Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 28, 2019 Letters
DEAR EDITOR,
By intent, please permit me to extend belated best wishes to the Nation on the 53rd Independence year.
Independence should be a time of reflection and celebration. We should take the time to reflect on all the struggles of our ancestors past, and the ones who sacrificed so much to bring us this independent nation. Reflect on the dedication of the two political leaders, Mr. Jagan and Mr. Burnham, and what their commitment to this nation meant and how far along we are.
Fifty-three years ago, our nation gained its independence, a delivery of a nation with tremendous potential and whose future is ripe with opportunities. Those are the tremendous opportunities that are housed in the delivery of our elders and the potential of our youth that today, still remain untapped.
We witnessed the sheer energy of the crowds at the various activities in Georgetown and it was exhilarating and quite the spectacle. The crowds were boisterous and flamboyant reminiscent of the kinds that one can only read of during the Roman times when the Senators could not find solutions to the nation’s problems, they embarked on the Gladiator Games.
Now that the dust has settled, permit me a few lines.
Fifty-three years of two successive administrations and we invent distractions from the mundane, jobless and mediocre systems that continue to stifle our “march to freedom.” Not much to celebrate. A house built on a solid foundation will withstand the toughest of stress tests and thus reflective of the PPP’s 23 years in office. To apportion blame to one and not the other would be submitting to the unjust society we have fostered for 53 years thus the PNC/APNU occupies that chair also. No doubt both parties might have contributed in some way to our national development even though evidence is scarce. To suggest that schools, health centers and roads were built as their only claim to national development would demonstrate a poor understanding of what national development is while unemployment is high and the destitute continues to climb. Before being dismissive, one should understand the obligation of the state to equitably dispense tax dollars i.e. the state has a responsibility regardless of who is in administration.
“I recently visited Lethem and many of the outlying indigenous communities,” said Mr. Shuman, “and the realities there are vastly different. One should begin to rename the Guyana Carnival – the Georgetown Carnival. While businesses in Georgetown feel a short-lived high, the rural communities are in a state of depression, the Lethem road is a trail having people stuck for days trying to get to/from the capital. These are indicative of the development left by the PNC, the PPP and now practiced by the APNU administration.”
Cuffy, in his battle for freedom had a very nice victory and could have delivered independence in 1763 but for one simple mistake. As the revolution picked up and their success grew, he and his colleagues donned their masters’ attire and were sold out by their own people and subsequently met their end.
The APNU has simply not learnt from history. The APNU (PNC) have donned the PPP’s attire and will soon understand the lessons of history that so many of their leaders brushed aside in school. History does have a way of repeating itself if we are slow to learn its lessons.
When I spoke to Mr. Shuman, he indicated he was attending the Buju concert. He said he has always had a taste for Reggae because of its identity and message. While sung by many artistes of African descent, the message is universal and the beat just touches the soul. He said, “It also is important that we understand what the justice system is there, for Buju has served his time, paid his debt to society and is on a road to redemption. Those are opportunities never given to the youths of Guyana. The ones who continue to live and languish in jail for small amounts of cannabis while denying political affiliates, friends, and rapists the even hand of justices’ touch. “
He indicated he purchased his ticket as he could not deny the nation and all the families who cannot afford to enjoy a meal, the state’s $5 000. “Think of what 70 million can do for so many families. Yes 70 million. Forty million for Buju tickets and thirty million for Mercury Consulting out of Washington (allegedly). If these parties, the PPP and the APNU truly cared about the people, why not combine your bounty and spend it on the things that really matter – people. Would that make a difference to the families? Forty million combined with the PPP’s thirty million can go a far way to providing alternative livelihoods to all the sugar workers who are out of work. Better yet, come together in Parliament and pass the Cannabis bill; with a mutually beneficial agreement, give the sugar workers the lands that they have toiled for decades and watch transformation happen. But I guess it denies both parties their rallying cries,” he stated.
We have seen a cabinet shuffle that should have presented yet another chance for this governing APNU – the AFC is history, so let’s not debate that. What we have is a hallowed Minister of State Portfolio. In this administration what’s in a name? Mr. Harmon still controls the Government and all the so-called answers to be provided by friend and foe AG Williams, SOCU and such is all a show. Nothing will become of it.
My question to His Excellency is to revisit the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS). It is a nice document that looks fantastic on a bookshelf in OP. No need to go searching through the entire document for what I refer to, rather, look at, 4.6 Governance and Institutional Pillars.
It would seem that Political Justice is not part of the vocabulary of this administration. However, just as Political Justice came for the PPP, it will for this Administration, and with me and my colleagues’ support, the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) aims to deliver on that. Let’s start with what’s in a name! Liberty for liberating the people from the many ills of society such as corruption, lethargic government institutions, lack of infrastructural development, lack of market access, laborious tax system that impedes development, mediocre electricity system that hinders national development, security woes and much much more.
The LJP seems intent on correcting all of these and has voiced ambitious plans on legalizing cannabis because it is the right of the Rastafarian to practice their religion – it is enshrined in the UN Charter and our Constitution, and the industrial uses can far outstrip oil in revenues. Guyana is so far behind on the rights of its peoples! Justice that will ensure the ones who are truly deserving of being behind bars are placed there and that the scale of justice is equal to all. Indigenous communities will receive their lands in a just society. Not a single land title under this administration and the PPP left indigenous communities in conflict in perpetuity. The LJP seems to have an agenda to see Guyana as the Gem of the Americas and the Caribbean.
I part on this last note. Oil is inevitable. Guyana as a nation are ill prepared for this industry and any spill will pollute the entire Caribbean Sea and into the Gulf of Mexico with the prevailing winds and currents. Guyana has the lungs of the earth as its yard. Imagine when we have to “rip those lungs out” to pay for oil spill clean-up if it should ever happen. Is that a chance we are willing to take? Handiwork of the PNC and PPP! Quite an independence to celebrate!
Jesus said, “Let ye who hast not sinned cast the first stone.” The LJP can cast the entire quarry because the PNC and the PPP are same in animals in different jackets. And quite frankly, the LJP seems to be the only choice for the future of Guyana.
Sincerely Yours,
Dr. Govind Hinds, PhD
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