This man and his organization paint a false picture of Mabaruma

Nov 19, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
I happened to open one of the dailies and read from beginning to end, a lengthy article by an individual whom I presumed to be an investigative journalist: Peter Persaud. As former resident of Mabaruma, I was appalled by the picture presented, one of ‘hell’. It was truly unbelievable, so I felt compelled to find out what was really the situation in my ‘almost paradise’ homeland that I knew.
So I started calling up some old friends subtly finding out what was happening in Mabaruma and by extension in Region 1. Surprisingly, almost every person I called, greeted me with some good news! Here are a few: ‘Boy, we are a town now, major transformations are happening!’ ‘Man, if you see the lickin’ new concrete roads!’ ‘Boy, school children are being picked up with busses from their homes to go to school!’ ‘I hear a water ambulance is soon coming for the Region’ ‘we got a green park for our children and young people and family!’ ‘A programme is training young people to become self-employed, they are even paying them to learn!’ ‘we got we own radio station, some nice programe to go with it, not all day but still, is something’ and the comments can go on. I had to coerce some to tell me about what good is NOT happening. What I learned from the man in the street is what I could learn from any man in the street from any other parts of Guyana! I called up a friend in Baramita, I was actually surprised to hear that there is special interest in the village since of recent, there has been a spike of movement from top brass individuals from the Region and Country, there is even a small ‘town space’ like settlement with construction ongoing; of health centers, schools, living quarters. This is where my bit of investigation got interesting.
So who is Peter Persaud? What is the objective of his articles? (I ran a check online in the dailies and found that this is not the first article of him bringing allegations against the particular Region and individual units or programs). After a few calls, I was told that Peter Persaud was seen in the Region once for the year, at a Regional Toshao’s conference. I thought he was a journalist, but then I ran a check online and saw that he is the President of ‘The Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana’. I also read that their focus is on indigenous rights and cultural identity and their strategies are lobbying and activism. However, his articles reflect neither lobbying nor activism, but rather scant allegations and what appear to be subjective criticisms. I have a few questions for Peter Persaud:
1. Did you ever sit with leaders of the Region to get their take on the issues brought to your attention? What are the results of the discussions?
2. Have you substantiated the claims made before publishing same in the media? And how authentic are your sources?
3. Do you see it fit to celebrate whatever little success stories may come out of the Region or Amerindian villages?
4. Have you done a comparative analysis of the status quo of Region 1 and the other Hinterland or Coastal Regions?
5. When last did your organization have an election? Are there committees set up within the organization to look into the various issues?
It would be interesting to see a response from the Regional Administration to his letter, I will also be grateful if my questions to Peter Persaud can be answered.
O. Bennet

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