The Government Information Agency (GINA) yesterday pulled the remaining Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Value Added Tax (VAT) ads which had been booked earlier with Stabroek News.
GINA’s Advertising Unit in its cancellation order signed by the Advertising Coordinator K Persaud instructed that the VAT notices be cancelled immediately.
Yesterday’s action is part of an escalating campaign against Stabroek News which has seen at least two state corporations: Guysuco and the Guyana Power and Light also ceasing the placement of ads in Stabroek News.
The latest move by GINA, Editor-in-Chief of the Stabroek News, David de Caires said “is further confirmation of the determination to discriminate against this newspaper. They have cancelled existing ads that have been booked already. It is strange.” GINA and President Bharrat Jagdeo have said that the withdrawal of ministry ads was a pure business decision.
Stabroek News was unable yesterday to contact businessman Ronald Alli, who chairs the boards of Guysuco and GPL for comment. Three telephone calls to his office proved unsuccessful.
Guysuco Chief Executive, Nick Jackson through his secretary told Stabroek News that he had “no comments to make at this time” on the ads issue.
Stabroek News Editor Anand Persaud yesterday said the latest withdrawals of ads clearly exposed the attempt by the Jagdeo administration to suppress the Stabroek News. Persaud said that ads for the autonomous Guyana Revenue Authority should not have been placed via GINA in the first place. In addition, considering the matters of national importance dealt with by the GRA – and in particular VAT – the GRA should not have allowed the placement of its ads to be manipulated in this blatant manner. Persaud said he expected that the management of the GRA and its board would seek to reverse this crass interference in matters that are properly within the ambit of the revenue body.
Persaud added that the decision by Guysuco to halt ads to Stabroek News and its embarrassed silence on the matter has exposed the myth of state corporations’ independence. Given that the Guysuco action coincided with GINA’s move Persaud said it was clear that the Office of the President itself had instructed the cut-off as it would be inconceivable that GINA on its own, thus far the alleged originator of the decision, would have had the clout to instruct Guysuco.
Persaud added that if Guysuco eventually denies that there was any link with the GINA action then it must be prepared to provide evidence that it had taken its decision on some scientific basis.
Persaud said Guysuco’s move was all the more shocking as Stabroek News had strongly supported and reported on its case against the sugar price cuts imposed by the European Union and has over its 20-year existence provided broad coverage of the sugar corporation’s activities. Guysuco’s move, Persaud said, has damaged its corporate image and calls into serious question whether boards and the management of state corporations are free from interference by the PPP/Civic government in their everyday business. Persaud said the callous abuse by the Jagdeo administration of taxpayers’ funds to reward media friends and to punish critics reeked of the methods of the pre-1992 dictatorship and was completely at odds with the tenets of an open and liberal democracy.
Meanwhile, Guyana Press Association President, Denis Chabrol told Stabroek News that the association has taken a decision to conduct an analysis of the three dailies and the Mirror newspaper, which is closely associated with the PPP/C and which receives advertising revenue from the government, to show the trend of how newspapers are read as well as to ascertain the quality of the news.
GPA Secretary Nigel Williams told this newspaper that the association was very concerned at “this very dangerous development. If the government has gone on to influence public and state-owned corporations that are supposed to be autonomous or semi-autonomous then the government’s colleagues and friends of privately owned businesses would be influenced to do the same.” (Miranda La Rose)