Dear Editor,
In a letter which appeared in SN on April 13, Elder Hamilton Green a former PNC Government Minister expressed his frustration and disregard in not receiving answers to questions he has posed to the PPP Government regarding the poor electrical power service he and others has been receiving from the Guyana Power and Light Corporation (GPL). As a citizen of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana he is entitled to receive answers from his Government regarding questions he may have about matters relating to governance. Unfortunately, governments everywhere are often reluctant to provide their citizens with information they consider politically sensitive or otherwise and Elder Green is fully aware of this as the following examples illustrate his handling of sensitive matters when he was placed in similar situations.
In the 1970’s, I was employed as a Civil Engineer by the Ministry of Works and Hydraulics (MW&H). The then Minister was no other than the Hamilton Green, the most powerful minister in Prime Minister Burnham’s Government at that time. As Minister of MW&H he acquired steel sheet piling earmarked for use on Guyana’s sea defense to construct a paal-off using MW&H labour around his house lot located at upper Durban Street. This paal-off could be seen from the street. At the time no one was allowed to buy gov’t steel sheet piling stock-piled at the Kingston Wharf for their private use. Secondly, Minister Green gave his private trucking company a contract to deliver white sand for reconstruction of the Georgetown seawall.
These and other questionable transactions were executed during his tenure as MW&H Minister, and to this day he has never provided any answer when confronted with questions as to why these transactions and others were executed without reviewed and approved by the responsible authority and recorded for subsequent audits. Elder Green claimed in his letter that cronyism by the PPP Administration instead of good, competent, professionally given management of GPL is the cause of the daily blackouts he and his fellow countrymen were experiencing and causing them so much misery and suffering. This may well be so but Elder Green should know that, “those who live in a glass houses should never throw stones,” and they may also have a lot of skeletons in their cupboards.
Sincerely,
Charles Sohan