With the government’s ads boycott of Stabroek News extending to the regions, Chairman of Region Four, Clement Corlette is to present a motion to its statutory meeting tomorrow calling for it to take control of its advertising decisions.
Region Four (Demerara/ Mahaica), Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) and Region Ten (Upper Demerara/ Upper Berbice) are all regions headed by PNCR-1G. The PNCR has condemned the government’s withdrawal of advertisements from the Stabroek News (SN) but this newspaper no longer receives adverts from those councils.
In the case of Region Seven, the PNCR-1G gained the chairmanship with the support of the Alliance For Change (AFC) even though the PPP/C had a plurality in the region. The AFC has also opposed the boycott of SN.
Asked about the withdrawal of the ads and what the PNCR at the level of the region intended to do about it, Corlette said that tomorrow the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC) will be holding its statutory meeting and at that meeting he intends to put the issue before the council so that it could take a position on it.
The region, he said, has no justification for withholding ads from Stabroek News. He said that he sought clarity on the issue with the Regional Executive Officer (REO), Shafdar Alli, who is the region’s accounting officer, who informed him that he was simply observing government’s policy. Corlette said that he explained that the RDC was an autonomous body which may differ on some national issues with the centre in the interest of its citizens hence the reason for decentralization. He said that the REO felt that the matter was beyond the regional level.
Because of interference from central government in matters that require decisions and actions by the region, he stressed the need for legislation to reform local government as soon as possible to protect the region’s autonomy.
Contacted on reasons for the withdrawal of ads from Region Ten, the REO Henry Rodney said that at the level of the RDC no decision was taken to pull ads from the Stabroek News. Rodney said that he sends the ads to the Government Information Agency (GINA) which takes care of the placement. It never bothered him where the ads were placed.
When contacted Region Ten Chairman Mortimer Mingo said he had questioned the REO about the region’s ads not being placed in the Stabroek News and he was informed by the REO that he had a directive, just as other government ministries, to place the ads only in the Guyana Chronicle and the Kaieteur News.
He said that the RDC was against this move by the REO and central government but in spite of what they say and have been saying over the years the current REO operates on instructions from central government and not from the RDC for which he is the accounting officer.
“In effect, we do not have an RDC that is autonomous and we have very little say in the decision-making process in the region,” he said adding that the RDC was hoping that with local government reform the issues of regional governance would be addressed.
Region Seven Chairman Holbert Knights said that he, too, noted that ads placed by the region recently appeared only in the Chronicle. He said when he enquired from the REO why this was so, since the law states that ads for specific projects must be placed in one or more newspapers within a certain period, the REO explained that he forwards all his advertisements to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, who in turn would take care of their placement.
GDF
Other agencies that should not be placing ads through GINA have also adopted this practice apparently to comply with the government boycott. Contacted on reasons why Guyana Defence Force ads are no longer sent to the Stabroek News, Colonel-General Staff, Bruce Lovell told this newspaper that the GDF sends its ads to GINA which then distributes it.
Stabroek News Advertising Manager, Patricia Cumbermack said that the GDF had in the past placed its ads in the Stabroek News through its education and public relations department. However the GDF has not done so for this year though its advertisements have appeared in the other dailies.
Stabroek News was unable to get a comment from Deputy Commissioner of Police Edward Wills and the Auditor General, Deodat Sharma on their withholding of ads from this newspaper.
The government withdrew advertisements from this newspaper in November 2007 citing economic reasons but this newspaper has maintained that it was done to stifle it because of its stance on issues of governance.
Stabroek News Editor Anand Persaud said the orchestration of the boycott at the regional level clearly showed the hand of the government in broadening the ads assault on the newspaper and made a mockery of the autonomy that the regions are supposed to be allowed. Persaud said it also showed how certain officers of the regions could be mobilized by the government to do its bidding in contravention of the regions’ wishes.
He added that the explanation proffered by Colonel -General Staff Lovell comes across as an excuse simply to comply with the government’s boycott. He said the army has to operate professionally and it was well within its remit to decide where advertisements should be placed as it had done in the past. Even if it had in good faith channelled its ads through GINA then at some point it should have queried why ads were not placed in SN and taken remedial action. Persaud said it would be difficult for the Colonel -General Staff to justify how army ads for recruitment could be placed in other media but not Stabroek News.
