By Antonio Dey
Organization of World Leaders (OWL) President, Dee Dawkins-Haigler says that the `fact-finding’ mission from the US which visited last month is currently examining complaints of discrimination, racism, victimization and exploitation against the government and a report will be compiled.
Last month a 14-person delegation– including state legislators arrived in Guyana to review conditions here. Even before arrival they became embroiled in controversy after they were accused of showing bias to the opposition. On November 11, the Guyana Government said it would not engage with it because of its bias and President Irfaan Ali also refused to meet with the delegation.
Dawkins-Haigler in a recent interview with Stabroek News said that due to the number of complaints submitted by Guyanese to the US delegation, it would be impossible for the fact-finding mission to compile its report immediately.
She said that the delegation has to operate meticulously when assessing the documents presented to them and has to do due diligence before compiling the report and submitting it to the United Nations and the US State Department.
“We are not the type of persons who are easily influenced by propaganda and bias, though many Guyanese brothers and sisters expressed their dissatisfaction with what is going on, we still have to validate their claims, because our integrities are at stake”, Dawkins-Haigler told this newspaper.
The OWL President is however disheartened at how she and members of the fact-finding mission were faced with hostility from a few government supporters due to the claim that the US delegation was politically aligned to the opposition.
She also expressed displeasure at President Ali’s refusal to meet the US team.
“We were very thankful to the people of Guyana for welcoming us to their country as they were very hospitable, however, we are disappointed in the manner in which the President treated us all because of the misinformation and propaganda being peddled that we were aligned to the opposition which is false”, Dawkins-Haigler said.
“I said this already and I will say it again this fact-finding mission is impartial, unbiased and objective, we came to Guyana because we were alarmed at the complaints we received from many citizens in the diaspora, we are esteemed officials who have integrity, many of our constituents in America consist of Guyanese and that is what brought us here.
“While we respect the President’s decision of not meeting with us, we don’t appreciate this fact that he accused us of being politically aligned and I was made to understand that is why he refused to meet with us”, she said.
“It would have been nice to hear the President’s side of his story so that the fact-finding would find it easier in evaluating the truths versus the mistruths, but he (President Ali) objected and that is a major concern for us.
“However, that will not prevent us from carrying out an impartial probe into these allegations, because we represent the will of the people irrespective of race, religion and creed and no citizen should be subject to discrimination and victimization, nevertheless I hold President Ali in high esteem and I am sorry that he was misled in such a manner, but the work of the fact-finding mission must go on”, Dawkins-Haigler declared.
She also spoke about hostility they had encountered.
“At some point in time while visiting these communities, we were faced with some level of hostility by some persons claiming to be government supporters, but we did not allow that to deter of course we are disappointed that people can be easily influenced by misinformation and propaganda” but we were committed to listening to the voices of the Guyanese people”, the former Chairperson of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus said
Town hall meeting
On November 17 a fracas erupted during the town hall meeting led by the US fact-finding mission at the Linden Mayor and Town Council as a result of fallouts between government supporters and others over the amount of time allotted for them to voice their concerns.
Several persons at the meeting raised discrimination and racism allegations against the government.
Dawkins-Haigler had asked citizens to provide a dossier which would complement the US delegation’s fact-finding mission report into these allegations.
As citizens came forward and apprised the 14-person delegation of their complaints about the manner in which contracts are being awarded under the current government, other citizens purporting to be supporters of the government objected to what was being said.
One resident declared that the government of the day showcases nepotism which drew sharp criticism from some PPP/C supporters in the background.
The town hall meeting ended abruptly and some attendees were disappointed that they were not given sufficient time to voice their concerns.
Dawkins-Haigler, in a comment on the issue, told Stabroek News that the meeting came to an end due to the behaviour of PPP/C activist Lennox Gasper and a few supporters.
She said that the US delegation was open to hearing what Gasper had to say but he blew things out of proportion. As a result, the Organization of World Leaders President said that Gasper was asked to give the microphone to another person which he balked at and chaos broke out.
Dawkins-Haigler said the meeting was then brought to an end.
“We respect those who wanted to speak, but you must learn to conduct yourself civilly, and that was not demonstrated.
“We were not here to dictate how the government must run its country, but we must ensure that our citizens are respected what we were hearing at the meeting were issues such as …nepotism etcetera, but Mr Gasper started speaking loudly and we asked him to desist from that.
“He was saying that what other citizens were telling us was not true, and we asked him to present the evidence that will substantiate his claims and he refused.
“(later) he said the Mayor of Linden should not welcome us because we have disrespected the residents of the community by not allowing everyone to speak, everyone couldn’t speak due to the essence of time, and Mr Gasper was speaking while others were speaking which was unethical”, Dawkins-Haigler said.
Region 10 Chairman Deron Adams, told Stabroek News via voice message that he was extremely disappointed at how several supporters of the government conducted themselves during the town hall meeting.
Adams also chided Gasper for his behaviour throughout the town hall meeting.
“They went to the lowest point, Mr Gasper and his supporters were very loud and disruptive, throughout the meeting which I found very disrespectful, the delegates from the US were subject to the constant noise pollution which led to difficulty in understanding the salient issues raised by other citizens”, the Region 10 Chair said.
He continued “It was a slap in the face to other regional officials like myself there and other citizens also the esteemed delegation, Mr. Gasper attempted to undermine the meeting as the evidence was being presented before this delegation, based upon their request of a dossier”.
Adams said Gasper while being given a chance to speak blew things out of proportion by saying “The Mayor and other officials should not have welcomed the US Delegation”.
“He doesn’t know how to follow protocols nor to show respect for persons in authority, it is very disheartening and because of his actions the meeting was disrupted, and we know clearly who is behind it because he subsequently appeared on NCN with his supporters to give his side of the story”, the regional chairman said.
Linden Mayor Sharma Solomon also deemed Gasper’s behaviour as disrespectful.
Gasper during a live-streamed video on the National Communications Network (NCN) webpage lashed out at the US fact-finding mission for showing bias and disrespect towards Lindeners.
He said that the delegation showed up late to the town hall meeting and cut short the allotted time for residents to voice their opinions.
“Town hall meetings are about the people, and they did not represent the people, this fact-finding delegation is biased; they do not represent transparency, they do not represent what the US is about, which is the people and allowing the people to have a voice,” Gasper said.
A town hall meeting was also held in New Amsterdam.
The fact-finding mission consisted of Georgia State Senator Micheal Rhett; North Carolina General Assembly Representative, Dr Amber Barker; Georgia State Representative Debra Basemore; Mississippi State Senator Hillman Frazier; Texas State Representative Rhetta Bowers; Kentucky State Senator Gerald Neal; Tennessee State Representative G.A Hardaway; Latron Price Owner of Westside Community Market (LLC), and Founder of Save Ourselves Marcus Coleman who departed Guyana on November 19.
Dawkins-Haigler said that she and a few members of the delegation have intentions of revisiting Guyana soon to continue what they have started while working on the fact-finding mission report
