Prominent Caribbean journalist honored in his native Guyana

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC -Veteran Caribbean journalist Rickey Singh, Wednesday night, thanked the Guyana government for bestowing upon him a “Lifetime Achievement Award” after “more than four decades of unsolicited exile across our region.”

Speaking at the Freedom Kaleidoscope Gala reception hosted by the government, Singh, who recalled his forced relocation to the United Kingdom, visiting-resident status in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, said one major regret is that his wife, Patricia “Dolly,” is not here to share this honor, adding “I owe my success to her unswerving belief in me and to her sacrifice.”

The veteran journalist said as the award coinciding with the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom “acknowledges the essential role of the news media to educate, investigate and inform; and their right to do so without favor and fear of reprisal.

“A free media is essential to the stated goal of the current leadership, to coral this, my native land, into “One Guyana,” he said, adding, “I believe that it is up to the media to re-examine and to re-educate the population on our legacy; to help us to unshackle from a divisive social construct, that was foisted upon us by those who were opposed to our independence, and threatened by our unity.”

Singh said that the leaders in Guyana who took the country through the process toward independence were once united in a shared vision.

“Cheddi Jagan, a passionate visionary, and Forbes Burnham, an exceptional strategist, were once comrades. Despite their faults and differences, they were great intellectuals who wanted to steer Guyana into genuine self-governance.

“At the risk of being misquoted or misunderstood, I will still say that diverse and differing opinions are critical and essential characteristics of any democracy. Where such diverse opinions exist, a voice of dissent is not always, or necessarily, a representative of detraction or distraction.

“All voices should be seen for what they are: calls to action – and challenges to those appointed by the people, to always strive to do – and always continue to do — better for the people,” Singh said, adding that “today is a celebration for all of us who uphold the tenets of press freedom and the duties and responsibilities that come with all our freedoms.”

He called for twinning freedoms and responsibilities equally “as we continue to strive to build a genuinely free press eventually.”