Georgetown – The Office of the President rejects and condemns the recurring practice of Kaieteur News misinforming the public as part of its deliberate attempt to discredit the Government. The matter surrounding Kaieteur news’ handling of the planned procurement of the 90,000 Laptops to be distributed under the OLPF initiative is a case in point.
The Minister within the Ministry of Finance disclosed that the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) initiative entailed the procurement of Laptops at an estimated cost of US$295 which is provided for in the 2011 national budget. An initial Kaieteur News reaction last Thursday, February 3, stated that the OLPF project had procured 20 Laptops at a cost of US$585 each.
Yesterday (February 6) Kaieteur News highlights the procurement of 20 Laptops, still trying to suggest to the public that the procurement was related and intended for OLPF distribution. In so doing Kaieteur News has purposely ignored the press statement by OP that clarified that only five Laptops were bought intended for the OLPF administration. If Kaieteur News had observed the journalistic principle of verifying its information, then it would have known that the 20 Laptops were for the various units within the Office of the President and Cabinet.
According to Office of the President, the misinformation about the Laptop procurement by Kaieteur News is intended to create mischief and to disparage Government projects. Kaieteur News is part of that carefully designed ongoing plan.
The pattern of misinformation by the Kaieteur News is testimony to its abandonment of all pretence of objective journalism. It seems content to seal its reputation as the official mouthpiece of the Opposition political parties even if its reputation is based on distortions and misrepresentation. This newspaper has moved beyond being deliberately malicious and calculatedly provocative.
