Dear Editor,
I attended the launch of the Guyana Times newspaper and was shocked and disappointed at the President’s hectoring rant toward Mr. Yesu Persaud. The President, obviously upset at Mr. Persaud’s statement that generous concessions should be extended to other businesses and investors as well, lost his composure and awareness of ceremonious courtesy and berated Mr. Persaud.
Did Mr. Persaud cross the line and go too far in his criticisms? No, not at all. In fact, such a call for across-the-board and automatic concessions (as opposed to the current discretionary policy) was one of the policy recommendations made by participants at the Presidential Summit on Private Sector Development in 2006 (yes, hosted by the Office of the President). I served as a facilitator at that Summit and must have heard the request for ‘automatic’ concessions a million
times.
Coming out from that Summit it is clear that Mr. Persaud’s position is held by the majority in the private sector and also by many government officials. It therefore, confounds me, even as I write this, why the President lost his poise.
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Urling
