I say to APNU-AFC; be careful with power--Freddie Kissoon

JUNE 29, 2015 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER FEATURES / COLUMNISTS, FREDDIE KISSOON

I never wrote about this Friday thing when the PPP was in government because of security reasons. Tacuma Ogunseye once advised me not to go in the National Park everyday at the same hour. I always remember his words whenever I drive into the park. His point was obvious – your itinerary should not fall into the hands of the enemy. I never wrote where I went every Friday afternoon because I didn’t want both state security and the PPP’s goon squad to know my whereabouts. Most Friday afternoons after 17.00 hours, I shop outside the fire station at the Stabroek Market Square. The bargains on vegetables, fruits and ground provisions are fantastic. A working class family would save hundreds of dollars per week if they buy their produce there. Last Friday, Parliament was in session and what I saw when I went to the square was unbelievable. The APNU and AFC, which successfully piloted a motion in Parliament in 2012 to remove the barriers around Parliament, have continued with the policy set up by the PPP. Brace yourself for the worse of it –the barriers have increased and have taken up more space. When the PPP was in Government, the barriers circled the Parliament only on High Street from Hadfield Street to Brickdam. Now the barriers have gone into Brickdam west of High Street which never happened before. The rails have now completely taken up the entire Brickdam road west of High Street right near to the Stabroek Market. The rails are now fully outside of DEMICO on Brickdam. This did not happen under the PPP Government. It should not have happened with this new government because when in opposition APNU and AFC voted down the existence of the barriers. I am writing about this because I am worried. It is a little mistake but a little mistake can turn into a big peccadillo, big peccadillo can turn into a large imbroglio, a large imbroglio can turn into huge abuse, a huge abuse can turn into power perversity. This has been the pattern of power throughout history. Readers will say, yes, it is just a small mistake but it should not have happened. And we need to make sure that the errors do not expand into areas that will cause societal concern. If you have traffic cops on the streets where Parliament is situated, you don’t need a mountain of rails. When the National Assembly is in session, let the police direct traffic on Hadfield and High Streets and Brickdam as they do all over Guyana. Why do the Parliamentarians need the barriers? I live on the Railway Embankment between Sheriff Street and UG Road. From 7 am to 9 am daily, three traffic cops direct traffic on that section. You can only go west. The amount of vehicles that use that piece of the Railway Embankment in those hours is twice or thrice the numbers that use the streets around Parliament at that time when the House is in session. Yet there are no huge steel barriers on the Railway Embankment. Leave Parliament as it was when the PNC was in government; there were no rails then. In 1989, I got arrested right in front of the entrance of Parliament picketing against the budget. This is the third time I am doing a column on those barriers since Desmond Trotman of the WPA introduced his motion in 2012 to remove the rails and the House passed it. In 2013, I was standing right next to Opposition Leader, David Granger when he raised the barrier question with Commander Vyphuis when we picketed against the continuation of the rails. Vyphuis told Mr. Granger that it was Speaker Raphael Trotman who agreed with the police to retain the rails. Months after, I spoke to Vyphuis in the Brickdam Station and he told me I could go public with that information and I put it in my column; Trotman refused to comment. I then accused Trotman of being the person who was responsible for the retention of the steel structures. Who is responsible for the extension of these steel things that I saw last Friday? I remember in 2014 when Leonard Craig and I were the guests of Chris Ram’s “Plain Talk,” Craig accused the then APNU-AFC opposition of weakness in that they couldn’t get the police to remove the barriers. Today, look at what has happened. The barriers take up the entire space of Brickdam outside Demico when Parliament is in session. Let us hope this little mistake will die as a little mistake. But power can be tempting.