UG does not contribute to the national debate on any issue

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56529154

UG does not contribute to the national debate on any issue
Stabroek News,
Thursday, September 20th 2007

Dear Editor,

Mr Dennis Wiggins logically proposed that the University of Guyana
should use its academic expertise to shed some light on the impact of
VAT on the poor of Guyana, etc (SN, 'UG should investigate the impact
of VAT on the poor' 15.9.07).

Mr D Wiggins also log- ically expects impartial judgments from an
independent university investigation.

The expectations of Mr Wiggins are both reasonable and normal, since
the investigations that he outlines are what one would expect for a
normal academic institution. But UG is not a normal academic
institution. UG is dysfunctional because of the constant political
interference by both the PNC and the PPP.

Mr Wiggins is a regular contributor of very thoughtful, articulate, and
constructive letters that address some of the serious issues facing our
country. I enjoy his various contributions, and do appreciate his
contributions and his perspectives. He must also be reading the local
papers to be so well-informed on local issues. However, his
expectations of the University of Guyana are sadly misplaced. Mr
Freddie Kissoon, Dr Anand Daljeet and I (plus others - eg former
student President Mr Jason Benjamin) have been writing continuously
over the past four years about the dysfunctional state of the
University of Guyana.

I have documented this observation several times, that UG does not
contribute to the national debate and/or provide leadership on any
issue. For example, the forestry issue which is being waged in the
press - not a word was heard from the UG economists, etc. One would
think that since this is a big economic issue - that the UG would
provide some input. We have heard absolutely nothing to date. The
mercury pollution - others spoke out, UG personnel were silent. On
education, the retirement age, treatment of prisoners, floods, etc, we
have not heard from UG. The list goes on and on.

The UG faculty does not even speak out on their own plight! The faculty
of UG is too fearful to speak out on anything controversial - since
they fear that this may incur the wrath of the university officials.
Dissatisfied faculty simply leave as soon as they can.

Without Mr Freddie Kissoon, one would not know Guyana has a university
with anyone capable of independent thinking. The people who speak out
are usually ex-UG faculty. I have written on several issues (Rupununi
Uprising, Jonestown, human rights, Amerindians, floods, science,
wildlife, agriculture, forestry, education, etc), and I have never seen
any input from any of UG's current faculty.

The question Mr D Wiggins would most likely have to ask is: Why is UG
so dysfunctional? The answer is: The politicians and their ruling elite
want it to be so. I have written an open letter (KN) to PNC politician,
Mr Vincent Alexander, asking him to act on behalf of our young people.
I got no public response. There are some people (PNC and PPP) who know
what is going on at UG and do not like it, but they too have to follow
the dictates of the respective party leaders. (UG does not even have a
bookstore! There are no major journals in the library. All this occurs
right under the noses of parliamentarians!)

The personnel at UG know that dissident viewpoints are not tolerated.
Even if any study is done and it is not in tandem with that of the
government, it will be swept under the rug. The assessment of UG
personnel by an independent panel (Dr Jang Singh) was never implemented
or made available to the general public. I wrote asking for a copy of
that document, I got no reply. Dr Anand Daljeet and I have documented
the abnormalities in the science and engineering, yet no one is held
responsible. I can go on and on.

However, since a person of Mr Wiggins's stature is not aware of what UG
is like today means that like most overseas Guyanese, one cannot
believe this is happening until one experiences the degradation of UG
firsthand by this President Jagdeo government. How about taking a
visit? Mr Freddie Kissoon and the student President will be happy to
take you for a tour of the campus. Like me, one has to spend time there
to believe this academic aberration. There are gross violations of the
human rights of our young people at this institution. Yet we close our
eyes, cover our ears, and seal our lips, and rush by to the other side
of the road.

Mr Wiggins, I hope that you would now ask questions about and that you
can ask the President himself on one of his frequent trips to New York.
Personally, I think it is great that you care so much about Guyana. I
know that our young people feel that very few people care about their
welfare; therefore, they are leaving as soon as they can. Hopefully,
they will see that there are others like yourself who care about this
country and are not part of the fleecing of Guyana.

Yours faithfully,

Seelochan Beharry