The much-lauded present trip by a delegation of Black legislators and Public Officials from New York to Guyana raises some interesting questions.
The visit which is recorded in numerous photographs on Guyanese state media suggests a gleeful junket carefully packaged with the expected charm offensive from current president of the Republic of Guyana, Irfaan Ali and his numerous paid Black surrogates.
Observers point out that this is without question a government response to the recently concluded Washington Conference which tabled serious allegations of racist practices in the allocation of resources and utilisation of the Guyana Police Force to persecute its political opponents among many other concerns.
To date there has been no official statement as to the purpose for this visit and its sponsors. Inquiring minds wonder what business the Guyana government has before New York State that would necessitate a visit from the Speaker of the Assembly, Carl Heastie?
In light of New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s controversial recent trip to Israel, a country that has mastered the public relations junket as a political strategy, this trip to Guyana deserves the same scrutiny.
A recent statement by Hochul’s spokesperson conceded that the state will pay for her trip to Israel because the ethics board had not yet made a formal determination on the nonprofit funder of the group. Certainly, if this level of scrutiny was appropriate for the Governor of the state, then it is appropriate to raise similar questions regarding the legislators who travelled to Guyana.
The issue of who may be the funding this trip is clearly a relevant inquiry given the established law governing these activities at Title 19 NYCFR Part 934 (Gifts (Pursuant to legislative article 1A). Final Rule Effective June 18, 2014. Are New York taxpayers underwriting the Guyana junket?
It is also apposite to note that under 934.3 Gifts (a) It is presumptively impermissible for a lobbyist or client to offer or give a gift to any Public Official.
Such a gift is only permissible if under the circumstances, all of the following criteria are met:
- It is not reasonable to infer that the gift is intended to influence the Public Official.
- The gift could not reasonably be expected to influence the Public Official, in the performance of his or her duties and.
- It is not reasonable to infer that the gift was intended as a reward for any official action on the Public Official’s part.
New Yorkers deserve answers from Speaker Carl Heastie, Senators Kevin Parker and Roxanne Persaud, Assembly Members Rodneyse Bichotte and Monique Waterman Chandler, among others.
The adage that politics makes strange bedfellows looms large in this recent visit. Assembly Member Jaime Williams who recently testified in Congress as a Republican witness and collaborates with Curtis Sliwa, a rabid right winger, in a range of anti-immigrant activities is also front and center in this recent initiative.
Ms. Williams is the subcommittee chair on Emergency Response/Disaster Preparedness, Real Property Taxation, and is a member of the Task Force on Women’s Issues.
She would do well to visit her counterpart agency the much beleaguered and obviously compromised EPA in Guyana and report on its functioning. A visit to Red Thread to better understand the violence directed at women under the Ali administration’s watch, including from cabinet members, would also be appropriate.
The following questions are posed for the esteemed Public Officials and people look forward to their answers.
- How much did this trip cost?
- Who paid for the trip?
- If you paid out of pocket for this trip, what are your political and financial interests in Guyana?
- What is the expected outcome?
- Will you provide a public report on the findings of this trip?
- Will you meet with Guyanese-New Yorkers to discuss your findings?
New Yorkers and Guyanese deserve answers!
