The event was organised by the Corriverton Town Council with the blessings of the Region Democratic Council and the National Events Committee.
Minister Amna Ally
On the night of the event, Police officers seized the public address system, the drummers were instructed not to perform, and the children who had prepared their cultural presentations were prevented from stepping onto the stage.
The Police reportedly instructed the organising committee to proceed with the event with only prayers, the recital of the National Pledge, and the hoisting of the Golden Arrowhead.
In an attempt to start the proceedings, the former mayor of the town, Ganesh Gangadin, walked onto the stage, but was allegedly told by the Police that they were given stern instruction by the Commander not to allow the ceremony to go on. The former mayor was escorted from the stage, but in the process, he pleaded with the officers to at least allow one cultural presentation.
In an invited comment, the former mayor said, “This is what democracy is coming to… Amna Ally is instructing the Police to shut down a national event. We are not doing anything wrong, we are not breaching any laws; we are simply trying to have a programme run as it has been for the past 48 years, and now you have a minister instructing the Police to stop it. What are we coming to as a country?”
Corriverton Mayor Krishnand Jaichand explained that the event is held annually, and the committee had received the full support of the Police in the past, and was thus not sure had gone wrong this time around.
“The Guyana Police Force, students from various schools, the (town) constables and the GuySuCo security personnel all take part. It is normally planned and discussed at a pre-planning meeting with National Events Chairman Winston Roberts,” the confused mayor explained.
Further, he said that prior to the flag-raising ceremony, Minister Ronald Bulkan had indicated that Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan would attend the ceremony.
“The minister wanted Minister Ramjattan to give a feature address, so I told them that I will inform the committee. I did, but they (committee members) held on to the decision that Adrian Anamayah and Minister Ramjattan would bring greetings”, Jaichand explained.
Mayor Jaichand said the council previously never had to seek permission to stage a flag raising ceremony.
“It was a dark night in the history of Corriverton, when the Police and Government attempted to undermine the will of the people and our right to local democracy. In all of our 48 years of hosting flag-raising events, this has never happened. I am not only upset, but I am concerned about the embarrassment that we faced; but the people were on our side,” Jaichand said.
“B” Division Commander, Assistant Police Commissioner Lyndon Alves, has denied that he instructed his ranks to halt the flag-raising ceremony at Corriverton, East Berbice on Thursday evening.
In a telephone interview with Guyana Times International, the commander said he received information about the halting of the ceremony only late Thursday evening, and as such, he could not have given such an instruction.
When this publication attempted to question him further on whose instruction the ceremony was halted, the commander declined to comment further on the issue, saying only that he would speak to the officers who had been designated to provide security at the event.
The stopping of the event has raised eyebrows, since it had reportedly stemmed from the organising committee rejecting the request for Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan to be the feature speaker at the event.
