Latest update March 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 19, 2021 Letters
Dear Editor,
The recent visit of several “top brass” members of the leadership within the PPP administration to the U.S., has brought into focus the leadership deficit of this regime. What has this visit to the U.S. done to really be of benefit to Guyana? Are we as a country better off from this sojourn to the United States of America? Are our Guyanese brothers and sisters in the diaspora more informed by the information provided to them, about what life is really like back home, the economy and where the country is heading?
Editor, I have read an article on the Demerara Waves news outlet several days ago, captioned “President Ali’s religious belief has brought international goodwill – Teixeira. Those were the words uttered by the senior Minister of Governance while addressing congregants at a “Hindu Temple” in Queens New York. How religiously insensitive can one be and to crown it off, she underscored the value of the President’s religious persuasion in accessing much-needed assistance. The Minister posited to the mostly Hindu audience in their temple that “We recognise that President Ali is a Muslim and also that has brought goodwill to us from the Middle East, from Qatar, from Kuwait, from the United Arab Emirates etc.”
Editor, where is this goodwill the Minister spoke of, where is it? Is it from Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Juma Al Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates, to whom the Government paid more than double the cost price other countries paid for the Russia-made Sputnik vaccine? Is that the goodwill? It appears more, that the Sheikh got the “government’s goodwill” from that sweetheart price of a deal, than the country itself. Editor, what does the religious persuasion of a President has to do with his country’s international and bilateral relationships with another country? Are Guyanese to accept the Minister’s shallow view in this regard, that one’s religious belief is the precursor for a country gaining goodwill from another as a result of similar belief systems? This is absolute gaga, nothing more than nonsensical, hogwash political rhetoric, which serves only to insult the intelligence of all Guyanese. This petty and myopic type politics of taking the credit and pretending as if it was your doing that has contributed to gains or goodwill, being garnered must stop. It must stop by acknowledging and giving credit where it is due, it shows a sign of maturity and growth in our political landscape.
Editor, it should be known, that it was the David Granger-led coalition administration that operationalised the embassy in Kuwait with that government providing much -needed financial assistance for the running of that embassy and us sending a diplomat to represent our country’s interest. Additionally, it was the David Granger administration that initiated discussions with Qatar and UAE about opening embassies in those two countries. It is not President Ali’s religious persuasion that brought those things into being, it was already in the works by the coalition government.
Further, it must be made abundantly clear, that Qatar had already agreed to assist Guyana with its diplomatic mission there and work on several initiatives of interest to benefit both countries. Editor, it was the APNU+AFC coalition with a representation of the country’s diverse religious belief systems, that brought Guyana into goodwill with the Islamic Development Bank becoming a member in 2016. It was due to our relationship, Guyana was provided with access to US$900M for several developmental projects, mere months after becoming a member. No other administration in Guyana’s history was ever given such access to that large sum of money by a multilateral financial institution and this was made possible to Guyana by the then erudite Finance Minister of the coalition government. It was the Granger administration which saw the importance, benefits and the need of having a permanent and active presence in the Middle East.
The Minister’s comments of the president has not helped his stature nor his government’s mismanagement of the economy, extremely high cost of living, mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, increase in crime, mismanagement of the education sector, their failure to create jobs for our people and the blatant discrimination in the distribution of COVID-19 cash grants, educational and farmers cash grants, and many more failures too numerous to mention. I, therefore, ask again, what goodwill this regime has provided to our people? What has religion got to do with it? As the German sociologist and economic theorist, Karl Marx posits “Religion is the opium of the people.”
Yours respectfully,
Jermaine Figueira
Member of Parliament
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