Dear Editor,
Briefly, a simple timeline of certain events with regard to the tedious, but as yet unresolved issue of the Caribbean Press.
• In July 2012, Caribbean Press Editor, Dr David Dabydeen announc-ed that among other titles, a book by the daughter of Minister of Culture, Dr Frank Anthony – whose ministry is directly responsible for the management, both operational and financial, of the Press – is going to be published.
• In December, 2012, that book is not only published but given prominence in the state media, including coverage by the Government Information Agency (GINA).
• In January, 2013, seeking to defend this publication, Dr Dabydeen promised “a poetry anthology [at the printers] featuring 22 local Guyanese writers, most of them never published before, and at least two who show serious talent and should be encouraged to produce full volumes. These will be launched publicly when I am next in Guyana, as well as a book by Cedric Costello, entitled Rasta Lyrics, an anthology of Guyanese folksongs, and an anthology of Guyanese short stories.”
• In July of 2013, Dr Dabydeen arrives in Guyana, and of those books promised, only two are launched, the anthology of folk songs, and the book by Costello, a ‘friend’ of Dr Dabydeen and with no record of publication or critical pedigree. During his visit, the good professor – without reference to his previous promises on the publication of local writers – went on to further promise anthologies of writing by Guyanese children to be edited by Reverend Gideon Cecil.
• February, 2014 – even as we enter another budgetary year, there is no mention of any of these anthologies. In fact, this was something that the Minister failed to address either in his press conference on his ministry’s ‘achievements’ for 2013, or in his response to me when I queried, inter alia, the status of the promised publications.
I have made the case, for years now, that the Caribbean Press – founded on the premise that writers in Guyana (and the wider Caribbean) had no publication outlets in the region – has failed completely to introduce any new writer outside of Mr Costello and Ms Anthony to the world of print. This is either gross incompetence or a deliberate strategy to avoid publishing local writers, or – as is highly likely – a combination of both.
I expect, as is his usual style, the Minister will shortly seek to attribute ‘hostility’ to the Caribbean Press as a rationale for abandoning the general project of the Press, in much the same way he sought to use it in part for his failure to install the management board that he promised over half a year ago. If the Press is allowed to fail, it would mean that tens of millions of dollars would have been pumped into a project that is not only marred by an appall-ing lack of accountability, political considerations trumping editorial ones, and gross incompetence, but one which utterly failed to carry out its core mission after five years of operation.
Whether it goes ahead or not, the Caribbean Press stands as a stark example of the urgent need to monitor, evaluate and audit public projects, particularly those that have to do with the management of cultural policy and cultural funding.
Yours faithfully,
Ruel Johnson
