Dear Editor,
A letter was published in Stabroek News dated October 28, 2016 under the caption ‘Cabinet meetings must not be held at Camp Ayanganna’. To my surprise the Indian Action Committee (IAC) said that they were shocked and extremely disappointed that the Government of Guyana had taken a decision to use the GDF headquarters for Cabinet meetings.
Were public interviews or poll done in relation to this issue? And if so, who are the ones who were involved in carrying it out? Was it done in all the regions or just a few? When was it done?
The IAC said it was disappointed by the decision of the government. It seems that they are upset that the government did not opt to use their own conference rooms within the various ministries. However, these are not secure. The writer went on to say that the population is very concerned about the militarization of the government and its agencies. Well the IAC needs to answer the questions above, because the government and its agencies are not militarized to my knowledge. Moreover if they were, then some former officials would have already been spending their vacations under guard at a correctional facility in Guyana.
The IAC secretary said that the government needs to quickly change the venue in the context of stability that is acceptable to all the people of Guyana. Is there instability amongst the people of Guyana? If yes, since when?
If this cannot be answered by the IAC, then they need to stop fabricating stories to gain attention. It needs to do whatever is within its mandate and stop fuelling fear in Guyanese. The GDF belongs to Guyana, and has representatives of all races and religions.
We all know that the Arthur Chung International Conference Centre would have been ideal for Cabinet meetings, but it is under repair.
The way the PPP and its associates are behaving, it’s as if the GDF is a foreign agency and the government should not have used their space. What did the PPP do for the armed forces? What has the PPP done to those bright minds in the armed forces?
The PPP is trying to gain points on this matter. But we all know that this attack is because all matters of Cabinet will be fully secured when using the GDF headquarters. This has the security and parking area that will be best for the members of cabinet. If the GOG had used another venue and blocked the roadways, then that would have been an emergency issue for the PPP and its associates.
Why should we discriminate against the GDF? They are part of our security forces and have to protect our nation if it is under threat. They are the ones that we should be working closely with to ensure that our borders are secure and we are safe. And there is so much more that the GDF does that benefits this nation.
The government has done the right thing by using a secure place for its high-level talks.
Yours faithfully,
Abel Seetaram
APNU+AFC
Regional Councilor
Region 5
