FINALLY A BOLD MOVE FROM PRESIDENT GRANGER

The worst kind of support people can give to a government is that of blind loyalty.

Blind loyalty becomes the substitute of informed consent.

And, when that consent is accepted, the power of government proceeds unchecked.

This comes as a footnote to my publication of a video that captured the flaws in the construction of the D’Urban Park Stadium which garnished many a query but never quite got past that.

There was lots of talk about the contributions of businessmen to the revitalization of this area of land, quiet speculation over the nexus of contributions and their contributors, motives and monies without open accountability.

There was lots of talk about the lack of standard safety gear for laborers and embarrassment over the fact that many were fetching greenheart in flip flops.

These conversations had their place, in small huddles, in tones that suggested that the actions had been noted and that was all that would be done, in circles that may have discussed the points raised but knew that there would be no further discussion much more repercussions.

So, business continued as usual and the result is a shameful slapping together of the world’s finest forestry into  construct that is devoid of aesthetics and fraught with propensity to malfunction.

These are the types of things that continue to undermine the Granger Administration.

And, because I continue to support, particularly, his Presidency, I take time to address the issues that he seems not to know of, with the express intent of letting him know that all is not well.

I am not a proponent of herd mentality. I neither run with the pack nor do I nest with the rest. And though consensus is necessary to effect a majority measure, we should get there not by following but by thinking our way to solidarity, to unanimity.

Within the past twenty four hours, President Granger has moved in response to publications that show the shame that is the Durban Park Stadium.

This video,www. youtube.com/watch?v=nOrrmkCLydo, tells the compelling story and I congratulate and thank the videographer for taking time to show us the details that we would not have known of had he not felt it a civic duty to report.

My sense is that the President was unaware of these construction flaws that present danger to occupants and it was the review of this video and Opinion Editorial calls to him to look in to the construction that drove him to take action.

For this, I salute the President and will urge that he takes it further, since there are several layers within  this construction that should be examined for compliance.

I will say, on behalf of many, that his actions here are respected. We understand that he has selected a team to support his Presidency and feel that he will never know the level of their efficiency if we murmur or choose not to be a part of frank discourse.

We see this as the beginning and will continue to make objective observations on issues of national importance, speaking out against the neutering of thinking when it is contrary to partisan design. We support this government because it comes closest to representing a national face and has the greatest opportunity to extend governance along this continuum.

On behalf of all who have made more than conversation about the danger that is the Durban Park Stadium, I extend gratitude to President Granger, on his decision to make the oversight of this construction a Ministerial responsibility and will say that, in the interest of him salvaging the image of his Presidency, we look forward to him making more pragmatic decisions – decisions that will show, without equivocation, that he is actually running this government, irrespective of what political strategy would dictate.

http://guyanachronicle.com/public-infrastructure-ministry-to-assume-responsibility-for-durban-park-project/