President calls for better reportage on environment issues
by Linda Rutherford
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo called Monday for heightened media coverage of environment-related issues as a means of safeguarding against unscrupulous elements out to profiteer by `bad-mouthing' Third World countries like Guyana. He also pressed home the importance of accuracy in the coverage of environmental issues, in light of the harsh realities of today's world. "It is very important that you carry accurate stories in this area, especially the local media, because today we're facing a very hostile world," the President said in his opening address of the first in a series of environmental media seminars hosted at the Office of the President. The event was organised by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to coincide with World Environment Day, observed on Monday. Mr Jagdeo explained that whilst there is a school of thought which favours the adoption of sustainable forestry and mining practices, there is a body of opinion out there in the international community which feels that Third World countries should not touch any of their natural resources. He said he has a sneaking suspicion that "they fabricate stories about what's taking place in many Third World countries with a view to bringing international pressure on you not to utilise these resources". Guyana, he said, has always maintained that as a poor developing nation, it needs to sustainably utilise its natural resources, but by the same token, this should be done in conformity with the highest environmental standards. President Jagdeo said that while it was true that some Third World countries are guilty of not adhering to sustainable forestry or mining practices, he sometimes gets the impression that there is a deliberate attempt in some quarters to tarnish the reputation of those countries which do so. "I think some of these agencies have a vested interest because the more they shout about bad Third World practices, then the more funding they can receive for themselves as environmental agencies," the President said. He pointed out that not only could such allegations lend to creating a very negative image of one's country overseas, but it can also make access to developmental funding much more difficult than it already is. "Countries, especially the key donors in the multilateral institutions and from bilateral sources, look out for these reports and sometimes it's a difficult job to convince them that these things are not accurate," he said. This is why, President Jagdeo said, it is so important "that the local media accurately reflect what's going on and sometimes even take on these international agencies that are `hell-bent' on portraying an inaccurate view of what is actually happening on the ground". He stressed the point that he was not asking the media to lie, or to present a position that is not accurate. All he was asking, he said, is that it reported factually about developments taking place in the environment. He said that bad practices also need to be highlighted so that corrective action can be taken. Mr Jagdeo encouraged media operatives to call upon his office at any time to access whatever information they needed. "I want you to understand that within this environmental sector, any time you need information, you're going to have it...because we want to practise this policy of openness here," he told the more than 15 media operatives present. Among key issues examined at Monday's forum were the role and mandate of the EPA, the importance of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) in the decision-making process, and solid waste management. Presenters were EPA Executive Director Mr Per Bertilsson, EPA Operations Director Ms Denise Fraser and EPA Special Projects Coordinator Ms Sherrane Wickham. Adviser to the President on matters relating to Science, Technology and the Environment, Mr Navin Chandarpal also addressed certain aspects of solid waste management in his presentation on the `Role of the Media in Promoting the Environment'. EPA Director of Education, Information and Training Dr Rovin Deodat, who acted as moderator, spoke about the importance of such fora in helping media operatives become conversant with environmental issues. Noting that the theme this year for World Environment Day was `Time To Act', Deodat said that actions often require a number of bases, foremost among which is access to information. He said that in light of the fact that such information is generally transmitted through the media, it was important that practitioners in the field have a basis upon which to draw in creating and constructing those stories. All stories, he said, are constructions, with many of them being re-creations in the most fictitious sense in some cases. "Therefore the reconstruction of an event has to be built upon the skills and knowledge of the constructor," he said. He reasoned that if one viewed an event "from just one angle, when that event has 20, and you do not have sufficient surrounding knowledge with which to fill in that picture, your message will be not only inaccurate but incomplete, misleading, misguided, and in some cases, quite dangerous because they only tell just a small fraction of the story".
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