THE PRESIDENT of Guyana, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, needs to issue an unequivocal apology to the Government and people of Jamaica forthwith.
In an egregious display of bad judgement and undiplomatic language, he is reported to have charged that Jamaican officials were deliberately fudging HIV/AIDS and crime statistics in order to paint a more acceptable picture to tourists. His comments, as reported in yesterday's Gleaner, cannot be sustained.
The Ministry of Health and its subsidiary agencies have been consistent in their public education programmes for more than a decade in highlighting the dangers the nation faces and they have done so against the background of carefully tabulated data. Unless the president has specific information from external or other agencies to show otherwise, he should withdraw the claim unreservedly.
In similar vein, this newspaper's record of reporting on the reality of crime and violence demonstrates the folly of the President's misinformation.
Already his press secretary, Mr. Robert Persaud, in making a feeble attempt at damage control by throwing out the standard charge of being 'taken out of context', has had to back down in the face of the evidence of a tape recording of President Jagdeo's speech in Atlanta.
We offer a word of advice to Mr. Persaud and by extension Mr. Jagdeo. This is not a time for the jargon of diplomatic spin. Be honest enough to admit that undiplomatic language was used in the address to Guyanese nationals in Atlanta, Georgia, last week about crime and health situation in neighbouring Caribbean nations.
President Jagdeo is free to criticise. He his entitled to his freedom of speech and expression. But as a leader he must do so based on facts.
Whatever the specific pressures the present administration may be facing in Guyana, it is not a sign of good governance to point an accusing finger at others to say look how bad they are, particularly when in doing so, you are found to be building a case on falsehoods.
The President's unfounded pot-shots at his Caribbean neighbours could harm the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which managed to maintain regional solidarity at the height of the Haitian crisis. That sortie into big power politics was a sample of even sterner challenges ahead. A fractured CARICOM would be raw meat for the sharks of hemispheric and global trade. President Jagdeo must say he is sorry.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
