Office of the President Press and Publicity Officer, Kwame McCoy yesterday ordered a Stabroek News reporter off the premises of the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) where the National Toshaos Council Meeting is being held, saying it was a “private event.”
The reporter had gone to the GICC to elicit comments on the issues facing the Amerindian leaders and their communities as part of this newspaper’s efforts to highlight the plight of the indigenous people whose problems often go unventilated in the media.
However, the reporter was told by Mc Coy that the meeting was the “president’s event” and that he was free to invite whomever he wanted there. According to Mc Coy, the press would only be invited to press conferences at the five-day meeting which ends today.
This was after the reporter observed a reporter and cameraman from the state-owned NCN on the premises interviewing participants. The Stabroek News reporter was subsequently asked to leave the premises.
On the previous day another Stabroek News reporter had been told not to speak to the participants on the premises by McCoy and learnt from one of the toshaos that they were told not to speak to this newspaper because it carries “false reports.”
Yesterday’s eviction came a day after the Guyana Times, a usually pro-government newspaper, reported that Amerindians were unhappy with the government’s land demarcation exercise. A press briefing was called the same afternoon where Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai and 11 toshaos praised the demarcation efforts and condemned the dissenting toshaos and the media house.
Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira said afterwards that there appeared to be some mischief afoot.
“I find it funny that with 134 toshaos here that they didn’t find one toshao that said our land was demarcated and our people are happy. Someone is playing interesting games at a time when we’re having a very important conference,” Teixeira stated.
Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief Anand Persaud said McCoy’s eviction of the SN reporter was repugnant and redolent of increasing desperation as the government tries to stage-manage this meeting of toshaos and to deny them their right to speak to the press. Persaud said it was evident that there were diverse views among the toshaos over the issues being discussed and that the government did not want these to be ventilated in the media for fear of unsettling certain donors.
Persaud said that as a result of the eviction SN would not be reporting on any GINA press releases on the remainder of the event nor will it attend any other “press conferences” associated with the gathering. Fortunately, he said, Stabroek News had already conducted interviews with a dozen toshaos and these will be carried in SN over the weekend.
