Dear Editor,
I am not clear on what grounds the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party was speaking on 27 July 2023 about issues which are proper to the mandates of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and Ministry of Legal Affairs, as well as agencies EPA, GGMC and GLSC. I am referring to The Department of Public Information. (2023, July 28). Multi-faceted team will be sent to assess issues at Chinese Landing – Jagdeo. Department of Public Information. https://dpi.gov.gy/multi-faceted-team-will-be-sent-to-assess-issues-at-chinese-landing-jagdeo/
I do not recall that the responsibilities assigned by the President to his Cabinet, and recorded in the Official Gazette, provide for the General Secretary of the PPP as such to speak on non-Party issues such as the complex case of mining at Chinese Landing. Indeed, the carefully written judgments of the Inter American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) show that dubious legal judgments and poor GGMC monitoring as well as neglect by the Guyana Police Force have allowed the current situation to drag on at Chinese Landing. Surely this is a cross-Party issue, which Mr. Jagdeo might address in his other capacity as Vice President with a broad mandate, and speaking from his VP Office, not from the PPP’s Freedom House?
And if we transpose the words of the General Secretary to those of a Vice President (VP), then we can ask how the VP can possibly imagine that ‘one meeting in the whole village can help to solve this issue’, as reported in the summary by the Department for Public Information? And again, what is the DPI doing, in summarising under its own letterhead, a Party-political event? Please, Editor, ensure that your journalists separate clearly what is being communicated from a Party official from the communications of a member of the governing Cabinet. You have commented often on the trend towards PPP Party paramountcy. The independent press should not encourage that trend by confusing party statements with government pronouncements. Please also, Editor, train your journalists to call out politicians when they confuse their party roles with those of the Executive.
In parallel, I express my hope that the energy of VP Jagdeo’s attention to this matter will lead to a rapid and complete resolution of the illegal gold mining at Chinese Landing and country-wide. It would be long overdue, but resolving the bundle of issues at this site could be beneficial to many Amerindian communities.
Sincerely,
Janette Bulkan
