Freddie’s penchant for bandwagoning is annoying

Dear Editor,

I like reading FK’s column. I have great respect for the man but sometimes I find his penchant for indiscrete bandwagoning annoying. Take for instance; when the local commentators were out to literally crucify Clifford Krauss for writing,” Guyana is a vast, watery wilderness ……. children….. play naked in the muggy heat.” Freddie, despite having written that Guyana is a “waste land” and “dead zone” on numerous occasions couldn’t resist the temptation to join in with his proverbial hatchet in hand.

Freddie was there, condoning the “vitriolic anger from Guyanese with the New York Times correspondent, Clifford Krauss, and rightly so” and “People like Krauss, though they come from rich countries, don’t necessarily have a perspective on life that is a healthy one”. I honestly haven’t got the gist of his last statement above to this day. Freddie’s latest indiscrete bandwagoning escapade occurred in his January 5th column where he claimed to take the side of a Mike McCormack’s missive, “GGDMA’s power- drunk election strategy.”

While McCormack kept his critique mainly to the GGDMA, Freddie! After a lengthy foray about the ” tagnation of socialism” and “runaway capitalism”, in his usual egotistical persuasion, went straight to what he perceived to be “the Alphonso Empire”, which he considers, “stupendously wealthy and has extensive mining rights”.

I had the pleasure of working for Mr Alfro Alphonso, he is a wonderful human being. In 2002 he told me that he was paying over 100 million per year to GGMC as revenues for the upkeep of his mining blocks. So while people like Freddie are zealously eyeing the man’s “extensive mining rights”, those rights were no gifts, Alphonso was contributing handsomely to the state over the years for his mining blocks.

What is wrong about an entrepreneur having vision for the future? Mr Alphonso, being in mining knew he would need mining blocks in the future and the state facilitated him in acquiring same at a yearly upkeep price which he had honoured through the years. If, due to the dynamics of change, the state so required him to relinquish a few blocks, he should be well compensated for same.

Freddie quoted a statement from McCormack’s missive where, apart from a host of other undesired actions, he accuses GGDMA of “engaging in widespread tax avoidance.” Who pays their taxes if they can avoid doing so? The integrity commission requires the ruling class to declare their assets yearly. This does not require paying a dime, yet many of them are reluctant to do so. I wonder if Freddie does not consider these people as being in the “wealthy class” that he is clamouring for the youths to reject.

The onus is on the government to set reasonable tax regime and safeguard to collect same. Over taxation kills the source for these taxes and causes great discomfort to the general populace. It is evident that the Coalition is guilty in this regard – hence Andron Alphonso’s motive to inspire the mining fraternity into some sort of “affirmative action” should be seen as a patriotic stance. Freddie saw it otherwise and call for the “rejection” of the “wealthy class” to save Guyana. Audacious! Freddie would always be Freddie! Yapping at anything to keep his daily column running.

Rudolph Singh