Dear Editor,
I write to commend the Stabroek News for their article of May 9, ‘Amaila Falls developer involved in hydropower project in Uganda.’
As an independent news outlet, Stabroek News has the responsibility to be fair and balanced in its reporting. Objectivity is not to be thrown through the window when the going gets tough and political pressures are applied to muzzle the press. For too long Kaieteur News was left to do the heavy lifting, fearlessly publishing their investigative reports on the Amaila Falls project and the shameless corruption of this government, without the support of the rest of the media. So welcome aboard Stabroek News, it’s about time you take your journalistic responsibilities a little more seriously.
The Jagdeo administration is cloaked in secrecy and confidentiality, awarding lucrative contracts to cronies and party supporters, and spending the taxpayers’ money without any form of transparency or accountability. The failure of the President to publish the names of his officers who, despite his directive to the Ministry of Finance and his promise to the Guyanese people, have not yet cleared their long overdue overseas advances, is another reason why this government cannot be trusted to properly manage the people’s money. The only obstacle that stands between a full-blown dictatorship in Guyana and democracy is a free press, and unless all the independent media stand firm and unite against this tyranny, there will never be a Freedom of Information Act any time soon.
Yours faithfully,
Harry Gill
Editor’s note
The report cited above (May 9) is not the first we have carried on the Amaila Falls project; there have been many others before it. We have also editorialized on the matter.
