Dear Editor,
It is time the Minister of Culture takes a long, hard look at his management and accountability methodology and then authentically seek a progressive way forward – his contortions on the issue of the Caribbean Press are increasingly embarrassing, and may tend to indicate that there are more fundamental problems with his stewardship other than just governance, as indicated by Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine.
A transparent example: an uncredited article appeared in Kaieteur News Friday last, `The Caribbean Press has the capacity to evolve’, while an almost identical article appeared in the Guyana Chronicle on Saturday, `Culture Minister defends operations of the Caribbean Press’ written by Gary Eleazar, a former Kaieteur News reporter. There is a miraculous synchronicity between the two pieces.
In Chronicle, the Minister is quoted as saying, “I convened meetings with persons who are interested and we sent out abroad [sic] a call to persons who are interested to come and to have discussions with Dr David Dabydeen pertaining to writing and eventually perhaps to do a publication using the materials that we can garner from local writers.”
In Kaieteur News, “I had personally convened meetings with persons who are interested, and we sent out a broad call to persons who are interested to come and have discussions with Dr. (David) Dabydeen.”
This was the same Minister who was unavailable for interview by KN reporter, Kiana Wilburg, who wrote a much more critical story, published Saturday. As Ms. Wilburg was to note in her piece, “Despite an inordinate number of attempts that were made to contact Dr. Frank Anthony, Minister of Culture and Director, Dr. James Rose, all have proved to be utterly futile as this publication sought to address with the Minister, the unanswered questions with regard to the Caribbean Press.”
This is typical of the disingenuousness displayed by the Minister when challenged on cultural policy. He will be there, broadly smiling for the presentation of every single trophy or book launch, he will make himself readily available for puff-piece PR stunts, but cannot be found for comment on direct questions with regard to mismanagement of his portfolio, particularly in the area of culture. Let me clarify some not exhaustive issues with regard to the Press for the benefit of the public. The supposed apolitical policy, as claimed by Dabydeen, with regard to the publication of presidential parliamentary speeches is completely false. The list of publications finally available on the website shows that there are seven volumes of the speeches of Cheddi Jagan (all available for download), two for Janet Jagan, one for Forbes Burnham, and none for Desmond Hoyte – there is none for Bharrat Jagdeo but we can consider that Mr. Jagdeo’s long unbroken tenure and only recent departure would necessarily make publication of his speeches a work in progress. Of the sixty books published, little over a third are either by people associated with the PPP, or the Press, directly or indirectly. For instance, PPP stalwart, Odeen Ishmael, Guyana’s current ambassador to Kuwait – formerly a valued customer of vanity press, Xlibris – has had two books listed as published or to be published by the Press, *The Guyana Story*, volumes one and two. These publications are based on information that he has had no doubt peer-reviewed and published on his website, Guyana.org for years – interestingly, Ishmael has the first volume, subtitled “From Earliest Times to Independence” also available as a current published book on odeenishmael.com, although there is no Caribbean Press logo on the cover. There is indeed a *Selected Poetry* by Martin Carter listed as published by the Press, but where is it, and when is it due to be launched? Despite commitments to publish local writers, there continues to be obscurity on exactly who are these doggerel producing poets and fiction writers whose works were said to be collected in two perpetually pending publications by the Press. In January, Dabydeen said that two books were at the printers – five months later, the Minister says that he thinks that one book is at the printers. Every local writer I have spoken to has denied involvement or inclusion in these anthologies, yet we learn from a cover blurb of the elusive poetry anthology, available in PDF on the website, that there are twenty-six clearly phantom poets included – the blurb for the fiction anthology is even more vague.
I have been sounding caution and volunteering advice with regard to the management of the Press from the inception, all of which has been ignored by Anthony. In August of 2008, during CARIFESTA, as published in Stabroek News, under the story headlined “Caribbean publishing house long overdue – Dabydeen”, the reporter paraphrased me thus:
“Although Johnson sees the need for governments to make a serious commitment to the arts, at the same time he warned of the danger of political control of cultural support institutions. He said regional or national councils ought to be made up of independent personnel, to guard against the creation of cultural bureaucracies used to impose political censorship.”
It is exactly those sentiments that were recently repeated by Peepal Tree’s Jeremy Poynting in his Stabroek News In the Diaspora column of last month: “Praise is due to the Guyana government for allocating funding to literature and the arts, but I think that it ought to be possible to set up an independent funding body of respected individuals who represent all sectors of Guyanese society, to develop and model institutional practices that ensure transparency in the allocation of public funds, with stringent requirements for bidding for, reporting and accounting of the use made of those funds. Such a body could, I’m sure, win support across the society and take the whole issue of support for the arts and literature out of a narrowly political context. The recent controversy around the operation of the Caribbean Press makes a strong case for such a development.”
Now, concerning the content of the Minister’s puff piece interviews, and how they relate to the larger question of the development of writing in Guyana. The Minister mentioned in article(s) that he convened a meeting with writers yet he fails to mention anything positive that came out of those meetings. I was there for at least two, and I personally had to make a provision for a venue for a third and final one when the Ministry reneged on the promise to make a space available.
The Minister’s comment that “this isn’t about the money” is absurd and ridiculous coming from someone charged with the stewardship of the expenditure of taxpayer dollars. David Dabydeen holds two lucrative and influential paid state positions – Ambassador to China and Permanent Representative to UNESCO; pointing out that he does not collect money for the Press’ management is irrelevant, particularly when one considers the tremendous problems plaguing the management of the entity.
Additionally, if the Minister is confident in the operations in the Press, let him reveal verifiable financial data on precisely how the money is spent. Let him provide a public breakdown of printing, editing, graphic design and whatever other services were provided to the Press, and exactly who were the service providers. Did the Ministry pay costs directly to the best of competing contractors, as should be; or was it a situation, as Dr. Dabydeen claimed, that he is “a contractor like Courtney Benn or BK, except in books, not concrete!”? Considering that at least US$100,000 of public funding has so far gone into the Caribbean Press, with another US$80,000 approved in this year’s national budget, I am shocked that the Parliamentary opposition has not looked into the procurement processes of the Caribbean Press.
As I have repeatedly told his Permanent Secretary, Alfred King and others who have sought to intervene on his behalf, whenever the Minister is ready to respectfully engage, I am available – I do not hold grudges and I am willing to wipe clean the slate of ten years of the PPP blacklisting in the interest of creating a functional and sustainable cultural policy space.
David Dabydeen has openly asked for assistance in managing the Caribbean Press, and the Minister, who a year ago told me that “I have nothing to say to you”, has now said that constructive engagement is welcome and he needs more people on board. I have forwarded my terms of engagement to Dr. Dabydeen, and he has so far not responded. I repeat them publicly – let the Press under the aegis of the Ministry create the TOR for a consulting editor or executive editor whose specific duty is to chart the course forward; advertise the position; and if I am deemed best qualified among applicants, I will take up the post and execute my duties over the period of the consultancy. It should be noted that this help was offered voluntarily in August of last year and January of this year, a luxury I can no longer afford due directly to the PPP’s rabid efforts at economic blacklisting.
Whether engaged or not, I will continue to monitor and interrogate the management of cultural policy in this place – Frank Anthony can choose to act competently or he can vacate his portfolio and let someone more qualified manage it.
Our divisive history is one of exploitation and perpetuation of cultural antagonisms, antagonisms that have only incidentally been consolidated and institutionalized politically. Until our artists, musicians and writers are afforded the best opportunity to let their work play the interventional and transformative role it can, we will continue to exist in this quagmire.
Yours faithfully,
Ruel Johnson
