Wednesday March 12, 2014
Kaieteur News
Page 5
Letters... Where your views make the news... Letters... Where your views make the news
THE SLOTHFUL NIS DEAR EDITOR, A letter in Wednesday February 26,2014 issue of the Kaieteur News, captioned “Some NIS pensioners are more favoured” has prompted me to comment on that state institution. The NIS seems to me to be dysfunctional, slothful, lethargic and discriminatory in its performance. My claims are not specious, scurrilous or unfounded, but are patent and dispassionate. The work ethics of some inspectors at the Brickdam office showcase arrogance, inertia and lack of commitment to customer service. Additionally, there seems to be no determination among some officers to be proactive by leaving the office to get their work done. They remain fixed in the chairs in their office throughout the day. In the end, it is the customers who reap the fruits of ( the officers’) inefficiency and
non-performance. Many former policemen and soldiers are now experiencing difficulties in the processing of their pension benefits on account of the NIS shortcomings. Our voices are crying in the wilderness (in and out of Guyana) to get our pension paid to us. We are tired of going to and from Eve Leary and the GDF Headquarters to get records of our contributions. The absence of a personal vehicle should not prevent an inspector from going into the fields to get his/her work done. The time has come for the NIS to do soul- searching. Serious introspection is needed or a public inquiry should be commissioned. From my perspective, the operational framework of the inspectorate section should be re-examined, re-configured and closely monitored to be result-oriented. Modern
management principles should be implemented to energise and transform the section into a productive, service-oriented unit. Performance should be rewarded by suitable incentive. Editor, the NIS was created by the much maligned LFS Burnham to serve the needs of all contributors, not only the financially- endowed and influential. I trust that this letter would generate prompt and decisive action by the NIS. Perhaps the Ex-Police Association and the Ex-GDF Association should formally take up the case of their disadvantaged and aggrieved members with the respective service organizations and the NIS. Three and four years are too long to have a claim processed. Wake up, Dr. Luncheon and Ms Nelson! You are both sleeping at the wheel. Name withheld
THE “QACK” POLLSTER HAS RETURNED DEAR EDITOR, Unlike Kaieteur News, I am completely baffled as to why a reputable paper such as Stabroek News would publish such bogus polls by Bisram. Bisram claims to be a school teacher but can travel to Guyana to conduct polls while school is in progress. Is he allowed to take off from school at anytime he wishes? This is the same fake pollster who claims that he has attended several universities in the United States, Pakistan and India and has a number of Bachelors, Masters and Ph.Ds degrees, yet as an academic, he is dishonest. He is trying to deceive Guyanese by skewing his polls in favour of the PPP even though that party dubbed him the “Qack”
pollster and dumped him after the 2011 elections when he predicted that the PPP will win a landslide with 65 per cent of the votes. Over the years, this fake pollster has only seen it fit to conduct polls in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago where Indian voters reside. He has never stated that he has conducted polls in Barbados, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Antigua or any other Caribbean Islands where only Blacks reside. In Guyana, no one seems to know anyone who this “Qack” pollster has interviewed and furthermore, there is no polling organization with the abbreviation of NACTA. It means the North American Teachers Association. I am asking the editors and Staff of Stabroek to google NACTA and it will conform
with what I am saying. I am an avid reader and subscriber of both Kaieteur News and Stabroek News but I am appalled with the editorial staff for publishing such bogus polls without verifying. Bisram’s friends at Richmond Hill in Queens, New York, are fully aware of his fake polls and one of his best friends and colleague, Mike Persaud, has stated publicly and clearly that Bisram is a charlatan and does not conduct any polls. So my advice to the editorial staff at Stabroek, please follow Kaieteur News and stop publishing Bisram’s rubbish. Every Guyanese knows that he is a fake and does not conduct any polls. Donna Kendall New Amsterdam, Berbice
African history month a resounding success at ACDA
DEAR EDITOR, This February, the AKWAABA Centre of the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA was the hive of cultural and economic activity for the celebration of African History Month. Three main activities attracted hundreds of school children, young adults and senior citizens to the Centre. The first and busiest activity was the brainchild of Violet Jean-Baptise, Aisha Jean-Baptiste, Clementine Marshall and Shamane Headley. It was ACDA’s first month-long cultural exhibition. Entitled “Sankofa”, 21 schools and seven groups from Georgetown, Berbice and Essequibo visited the Exhibition. They were all treated to an emotional and educational experience comprised of a lecture, guided tour, video and storytelling. Individuals ranging in age from six to 72 years attended the event. Photographs, sculptures, artefacts, books, cloth and wooden carvings were on display. The Museum of African Heritage provided the Guyanese history context by providing pictures and banners from slavery and the 1763 Slave Rebellion. This included a very detailed miniature sculpture of the 1763 Monument by the late icon Philip Moore. In two months, ACDA will repeat this month-long exhibition format with the theme, “Africans in Science”. The second event for African History Month was a very successful Youth
Entrepreneurship Conference entitled “Creating and Sustaining Generational Wealth”. Eighty young adults from the Pan African Organization (Guyana Branc h ) ; t h e A f r i c a n Cultural and Educational Association of Essequibo (ACEA); Youth Vision of Linden ; the Festival City Youth Organization; the Sea View Cultural Group of West Berbice, ACDA , the University of Guyana and the general public were in attendance. This one-day event which was created by Eric Phillips to honour the 100th Anniversary of the establishment by Marcus Garvey of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and the 175th Anniversary of the Village Movement (Victoria in November 1839) , was supported by Ambassador Robert Kopecky of the European Union who spoke on programmes available to Guyanese from the EU; Audrey Gomes of the Small Business Bureau of the Ministry of Trade and Tourism; Kevin Bonnett of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB); Hubert Forrester of the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) ; Craig of the Partners of the Americas; K Chattergoon of IPED and Michelle hennery of The Guyana Youth Business
Trust. ACDA would like to acknowledge Mr. Terrence Campbell (CAMEX Inc); Mr. D e r r i c k C u m m i n g s (SBB); Ms.Glenyss AdamsJames (Commonwealth Yo u t h S e c r e t a r i a t ) ; D r. James Rose (Director of C u l t u r e ) ; M r. R o b e r t Persaud MP (Minister of Natural Resources); Ms. Vi o l e t Jean-Baptiste (ACDA) AND Mr. Nigel Johnson (NIGELS) for financial help for this endeavour. This will be an annual event every African History Month. The third major activity in ACDA for African History Month was the visiting of schools to assist them in their own activities. ACDA visited the Berbice Multilateral School in New Amsterdam and participated in the very colourful North Georgetown Secondary School sixth Annual Culture Day. Apart from this, ACDA v i s i t e d t h e St . J o h n ’s Golden Jubilee Club comprised of seniors at their request and later hosted them at the AKWAABA centre for a Lecture Tour. These 16 women are all above 65 years of age and meet every Wednesday to keep each other companies in well-structured activities. Eric Phillips