The Kaieteur News on Friday, April 13, 2024 publication accepted its inaccurate reporting on the two aircraft purchased by the Government of Guyana from an Indian firm for use by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
In the article titled “Guyana borrowed to buy two airplanes for the price of four,” the newspaper incorrectly calculated how much was made by the Indian government for six similar Dornier aircraft.
And in so inaccurately calculating that sum, the report suggested that Guyana purchased two aircraft at a hugely inflated price from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
Guyana paid US$8 million per aeroplane and spent about US$7 million for spares and training.
“The erroneous article was premised on a miscalculation of the price for the aircraft.
“This media house had incorrectly reported that the Indian government had purchased six Dornier-228 aircraft for US$31.9 million from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)- a company that Guyana had purchased two similar planes from for US$16 million,” a note in Friday’s publication read.
It added, “Kaieteur News apologises for the error and any inconvenience it may have caused.”
The newspaper’s inaccurate reporting was flagged on Thursday by Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo during his weekly press conference. According to him, a simple conversion tool could have been used to correctly convert the price of the aircraft paid by the Indian government in local currency. If that was done, he said, it would be evident that Guyana did not pay an inflated sum purchasing the aircraft from the manufacturer directly.
The week before, the Vice President defended the purchase of the aircraft noting that they are very functional, and can be used in several different scenarios. He also noted that the US$23.37 million total paid includes much-needed spares and training for personnel.
This is not the first false reporting in the KN. This is a propagandist news outlet. This toilet paper license should be revoked for peddling false info. to the public and in some instance spreading racist comments.