The Department of Public Information (DPI) last night issued a press release in which it claimed that Stabroek News (SN) had misreported statements by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd on Venezuelan migrants in Linden.
To the contrary, Stabroek News accurately reported the minister’s remarks and the newspaper stands by its story.
Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief (EiC) Anand Persaud said that the author of the DPI press release appears completely at sea on the details of the matter.
DPI said that Minister Todd wished to clarify from the outset that his conversation with the Stabroek News reporter on October 10th at Parliament was always cordial. DPI said it culminated with her acknowledging that the report the Minister was referring to, which was not written by her, was indeed plagued with misinformation that needed to be flagged with the Editor-in-Chief.
Persaud said that the reporter never said that that report was “plagued with misinformation” but simply said it hadn’t been written by her. Furthermore, he said that Todd behaved obstreperously towards the reporter and shouted at her in Parliament in a most unprofessional display.
At issue, DPI said was the Minister’s observation that though he had earlier given an interview to the reporter, the story which was purportedly causing unease was in fact written by someone else and omitted the vast majority of information the Minister had provided during the interview.
The SN EiC said that Todd’s statements on the situation of the migrants in Linden had been adequately covered by the reporter and no one else had written anything on what he had said.
Persaud said that another report appeared in the Sunday Stabroek of October 12 reporting further remarks that Todd had made about the situation in Linden and addressing his behaviour in Parliament.
DPI’s statement yesterday said “The outrageous claims in the (October 12) report that were attributed to the Minister about migrants working harder than locals, and that the majority of Lindeners are squatters, are wholly untrue. It is a callous misrepresentation of the Minister’s remarks and a grave breach of the universal ethical standards of journalism to which Stabroek News claims to uphold”.
The EiC said that Minister Todd had been accurately reported and if he misspoke it was for him to correct himself.
DPI yesterday said that what the Minister reinforced in the conversation with the reporter were the international obligations of Guyana and its state apparatus under ratified conventions, to receive and exercise humane treatment of migrants to our shores, particularly those fleeing atrocities and severe hardships in their homeland.
DPI said that the Minister reiterated that beyond its international obligations, the country is morally obliged to receive and integrate, as far as practicably possible, as many migrants as possible, who arrive seeking help not dissimilar to the migration of Guyanese under similar circumstances in the 1970s and ‘80s.
“The Minister underscored the point that the vast majority of migrants who have arrived in Guyana are seeking better livelihoods, as they are doing across the Latin America and Caribbean Region and further afield, and are normal human beings with dignity; most of them being hard workers already making significant contributions to the national economy here through the deployment of their skills and labour.
“With specific regard to Venezuelan migrants who have sought refuge within the municipality of Linden, the majority of whom have already found meaningful work within the locale; the Minister emphasized that local leaders and residents of the town should demonstrate more empathy and hospitality to their beleaguered guests, as they did so warmly and exceptionally for their fellow Guyanese who sought refuge in Linden during the 2005 flood disaster on the East Coast of Demerara”, DPI said.
DPI added that Todd also referenced a “sensitive point of convergence” that should be considered in the treatment of the migrants by local leaders and residents in Linden; the reality being that many parts of the mining town which emerged through squatting, remain unregulated, with the government having already made significant progress to remedy the situation.
As such, while squatting in any form should not be encouraged and remains illegal, DPI said that the Minister explained to the reporter, as he had previously done during their interview, that survival squatting by the migrants on the outskirts of Linden, among other critical issues, are sensitive matters being addressed by the Central Government within the framework of the Multi-Agency Coordinating Committee (MACC), since it is a matter of national importance with international implications.
DPI said that the Minister further explained to the reporter that while it was indeed the case that local leaders were not included in his initial direct engagement with the migrants during his visit to the town on October 8th and 9th; the migrant matter, for the most part, resides at a national level with his Ministry, in conjunction with the MACC, and is therefore not one to be handled directly by or with local leaders. Notwithstanding, DPI said that Todd reiterated to the reporter, as he had previously done during their interview, that as a matter of courtesy, all stakeholders will be kept abreast with government interventions on this critical matter.
DPI said that the Minister was therefore demanding that Stabroek News withdraw its “erroneous account of his cordial engagement” with the reporter on Thursday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre where Parliament was meeting. Persaud said the newspaper would not be doing any such thing.
The SN EiC said that DPI’s account of what occurred at Parliament is far different from the reality. He said Todd was enraged at the reporter because of the news report that day which quoted Solomon and Figueira.
Persaud said that the newspaper stands by the following account of the exchange between the reporter and Todd.
Upon entering the Arthur Chung Conference Centre that day to cover President Irfaan Ali’s address, the reporter was confronted by Todd who angrily criticized the newspaper’s reportage of the situation in Linden as well as the coverage given to the Mayor of Linden and MP Figueira. Todd screamed angrily in the lobby of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
“Why are they on page 2! They don’t do anything! They hadn’t done anything back in December like they had claimed! You are embarrassing me on an international stage! What do you mean “raps” [The article’s headline is “Figueira, Solomon rap Todd for snubbing local leaders during Linden visit on migrants”], how could they rap me! Your article is false! When we went there was nobody to verify the claims! In your article, you couldn’t even name who said anything! Who are these anonymous sources! Why aren’t you naming them?! These Venezuelans are not hungry! They are working! They are working harder than the Lindeners and that’s why they are getting the jobs! This is nonsense! Stabroek News needs to get themselves together! That article with Figueira and Solomon is not balanced at all! I went and spoke to the Venezuelans myself! This is poor journalism! Stabroek News is writing as if the migrants are not humans! They are escaping a serious situation back in Venezuela”, he raged.
