Dear Editor,
It is quite ironic to watch how a decent group started by many decent people like the late Minister Sash Sawh has now turned into a basic tool of the PPP/C, namely, the Association for Concerned Guyanese (ACG) based in Toronto Canada.
The truth of the matter is that this group really ought to change its name, because over the past 18 years of PPP/C rule it has largely been completely silent on all the undemocratic and autocratic policies of the PPP/C and many of the Burnham policies it had previously campaigned against and lobbied heavily against, but which it has now all but embraced. This is most disappointing and saddening.
They have squandered every opportunity given to them to nudge this government to accept more democratic norms. The ACG’s silence with regard to the abuse of power by the army and the torturing of individuals by the police and the military has been deafening.
It is very clear that we should point out that this group does not represent Guyanese as a whole, and that their name is extremely misleading. They are no longer an association that is concerned with the overall welfare of Guyanese across the board, but rather they are a PPP/C proxy organization which is satisfied with the mismanagement and incompetence of the current administration. Their responses and public attitude are very consistent with that of the PPP/C, which is absolute disrespect for the people of Guyana. I would encourage others in Canada and North America in general to possibly start a group that calls for good governance in Guyana.
The ACG has been extremely hypocritical in that when it was lobbying the Canadian government for freedom of the press in Guyana during the previous administration it remained completely silent while the PPP/C launched a barrage of attacks on the small and oppressed media in Guyana. Television stations in Guyana are severely restricted from broadcasting across the country; Linden has been denied having any private broadcasting entity in its jurisdiction. The PPP/C will make all kinds of excuses and point to very little propaganda items such as the creation of the Guyana Times which is shrouded in its own litany of political quid pro quo issues. The Prime Minister has apparently been working on broadcast legislation since he took office, but the country is still waiting on this legislation 18 years later. Where is the ACG? Are they concerned? When the President of Guyana banned a journalist from Office of the President and State House because he wrote a simple letter refuting the position of the President with regards to a piece done about his trip to Antigua, the ACG has not even uttered a single word of condemnation.
Why has the ACG not called on the PPP to abandon the Burnham constitution? Again we need to see this group clearly for what it is – a farce. It is a proxy for the PPP and not at all concerned about Guyanese, and more importantly not concerned about the PPP’s embrace of Burnham’s autocratic policies.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
