–Kissoon testifies at libel trial
Research revealed that Indo-Guyanese made up a significant number of those appointed to positions of authority in state entities, Kaieteur News columnist Freddie Kissoon testified on Thursday.
He was at the time continuing his evidence-in-chief before Justice Brassington Reynolds, as part of his defence in the $10 million libel suit initiated by former president Bharrat Jagdeo.
Kissoon was questioned about the contents of his research essay, entitled ‘Eth-nic Power and Ideological Racism: Comparing Presiden-cies in Guyana,’ which was admitted into evidence on Monday. It had been presented to the Guyana Historical and Research Institute in June 2010, during the annual conference held at the National Library.
Under questioning by his attorney, Nigel Hughes, Kissoon examined how state properties and other assets were disposed of. He said a list of 45 persons, who bought state assets, showed that they were of East Indian origin.
Pointing to his findings on industrial estates, where manufacturing and related activities were carried out, he said most of the allocations went to persons of East Indian origin. He told the court that in the allocation of state lands, the largest block of land, some 36,000 acres, went to an Indo-Guyanese person, while smallest parcel of 1,000 acres was allocated to an Afro-Guyanese.
He added that based on his research of the 285 companies that received concessions and were listed in the Privatiza-tion Unit’s report, only 15 were operated by persons of African origin.
According to Kissoon, a list found on page 24 and half of page 25 of his research paper comprised the names of persons who were related by blood or politics to the ruling PPP/C, the party from which the president came.
Kissoon testified that the fundamental institutions in Guyana would comprise all the state sector organizations that are important to the life of and continuation of the life of the Guyanese nation. As examples, he pointed to the Director of Public Prosecu-tion’s chambers, the judiciary, the registry, and the magistrates’ courts – all important state sector organizations to the life and continuation of the life of the Guyanese nation. He said that his paper addresses the composition of the hierarchy of a number of essential cooperation and concluded that “there is a graphic manifestation of ethnic predominance….”
“In a number of these state institutions, when you make a comparative context overtime you see a worrying shift of ethnic presence being replaced by a difference ethnic presence…The East Indians predominated over the Afro Guyanese,” he said.
He explained to the court that his research consisted of information garnered using two methods: data from reports from the various agencies and organizations as well as what he termed “direct research inquiry”.
He said that in the instance of the sugar corporation GuySuCo, all the managerial posts were held by Guyanese of East Indian origin. He told the court that of the list of 78 names of persons attached to the state corporations, none was of a person of African-Guyanese origin. He explained that those posts were the top ones and also included the hierarchy which he stated would include the managerial position of the organization.
During the early stages of the proceedings, Jagdeo’s lead lawyer Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos objected to Hughes references to specific pages within the essay. De Santos argued that the document in question had already been tendered and speaks for itself. “Why are we asking him about page 17 and NCN? It is there for all to see,” he said.
However, the judge said he would allow the line of questioning as he had done previously as he wants the lawyers to point out the specific pages that would point to their case.
Jagdeo brought the libel suit following a June 28, 2010 Kissoon article, titled ‘King Kong sent his goons to disrupt the conference,’ which he alleges portrayed him and the government as racist. Since the case began last August, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon, and two Office of the President media monitors have testified for Jagdeo. Jagdeo has never attended any of the hearings.
