Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 02, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Thursdays are turning out to be unlucky for me. Last week, I had the shock of reading Uncle Freddie asking why great leaders do not emerge in Guyana. Had he paid a little more attention to the man he loves to denigrate, V. S. Naipaul, he would not have had to ask that question.
This past Thursday, I woke up to find the Kaieteur News by my bedside. I decided that I should read Uncle Freddie’s column first.
I am sorry I made that choice. Uncle Freddie nearly sent me into cardiac arrest with his headline that roared, “Guyana’s future lies with the PNC”.
I almost fell off the bed. To say that Guyana’s future is in the hands of the PNC is to say that Guyana has no future. When I read that headline, I said that Uncle Freddie must be still shell-shocked from that light bill he got from the GPL.
Then I read the other shocker. The Kaieteur News of last Thursday also reported that GuySuCo was importing sugar from Guatemala. I had to be dreaming; this could not be true.
I pinched myself. The searing pain told me that I was not having a nightmare.
I still could not believe my eyes. Guyana importing sugar? Something was wrong here; I could not be seeing right.
But how come I was seeing such a headline? I do not smoke marijuana, I do not sniff cocaine, so I could not be under some delusional spell caused by narcotics.
Something was dreadfully amiss. How could Guyana, the largest sugar producing nation in the English speaking Caribbean, have to import sugar?
I questioned myself again and again. How could Guyana import sugar when Guyana is aiming to supply the English speaking Caribbean with this product? Is this not part of the reorganization plan for the industry, for Guyana to increase its exports to the Caribbean, where most of the nations have abandoned the production of sugar cane? So how are we going to supply the region with sugar when we cannot even supply ourselves?
And what about Guyana? What about the humiliation that our people now face because of our inability to satisfy domestic demand?
What about the dent to national pride which was trotted around as the reason why we spent in excess of US$40M to build a national stadium for Cricket World Cup 2007? It was for national pride, we were told, that we needed to build this stadium, despite it being obvious that the stadium could never pay for itself.
Our pockets felt the strain, but we held our heads high in knowing that we did not let Guyana down. We hosted the tournament. And during that eventful week, all Guyana forgot that so many businesses were going broke because the tourists did not arrive in the predicted numbers. We forgot how much the whole event cost, because we were proud of our country.
The three things we knew we could always boast about have always been our rum, our gold and our sugar.
Now that national pride, for which so much sacrifice was made — so much so that the audited accounts for the Guyana CWC 2007 leg has not yet been debated in the National Assembly — has been thrown to the mercy of the elements.
What a shame and disgrace for us who were wondering whether we could sell all the sugar that we planned to produce, to now find ourselves importing sugar from another dog poor country, Guatemala.
Last year, at around this time, following the Lusignan massacre, I had anticipated that the President would have done what was expected of him.
Now, after what has happened to our agricultural GDP because of the floods of last December, I am again asking whether we do not need new vision at the top.
It strikes me also as amazing that, in response to the problems of GuySuCo, the President can have a shakeup of the Board of Directors and the management of the corporation, yet not have a reshuffle at the political level.
All of those thoughts flashed through my mind last Thursday as I contemplated Guyana having to import sugar. I was so preoccupied with those thoughts that I forgot that it was a special day for me, and that my better half had decided to serve me breakfast in bed.
To my great dismay, she asked me whether I wanted sugar in my coffee. I had to respond with a question of my own: “Demerara Gold or Guatemalan Bulk?”
When I saw the sugar that was going into my tea, I screamed. It had the colour of mud, and afterwards I found it was not far from that, judging from the amount of sediments that remained at the bottom of my teacup.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
Mar 29, 2024
By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sports – After a series of outstanding performances in 2023, Tianna Springer, dubbed the ‘wonder girl’, is eagerly gearing up to compete in this year’s...Kaieteur News – Good Friday in Guyana is not what it used to be. The day has lost much of its solemnity. The one day... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – In the face of escalating global environmental challenges, water scarcity and... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]