There is no question that this country
has more than its fair share of "mad people" wandering our streets, on the West Bank of Demerara for example there is a man of unsound mind who is terrorising the
people living in a particular area. These people of unsound mind or what we
Guyanese call "mad people" wander our streets in various stages of undress with
their private parts hanging out all over the place and our children throw
stones and other objects at them and laugh at them.
Our children it would seem have more
sense than some of us big people. Since they recognise mad people as
unproductive or disruptive members of our society, throw stones and insults at
them and treat them as jokes.
Now we as parents tell our children that
it is not nice to do these things to these unfortunate souls, since it is not
socially acceptable and they must have compassion for them.
What we do not tell our children is that
this is a person to be respected, that this is a person who they should emulate
and that this is a person who they must listen to for guidance on what is
socially and intellectually acceptable behaviour; to do this would make us just
as mad at the person our children is persecuting.
The behaviour of all mad people is not
the same, some are physically abusive some are withdrawn a situation referred
to as catatonic, some are paranoid [i.e. they have delusions of grandeur or
feel that they are the subject of persecution] some are schizophrenic [they see
and hear voices and persons which are not there] their minds invent events,
people, conversations and relationships which just do not exist.
Some Skitzos even write in the
newspapers and since they are schizophrenic they see and hear voices, persons
and evidence which do not exist, they are also Paranoid since they have
delusions of grandeur i.e. they think that they are something that they are
not, they also think that everyone is out to get them.
These are concepts which I have gotten
from a well known psychologist so they are technically correct terms and describe
legitimate mental dysfunctions.
We have in our midst such a mad man, he
writes in the Kaiteur newspaper and attacks prominent persons within our
society without justification or provocation and some sections of the public in
this country not having the sense their children have do not throw stones and
insults at this person and make him an outcasts, they actually like the madness,
the nastiness and the lies that he writes, they find it amusing and
entertaining notwithstanding the damage it is doing to other people's character
and reputations.
In a letter to the Stabreok news on Monday
29th August someone wrote a letter in which he asked the question, "what
is newsworthy about Vieira losing his pouch?" And he is absolutely correct,
there is noting newsworthy about it.
The point that the writer misses however
is that notwithstanding that I have my own newscast of which I am the
publisher, I did not bring this matter to the attention of the public it was
this Skitzo madman at the Kaiteur news that did.
He also does a criminally indictable
thing, since he alleges that Amerindians alone were bodily searched at what the
United Force called a congress for a pouch which this madman says that he has photographic
and other evidence I did not have, well look at your screen Ladies and
gentlemen and tell me what you see? Is that not a pouch and a file on my knee
being held in position whilst I applaud? And is that not a reporter from the
Stabroek news who attended the UF conference sitting in front of me? Is that
not further evidence that this video is not contrived?
As far as the racial profiling which
can have the effect of exposing the police and me to racial hatred by
Amerindians, the madman accuses the police and me of subjecting only
Amerindians to body searches, these are also outright lies! so on behalf of the
police I would like to clarify, no one's body was searched, it is a figment of
this skitzoid madman's imagination, anyone who had a bag which was large enough
to contain my pouch was asked to open it for the police to verify that the
pouch was not inside. I repeat, no one was body searched by the police as this
madman alleges and everyone's bags were searched not just Amerindians.
As to what the bag contained here is the
list I finally compiled, it contained the Dell Axim X30 personal handheld
computer/organiser which I bought for US$250, it contained my note book in a black
zippered leather case with a roller ball pen. It contained two 1970's gold Duofold
Parker pens a ball point and a fountain pen which I bought on the internet at
auction for 226 pounds Sterling, I have a thing for antique Parker pens and I
have several sets, for those who like collectors items, let me tell you this;
old classic Parker pens are becoming more valuable daily especially the duofold
line from Parker. So the pens I have are collector's items. The pouch itself is
pure Italian leather with zipped compartments for note books, papers, pens etc.
and cost around $125 US.
On the day in question I thought that
my driver's license was inside the pouch but it was not, since I had just
returned from the US and the license was in my other bigger pouch bag with
which I travel since I drive in NY sometimes, it has to be bigger since it has
to contain passports and other travel documents. The madman asks why I had my
drivers license in my pouch and not in the car, he must be watching too much
CSI programmes, anyone who owns more than one car will soon realise that the
Guyana police are not receptive to claims that your license cannot be produced when
they stop you, because it is in the other car, so each of my cars has a
coloured photocopy of my license and my pouch usually has the original just in
case I have it and I run into a difficult cop.
Luckily my Black Motorola Razr cell
phone was not in the bag when it was stolen. There was no money inside by bag,
there never is, since I very rarely walk with money I also have no money in my
house only a fool keeps substantial money in his house, there were also no
rings inside, I cannot understand where the Stabroek news reporter got that one
from, he also missed the most important part of my interview with him which was
that the police never searched anyone's person, only bags big enough to contain
my bag, and everyone's bag was searched regardless of race, they
also went ahead and did the story in the Stabroek news despite my telling them
that we have the video you have just seen and that Acme Photo studio had
promised to extract and print the frame from the video of my sitting with the
bag in the hall.
Ladies and gentlemen my name is Tony Vieira;
I have never been accused of
being expelled from a university for
misconduct, I have never been accused of publishing lies to assassinate anyone's
reputation, I have never been accused of exchanging high marks for sexual
favours, I have never been accused of lying about receiving a duty free car, I
have never been accused of calling myself or allowing myself to be referred to
as a doctor when I am not, I have never been accused of being ashamed of my
appearance, I have never been accused of having my colleagues accuse me of
behaviour which was so despicable as to constrain them to ask for my removal
from their midst, I have never had to beg the PPP to allow me to keep my job
after my colleagues requested my removal.
I did not intend that this matter appear
in the press and that is why I personally promised Nadir that I will not file
an official report with the police about the loss of this pouch since it can
embarrass the UF, Nadir is one thing, but I would not embarrass the UF, and I
never did. The public would still never have heard of the matter if it were not
for this madman I have been telling you about. Is that institution at Canje
Berbice still open?
