Hard to get information from Region Two government officers

Dear Editor,

As a freelancer working for National Communications Networks Inc and the Guyana Chronicle, I find it difficult sometimes to get news and information from government officers in Region Two. The press is an important institution for democracy, for the voiceless; it can also promote the work of both private and public sector institutions and the government. Some government officers see the press as the enemy of the state and they are reluctant to give out information.

I had my first experience when I was appointed by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, as a news reporter in 2015 for Region Two. My job was to write on the development taking place in the region whether by the government, the private sector or the farming community. As a former Rice Research and Extension Officer, I saw a trial plot of new varieties of paddy being grown at Anna Regina backdam. I called the Guyana Rice Development Board Coordinator at the branch office here in Anna Regina to get information on the new varieties, but he bluntly refused to give me the information. He told me that he was not allowed to disseminate any information without first contacting his boss in Georgetown. I subsequently decided to call the boss on two occasions, but I did not get him. When I finally got him he refused to give me the information. This was a golden opportunity lost to highlight to the rice farmers what was taking place here on the Essequibo Coast. I have worked with Mr Dharamkumar Seeraj, the General Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers Association; he would have never turned down an interview with the press.

I tried getting information from the Drainage and Irrigation engineer as to what was taking place in his section. On the first occasion he gave me a sketchy report; probably he too was reluctant about giving out information as to what is happening in the region. This man has the key to why flooding is taking place in the rice farming and housing areas. Little did he know that I was doing my own investigation on the ground and in the fields and reporting it in the Stabroek News. I can say the same to the person who is responsible for the maintenance of these canals and trenches.

If you call any government department in this region to get information you are met with the same answer: ‘Talk with my boss; I cannot give out information’. There are two persons whom I have great regard for where information sharing is concerned, namely the Regional Chairman, Mr Devanand Ramdatt, and former Regional Vice Chairman, Mr Vishnu Samaroo. No matter how busy these two men are they will find time to call back and give me the information that I am looking for, so the people out there can know what is happening in the region. Journalists in Guyana can honestly admit to feeling a sense of defeat with the change in the landscape resulting in less freedom and information from government departments.

It is time for these officers in the government to wake up and smell the coffee; the media is an extension of human communication and we human beings need to communicate. Yours faithfully, Mohamed Khan