Dear Editor,
First of all, let me thank you for the publication of my letters over the years; Stabroek News has been an inspiration to all who believe in a free press due to its integrity and bipartisan approach to political/economic matters; its sports, arts and culture coverage are evenly balanced and hold no racial or religious bias; its opinion and editorial sections are pretty fair while representing a constant questioning, a great credit to your newspaper – to question everything is a newspaper’s prime purpose and responsibility. Many citizens look forward to their morning “read” as a tradition in Guyana and I always remember my father President Cheddi telling me on many occasions, to read the daily newspaper because it would make me smarter. I never really listened to his solid advice in my youthful days and I regret that. Newspapering is a very honourable profession and all the employees of SN should be proud of their contribution, whatever their skills are. To the Editor and staff of SN, I would like to extend to you a very Merry Christmas and a great and successful New Year. Also, to all your readers, a very great holiday season and a fantastic new year – keep reading because it is the basis of knowledge and more importantly, understanding.
Editor, secondly, I would like to thank ExxonMobil for a Christmas which is a long time coming – a time where our Republic is now an oil producer. All the Guyanese naysayers including Mr. Jagdeo have painted a dire and gloomy picture of our oil producing future and all of them are wrong – they cannot see beyond their “noses” and when one cannot recognize “the sweet smell of success”, it’s time to retire and be quiet. Jagdeo and his communist cronies recently honoured my mother, President Janet Jagan, as the person who signed the ExxonMobil deal in 1999 but Jagdeo did nothing for 6 years to get the deal going instead of taxing the Guyanese people with that dreaded consumption tax of 16% – now they want to use Mrs. Jagan’s name to get votes in the next elections – I am Mrs. Jagan’s son and I can tell everyone that she would never have agreed with that cruel tax on our people. Mr. Jagdeo’s recent pronouncements about what he would do with our new oil economy when he returns to power smacks of fantasy and dreams which will turn into his own personal nightmare when he loses the next elections – a nightmare he himself imposed upon Mrs. Janet Jagan when he “dissed” her and insulted her when she was still alive – why didn’t anyone in the PPP stand up for her when Jagdeo virtually dismissed Mrs. Jagan’s defence of Stabroek News as Jagdeo acted against that publication when he was President. It’s amazing to what extent some politicians will go to in order to satisfy their thirst for votes and power. Mr. Jagdeo and his “front man” will lose the next election to Mr. Granger and the coalition, that is written.
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr.)
