Tourism Minister sounds negative images warning by Linda Rutherford Guyana Chronicle April 8, 2000 TRADE, Tourism and Industry Minister, Mr Geoffrey Da Silva, without pointing any fingers, has slammed the habit of painting negative images about Guyana, warning it can in the long run not only hurt investment prospects but the fledgling tourism industry. In his maiden budgetary presentation Thursday, having only taken office last November, Da Silva said the question of negative images goes beyond political partisanship, and is an issue which President Bharrat Jagdeo has been continually battling. "It is a very important question. It is actually a material factor that influences investment and other decisions (such as) whether people will come here to visit this country", the minister said. He took the precaution, however, of saying he was not laying blame on any particular group or political party. "I am not saying the negative image is only portrayed by one political party or any particular group. But it is a material factor with which we must deal", Da Silva said. Which was just as well since he was taken to task over it towards the close of the session by opposition People's National Congress (PNC) Parliamentarian, Mr Rafael Trotman. Noting that Da Silva "pressed a point some time about the image of Guyana", Trotman said while those in the PNC agreed with him "that the image of Guyana was not so good", he believed the time had come, once and for all, "to bebunk the theory that it is the PNC which is wholly and solely responsible for whatever image this country has". He went as far as to quote from the latest annual report on Guyana from the U.S. State Department which says: "both the Indo-Guyanese PPP (People's Progressive Party) and Afro-Guyanese PNC engaged in rhetoric which caused problems". At the interjection of Speaker of the House, Mr Derek Jagan that "the Honourable Minister did not say that the PNC was responsible for that image", Trotman said he was willing to withdraw the statement "insofar as he did not say so but he certainly insinuated it". Da Silva, in his presentation on the 2000 Budget, which was in rebuttal to PNC Chief Whip, Mr Dunstan Barrow, had said that he has time and again cautioned overseas-based Guyanese that when talking about Guyana, to ensure they give a balanced view, bearing in mind that while there are good things happening, there are also problems that need to be overcome. He noted that "if Guyana continues to be seen mainly in a negative light, it will not help anybody in this country". A case in point, he said, was his recent conversation with the President of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) while attending a board meeting of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) in New York. He said their conversation had gone very well until they began talking about possible areas of investment incentives in Guyana, when the man said that should they ever decide to invest in Guyana, they want to be sure that "we are serious, that our country can do things in a proper way". Another image that is hurting just as much, he said, is the one whereby it is felt that it is one particular group that dominates business in Guyana. Emphatic in his denial, Da Silva said: "I dispute that; I dispute it; I dispute it; I've done some research; I don't believe it". He said: "We have to change because that is the kind of thing that keeps working in a negative way in people". He scarcely drew any barbed comments until he mentioned the tendering process, and how open it was to scrutiny. This caused a burst of derisive laughter from the PNC side of the House, which succeeded in putting Da Silva on the defensive saying, "Oh yes, every day; any day you could go; open process". Goaded into naming a few of the major contractors, he reeled off, "Mr Benn, Mr Francis, Mr Howard, Mr Ambrose, Mr Cush, Mr Grant and Mr Miller." By now having to raise his voice above the din to be heard, he shouted: "All of them have been given major contracts; you go and ask them". To the contractors' credit, he said, the fact that they did very good work is what caused them to win their contracts.