Arrival Day: cease with lumping business, let it be IndianArrival Day

DEAREDITOR,

unambiguous; to give general direction and supervisionoftheconductof General and Regional elections as well as Local Governmentelections.

To call on that body to investigate the APNU’s allegations about “tons of names of persons who are notliving”incertainareas…

“but their signatures are there.” is to trample on the Criminal Investigation Department, the only legal body vested with the authority to act on such matters.

For Commissioner Alexander to now claim ‘he is seeking legal advice’ on the matter going forward, is not only duplicitous, it is disingenuous on his part sinceatthestatutorymeeting of GECOM held last Thursdayhepretendedtobe anAttorneyatLaw,whenhe proffered legal advice and interpretedthelawtosuithis party’s political agenda as regardstheroleandplaceof a Returning Officer in accepting lists of candidates from parties, community groups and independent candidates In so doing, Commissioner Alexander openly challenged and rejected the learned Judge’s andGECOMLegalOfficer’s legalopiniononthematter

The APNU’s threats to stop the LGE if their allegations are not resolved, resonates perfectly with the persistent shenanigans and filibustering tactics used from the outset by APNU C o m m i s s i o n e r s a t

GECOM’s statutory meetings under the pretext that they are doing so to ensure a ‘free, fair, credible localgovernmentelection.’

This posture is unbelievable if not mind boggling considering their attempts to steal the results of the 2020 General and Regionalelections.

The APNU is upside down in its claim that given ‘the totality of powers that GECOM has it can investigate fraud in respect to forgeries, impersonation andintimidation.’

This is just a feeble attempt by that party to divert the public’s attention away from the infighting within its ranks whether it should or should not contest the LGE and to camouflage the fear of losing dramatically what they now desperatelyhangonto.

In the circumstances, it would come as no surprise were the APNU to continue playing the guessing game withitssupportersandatthe same time signaling the threatthat,that‘allofitison thetable;noneofitisoffthe table.”WhileGuyanesehave grown accustomed to the chicaneryoftheAPNU,they are tired with their pretense at calling for free and fair elections and their unashamed attempts at pressuringGECOMtoadopt baddecisionsinlawthatcan provedisastrous!

Yoursfaithfully, ClementJ.Rohee

C o m m i s s i o n e r @ GECOM

Roughing up the answers - RE: PS’s phone

DEAREDITOR,

Not on official government business but stillthegovernment’simage is seemingly tarnished. The lukewarmexplanationsfrom all sides have done nothing to dispel the feeling there is more in the mortar than just thepestle.

This matter will not be put to rest. It demands a

The naming of May 5th as Arrival Day is an act of gross disrespect to all the peoples who came to G u y a n a . T h e P P P Government did not name May5asIndianArrivalDay even though it was on this verydayin1838thatthefirst Indian Immigrants set foot on this mud flat. According to historian Tota Mangar“Within recent years, the meaning of the day has certainly broadened, both in context and scope, to fittingly include all ethnic groups which came as indentured labourers ” G.C.05/05/2021.

Something has to be fundamentally wrong with any historian who is au fait with this insult as are the personswhointhefirstplace decided to make May 5 an occasion to “include all groups who came.” Indians alone arrived on May 5, so how does that translate to include“all”others?Thisisa slap in the face of Indians and also to “all” the other ethnic groups of Guyana. What this Government comesacrossassayingtothe other Ethnic groups is that YOU ALL ARE NOT

DEAREDITOR,

As I noted a year ago, I a m d e l i g h t e d t o acknowledge Black History Month in February and observe Amerindian Heritage Month in September

IMPORTANT ENOUGH to have the day that your ancestors first set foot on these shores as a holiday. Andinour(P.P.P)view,your contributions to Guyana from then to now is UNIMPORTANT to have a specialdaydedicatedtoyou. And to the Indians whose ancestorssetfootonthisland onMay5,theP.P.P istelling them that YOU ARE NOT IMPORTANT enough to have your Arrival Day dedicatedtoyousolely The INSULT of making May5ArrivalDaydedicated toALLethnicgroupsandnot to Indians is an affront. Those with a modicum of self-worth and are silent about this insult by the very people who will not be enjoying the powers that they are wallowing today; are equally guilty In fact, had the descendants of the peoplewhoarrivedonMay5 notvotedfortheverypeople who cannot recognise their value (their own to besides) isbeyondneemakharami.

That the other ethnic groups are silent to this shameful act towards themselves and their ancestors too is beyond comprehension. Apartfrom the First Peoples (they too came from other places, according to People Who Came), all of us came from somewhere. Africans came as Indentured Servants even beforetheyarrivedasSlaves andlatermorecameagainas Indentured So even the descendants of these people who may be chortling at the rest of us because they have Emancipation Day specially dedicatedtotheirancestorsthey have also been lumped in with the rest of us descendantsofotherraces! AsanotherMay5comes onceagain,itistimethatthe citizensofGuyana,letthose whotraversethecorridorsof Parliament and State House, be aware that they cannot continue to insult the very people who put them there. And also remind them that while they (the P.P.P) have forgotten their ancestors, that it is because of their ancestors’ sacrifice that we can all enjoy what we have today It is time that the people make these politicians aware of their d u t y t o r e s p e c t elders/ancestors as they seemtohaveforgotten.

Sincerely, N.Sahadeo