Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 06, 2014 Letters
Dear Editor,
Over the last few years, the Jagdeo/Ramotar rule has cost thousands of Guyanese their well paying jobs, widened the poverty gap between the rich and the poor and have brought a sense of hopelessness and despair to the “have nots” thus making living in Guyana a very difficult experience for them.
In responding to the silly comment made by the Minister of Public Service, Ms. Jennifer Westford in connection with the 5% wage increase for the workers, AFC senior executive member Moses Nagamootoo hit the nail on the head when he said that the PPP bigwigs cannot understand what it is to be a member of the working class in 2013 and thus they can callously allocate a meager 5 percent increase in wages without even a consideration of the high cost of living and the daily struggles of the poor to survive.
He called on the government to stop treating those who are not members of the PPP, especially the workers, as second class citizens. He reminded them that Guyana belongs to all Guyanese and the PPP regime must implement policies that benefit all and must stop the marginalization of the poor and the working class.
Guyana with a population of 750,000, and a GDP per capita below most of our CARICOM sister nations was expected to blossom into a stable democracy with an escalating standard of living, especially for those at the bottom of the economic ladder.
This was the dream of Dr. Cheddi Jagan in 1992 when he promised to change, heal and rebuild the nation. He promised Guyanese a complete set of modern infrastructure by 2012, clean energy, food security and that Guyana would once again become the bread basket of the Caribbean, a great education system, low crime rates, an end to corruption, an excellent heath care system, etc. A country where families would work, grow and prosper together.
But his end came and with his departure, that dream was shattered as the fresh PPP cabal for selfish, covetous and corrupt reasons turned Dr. Jagan’s dream on its head. Upon the arrival of Jagdeo at State House, the new PPP cabal began a policy of deregulation and the setting up of a family chaebol to extract sizable financial favour from the Treasury.
A company called Queens Atlantic Group was incorporated in 1999 to serve exactly that role as outlined by the Jagdeo plan. Now, some G$3.4 billion in medical supplies are sold to the Government by one of these family chaebols, in most cases at six times the real value of the drugs, thus extracting some G$600 million per year in pure profits from the taxpayers.
As we enter 2014, the Jagdeo experience will continue to have disastrous effects and consequences on the economy and the lives of the poor and the working class unless drastic action is taken to reverse it. I believe that it is not possible for a nation to develop with such a flawed developmental model where the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.
The criminality of this developmental model was exposed earlier when Dr. Yesu Persaud highlighted how the PPP regime changed the tax laws to retroactively legalise an illegality. For his bravery in exposing this criminality, Dr Persaud got a splendid “cuss down” from Guyana’s Head of State and chief “cuss bird.”
Shortly after, all the secretive and crooked deals for the sale of state assets by NICIL, authorized by Jagdeo were exposed and the nation watched in awe as the ruling elite and their friends made billions off of the taxpayers. With the help of the able financial analyst, Chris Ram, the bottom of the PPP schemes fell out, thus exposing their crooked and secret deals.
It has become unbearable for the people to watch what the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal has done to the citizens of Guyana. They have not only raped the treasury and robbed the taxpayers but they continue to use the state resources to enrich themselves, their relatives and their friends.
I am calling on the combined majority opposition, APNU and the AFC to launch a thorough investigation through Parliament into these illicit accumulated assets and as individual PPP officials cannot explain their accumulated assets, episodes of asset seizures and forfeitures must be made on behalf of the state, since most of what they have done to Guyana is Money Laundering and wholesale theft of state assets.
Guyana, once considered the bread basket of the Caribbean and the most spectacular country in the region and beyond, has now become the second poorest country in the Caribbean, next to Haiti, according to the World Bank.
But all is not lost, for in 2014 the world will see Guyanese rise to the occasion and redeem their beautiful country from the hands of evil doers. As a nation, Guyanese must not immerse themselves in their worries, but rather face up to the problems and do something about them.
Most have experienced difficult times before, and have recently witnessed how their government has turned into a monster but they must continue to support one another and by not giving up would lead them through to better times.
Fellowship is a cornerstone of our society, yet fellowship can only be found where each one of us is ready to contribute to the revolution. We must not leave it to others – or to chance – how to proceed. It must be our own responsibility to find a starting point; both mentally and physically.
The protest underway for better wages and working conditions by Nurses, Civil Servants and Teachers is the starting point which is the beginning of the end of the PPP’s rule as the Arab revolution in Guyana’s context takes shape. It will not be long before a new government is in place. It will not be long before hopelessness and despair are replaced with hope, joy and happiness. Yes! the year 2014 will bring real changes to Guyana.
God bless Guyana and all Guyanese.
Name and address supplied
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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