Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jun 15, 2008 Peeping Tom
The publisher of this newspaper is a very charitable man. He has been known to be very free-handed in helping others, including offering assistance to many causes within our society.
He is also someone who is very concerned about the state of social development in the country. If there is anyone that I am certain is genuinely concerned about Guyana and is willing to do all that he can to make this country a better place, it is Mr. Glenn Lall.
He has done so much for communities over the years that the list is too countless to recall. He would be driving along the road and see a problem and he would stop to enquire what can be done. And if it means he has to push his hands in his pockets to help out, he would willingly do so.
It came therefore as no surprise when a few weeks ago, the Peeper was going to a wake house near to Uncle Glenn when I dropped into a deep pothole in the road. I broke my left side strut in the process.
I raised this with Glenn and asked him why he was not paying his rates and taxes. He asked me how I came to such a conclusion and I told him that if he were paying his rates and taxes to the local government authority, the road perhaps would not have been in such a bad way.
Well Glenn was determined to do something about the appalling state of the road. And so he approached the authorities who put an offer to him: the residents should put half the money and the authorities would put the other half to have the road repaired.
When he told me about the suggestion, I told him to have no part of it. After all, is that not why we pay our rates and taxes each year so that the authorities can repair the roads, give us street lights, clean the drains, collect the rubbish and ensure that the cemetery is kept in good condition?
Well, Glenn is a man who believes in getting things done and so he went ahead and paid for the grading of his street. It is yet another of his philanthropic efforts to help his community and his country.
I hope now that he has done this that the authorities will keep their end of the bargain and create a smooth surface so that the next time the Peeper is passing through, I will not get stuck in any of the potholes.
I do not agree with Glenn having to pay to have his street graded, but I respect his contribution.
I would have preferred if the funds for the street repairs came from the rates and taxes paid by citizens, and to their credit, I am told that the residents of Glenn’s area do pay their taxes and thus should be entitled to a better service.
This is the same problem throughout Guyana. There are citizens who pay their rates and taxes but who are unable to enjoy a satisfactory service because others are not paying.
This cannot be right.
In the case of electricity, for example, we are told that there could be another tariff increase because of rising fuel prices.
However, there is in Guyana a high incidence of commercial losses, the technical jargon for electricity theft, and it is precisely because of these high losses that electricity tariffs are high.
The same applies to water which is one of the cheapest things in Guyana.
Yet, we are told that the water utility is owed in excess of four billion dollars. Now that is something that I cannot tolerate.
I cannot see how any country can develop when thousands of its citizens are enjoying a service and not paying for it.
In this country, people must be able to pay for the services they enjoy and if they cannot afford to pay they must do without.
The same persons who will cry out about their inability to pay for electricity and water will go to America and they will not be delinquent in their payments because unlike in Guyana where you can make a fuss and all manner of excuses about why you cannot pay, the Americans are not interested in excuses; you either pay or be disconnected.
However, if you are paying, you should be entitled to a proper service and this is why I feel that Glenn, while he is kind-hearted and generous, ought not to have had to pay for a grader to level his roadway.
He did this, however, as part of his social contribution to society and for this I am sure many will be grateful. But I just wonder about the many others who are not making their contribution so that things can be better in Guyana.
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