To say that tact appears not to be the strong point of this administration is one way to very mildly explain the constant “eh?” moments one has while listening to its members. One imagines or rather hopes that there is a lot of private face-palming at post-speech and post-press conference reviews. But perhaps that is not so, since Cabinet members still routinely open their mouths and ram their feet in.
Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon is in close competition with PPP General Secretary and Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee. Their weekly press briefings often provide scenarios and statements that could not even be plausibly written as fiction. But there are other contenders. President Donald Ramotar, Human Services and Social Security Minister Jennifer Webster and Public Service Minister Dr Jennifer Westford are among those gaining on them.
President Ramotar’s most memorable indelicate remark in recent times was in early June this year while addressing the drop in gold declarations during a press conference at State House. In the absence of any study being done or conclusions drawn by persons knowledgeable about the industry, the President had declared that the “drastic reduction in declaration… means that there seems to be a lot of hoarding taking place.” Though there was a concomitant drop in the price of gold, the President had said that he believed miners were making money, but were probably hoarding and waiting to see if the price would go up.
Then, following a brisk response by miners and a demurral by Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud, President Ramotar retreated from his remarks the very next month. The occasion was yet another news conference at State House, where he said he did not “remember” saying there was hoarding of gold but “probably there’s delayed declarations.” Put it down to temporary amnesia, but the remarks had been recorded, duly reported and printed in black and white. Reporters, stakeholders and the general public surely remembered.
In the case of Minister Westford, her most recent unseemly behaviour was likely in May this year and was captured on camera. There is a YouTube video titled, ‘Street brawl Guyana style: Freddie Kissoon vs PPP Jennifer Westford,’ which has since been doing the rounds. The first minute shows her trading words with Kissoon.
Minister Webster, who is certainly no stranger to controversy and scandalous remarks has come under flak for making a blanket statement just last month that parents guilty of leaving their children at home unsupervised will be charged, in order to send a strong message. No doubt, this minister, as others have in the past, will insist that her comment was taken out of context. But really, it wasn’t. It was the minister who spoke out of context and should have qualified her comments to encompass just the particular set of parents to whom she was referring.
Many parents are guilty of leaving their underage children at home alone. There are those who just do not care and will do it at the drop of a hat to free themselves to drink or party. And then there are those who have no choice. They must work or their children will go hungry and they do it with heavy hearts, sometimes asking a neighbour to supervise. In other cases they must do it furtively, leaving only after the children have been fed and put to bed and the house locked up so no one suspects because they have no one to trust or depend on.
We hope we know which category of parent Minister Webster was referring to, but we can’t be sure unless she says it plainly.
In each of the cases referred to above, the government official in question could have benefited from that sound PR advice which says: ‘if you’re not 100% sure, keep your mouth shut.’
Sure we would want the President to call out gold hoarders, but only if there is concrete evidence that miners are hoarding gold. Prior to hosting press conferences, which he has now been doing frequently, the President should be briefed on the status of the issues of the day so that he can make intelligent comments and answer questions. His staff clearly need to watch the ABC drama ‘Scandal’ for clues on this.
Minister Westford does need to be more accessible, but not to the point where she’s shouting abuse across a street and then is unavailable to take phone calls to address pertinent issues.
Minister Webster has been a politician long enough to know that she should use precise language and can’t say the first thing that pops into her head. That is cute and acceptable only in children under 5 years old.
While their antics and comments may provide amusement, government officials should understand that running Guyana is not a comedy show. Or is it?
