact that this information is available is as a direct result of an intervention taken by the present administration to ensure that audits are done and that the reports are tabled in the Parliament.”
Utter nonsense. Dr Singh is contending that once the government comments on something or causes faults to be published then that is the end of the matter; that it is corrected. These are the criticisms against Kaieteur News and I am not amused. I edit the blamed newspaper and these attacks are a direct attack on me.
“The Government of Guyana welcomes scrutiny and criticism, since this is an important part of a democracy. So this is not about intolerance,” says Dr Singh. I say this is lip service.
Dr Singh should say that he is just one of the officers who refuse to answer questions, choosing to ask the reporter to wait, for what only heaven knows. When the reporter writes without his comments he becomes agitated.
Space prevents me from commenting further.
LISTEN HOW JAGDEO WILL MAKE ALL GUYANESE RICH!!!
Apr 24, 2024
Round 2 GFF Women’s League Division One Kaieteur Sports – The Guyana Police Force FC on Saturday last demolished Pakuri Jaguars FC with a 17 – 0 goal blitz at the Guyana Football...Kaieteur News – Just recently, the PPC determined that it does not have the authority to vitiate a contract which was... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – On April 10, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]