Dear Editor,
In her presentation to the nation’s Budget debate in Parliament on the evening of August 20, 2015, opposition PPP Member of Parliament, Ms Gail Teixeira, erroneously claimed that the Guyana Consulate in New York has been taken over by the APNU Group in New York. She also claimed that the group is running the 50th Independence Anniversary celebration planning committee in New York. As she made this false claim, I heard one of her colleague PPP MPs repeatedly shouting my name.
Although, I’m not a member of the APNU North America Group, I can say with exactness that both of Ms Teixeira’s claims are flat-out wrong.
First, the current Consul General to New York is still Mr Brentnol Evans. He was appointed by the PPP in 1992. He is still in full charge of the consulate and has been for the past twenty-three years. When the PPP assumed office in 1992, then Foreign Minister Clement Rohee travelled to every overseas mission and fired most of the Afro-Guyanese staff.
The APNU+AFC coalition government has not committed any such callous act even though it is its prerogative to appoint new officers in whom it has confidence to execute it policies. Today all of the PPP appointed ambassadors and consuls general remain in office. This is a manifestation of maturity, decorum, professionalism and good governance practices.
Second, the New York planning committee for the 50th Independence Anniversary celebration is not being run or controlled by the APNU. It is broad-based and comprises individuals and representatives from Guyanese organizations in the diaspora in the metropolitan New York area.
The committee is overseen by the Consul General. It was established out of a core group which conceptualized the idea and broached it with the Consul General. I was elected Chair. Immediately after its establishment a statement was issued by Consul General Evans saying, inter alia, “This will be a unified, bipartisan endeavour. Everyone, regardless of political, religious or social creed, will be invited and encouraged to participate. Guyana belongs to all of us. We must therefore fully embrace each other as well as our unique Guyanese identity and come together to celebrate this historic milestone in the journey of our nation.”
In keeping with our philosophy to foster inclusiveness, I consequently wrote to individuals and organizations, including to Ms Teixeira’s party the PPP, inviting them to join or nominate representatives to the committee. Following is the substance of my letter to the PPP:
“Dear Mr Chairman [Jageshwar Chenyen]:
“We’ve established an initial committee to plan a commemoration celebration in New York of Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary in May 2016. I was asked to coordinate these activities. The committee has to be expanded to include all facets of our society. Consequently, I hereby invite the PPP New York Chapter to nominate two representatives to serve on said central planning committee.”
Third, obviously Ms Gail Teixeira did not verify her information with the Consul General or anyone else. Had she done so, she would have obtained the facts and avoided the embarrassment of making reckless, divisive statements in Parliament.
Yours faithfully,
Rickford Burke
