Local CANA office says 'no comment'
The local CANA office has refused to comment on the call by Information Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, for an apology to the government for a story headlined 'Strong Allegation in Guyana'. It has referred a request for a comment on the government's reaction to a story it filed over the weekend about allegations linking government ministers to slain armed robber, Linden London, to its Barbados headquarters. Nagamootoo, in an earlier statement, said the story circulated by CANA was "defamatory of the entire Government of Guyana and has tarnished the image of all ministers, individually and severally." The CANA story was based on a tape reportedly made by a man charged with a number of armed robberies, Andrew Douglas. The tape contained allegations linking government officials to the gang headed by London, and of which Douglas was reportedly a member. In a letter to Trevor Yearwood, CANA's editor, demanding the apology, Nagamootoo said that the CANA "news item did not say by what method 'a man facing robbery charges' in Guyana has made [the] allegation 'that two government ministers, a public servant, two cops, and a television station [owner] were accomplices who helped the deceased bandit-killer, Linden London, to mastermind heists' which according to your story netted more than $100 million." The minister said too, according to a GIS release on Wednesday, that "if the allegation of criminal conduct was that 'strong', CANA should have ensured that its source was not only impeccable, but that the accused be given every chance to respond. "The caption volunteered an editorial comment emphasising the seriousness of the allegation against the government ministers in a CARICOM member state." He questioned too the "reckless rush to press without any attempt to create a balance" since CANA must surely practice the fairness rule. Nagamootoo, in an earlier statement, had called the CANA report "baseless, wicked and malicious," charging that the regional news organisation had acted irresponsibly by "parroting these blatant lies peddled by propagandists linked to the opposition People's National Congress." At a press conference yesterday, PNC leader Desmond Hoyte said that CANA should protect its integrity and defend its journalist who did a "very professional job". The report, he said, was an accurate account of what was contained on the tape and did not comment on the accuracy of the allegation.
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