Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter published in the Stabroek News of July 21, under the caption ‘The General Registrar Office should go into the regions to issue birth certificates’ by Pooran Persaud. Paragraph two of his letter states, “The AFC and other political parties which are masquerading for power should call on the authorities to go into the various regions for the purpose of issuing birth certificates, and not malinger because it would disenfranchise the thousands of Guyanese who want to vote for the party of their choice.”
Now it is surprising that these statements are emanating from Mr Pooran Persaud who is a Regional Democratic Councillor of Region Two, Pomeroon/ Supenaam, representing the ruling party, and also a leading PPP activist and the party scrutineer at Gecom’s main office in Region Two. Mr Persaud, unless he lives in space or on some other planet, would know that the party he has supported for decades and which forms the government does not listen to any other person or group of persons other than themselves, and as such Mr Pooran should advise his party to have the subject minister give that directive to the General Registrar Office.
I also want Mr Persaud to know that the AFC is not masquerading for power; we are advocating that all political parties, trade unions and all interest groups, including the churches, be part of the decision-making process and not have fifty-one per cent behave like one hundred per cent.
As for paragraph three, in which he said the AFC and the APNU were the same wine in a new bottle, he should know that the AFC is the newest wine in a bottle with a difference, and that is why we are marketable and may be of concern to him.
As for paragraph four in which he made comments about the leader of the AFC, Mr Trotman, I will not respond to them because some comments are really not worth responding to, and I doubt that our leader will.
But what Mr Pesaud should take note of is that the Post Office is an arm of the General Registrar Office, a place where you go in your area to make application for a birth certificate and other documents.
And when the Post Office Corporation was contemplating having some of these offices removed and taken miles and miles away – instead of six post offices in Region Two, there would have been three – I did not hear Mr Persaud’s voice; it was the AFC and APNU activists that were present at all the meetings and were making it an issue.
As a member of the Regional Democratic Coun-cil representing the AFC in Region Two I raised this issue at more than one statutory meeting, at which Mr Persaud was present, explaining the inconvenience this action would cause, and neither he nor any other member of his party supported me, or commented on this proposed action.
And while I do not want to appear to be blowing my own trumpet or looking for commendation, it was I who spearheaded a signature campaign in which about four hundred and fifty signatures were obtained and were presented to the Chairman and his team of officials from the Post Office Corporation at a meeting held at Anna Regina Post Office on Saturday, June 2, to discuss the merging or removal of the three post offices in this region – Aurora to Suddie, Queenstown to Anna Regina and Danielstown to Charity. Mr Persaud also lives in the postal area that would be affected by the removal of the Daniestown post office, and knew about the meeting, but he was a no-show.
Now this same gentleman is suggesting that the two political parties, the AFC and APNU, conveniently leaving out the PPP, urge the General Registrar Office official to go into the various regions for the purpose of issuing birth certificates.
Yours faithfully,
Archie W Cordis
AFC Councillor
Region 2