Dear Editor,
Over time, I have read some interesting letters published by your paper and written by retired military officer, CS Vaughn MSM. In the latest, published on 20 October 2012, he characterised the perceived absence of the parliamentary opposition as well as the absence of a most prominent relative of one of the victims as ‘stupidity at its greatest’. Such a turn of phrase is not in sync with the tone of letters he has penned to your paper in the past. The redeeming feature is that he asked ‘to be enlightened otherwise.’
I had expected that the government would have speedily used the tv, radio and your newspaper, among others to correct this unfortunate misinformation by a member of the public. Their failure to do so is consistent with the numerous oversights/errors functionaries of the government have committed in their failure to acknowledge the presence of opposition members of parliament at ceremonies over the years.
That the retired officer missed the presence of the opposition as well as the presence of the sisters of ‘a most prominent relative of one of the victims of the disaster’ may not be entirely his fault; after all the opening speakers, including Minister Robeson Benn, failed to mention the presence of the opposition and the sisters of that prominent individual so missed by the major[ret.]
It was not until the presentation of His Excellency the President that the correct form and order of salutation was used. He acknowledged the presence of the opposition, but maybe, by then Comrade Vaughn might have departed.
For the record, present representing the opposition at this national event were Dr. George Norton, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine and Keith Scott. It must be noted that the opposition has been in the forefront over the years, agitating for the erection of a monument to the victims. Even to the point of suggesting several possible sites and consistently lobbying the government to begin construction. The uncaring powers that be went as far as to halt and destroy the construction of an opposition monument some time ago in the heart of the city.
We welcome the completion of this monument and while we shall continue to demand that the surviving perpetrators be brought to justice, we feel that this monument will go some way towards bringing some closure to the grieving relatives of those Cubans, Koreans and Guyanese who lost their lives, victims to one of the worst terrorist acts committed in this hemisphere.
Yours faithfully,
Keith Scott, APNU
