Blackout: Constant blackouts, I blame Ramjattan’s AFC

Sep 24, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

The constant blackouts truly create annoyance on the peoples of this country. On the day of Monday (18^th September, 2023), the constant blackouts created much frustration on our staff at RK’s Guyana Security Services Headquarters. Despite the fact that we have a good quality generator for emergency power. Imagine stores, businesses and citizens who do not have such a facility, their state of mind at the possible destruction of their equipment and also food stuff.

It is easy to want to abuse and curse down the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and even the Government of Guyana for this obvious disease of torment and torture in this country. But is it GPL’s management or is it the Government of Guyana’s fault!!??

Excellency President Dr. Irfaan Ali, Cabinet, and Peoples of this Land of Guyana, we deserve better and we all demand better in the service and provision of electric power. Despite the headaches, the heartaches, the mental and physical torture and frustrations, at this juncture in our Guyanese society and Nation, I do not blame neither the Government nor do I blame GPL.

The GPL with their limited resources has done enormous to fix the issues to bring reasonable quality electric power to the peoples of this land. One of the bugbears of provision of this inefficient power supply is staff: unreliability of the staff, dishonesty of some staff, and it is suspected possible sabotage by certain political saboteurs.

However, most of all, and shouting as I am writing in my mind in annoyance because all of the above could have been eliminated as we as a people of this country could have been enjoying ‘sweet’, ‘luscious’, ‘delicious’ hydroelectric power. The Government of His Excellency then President Bharrat Jagdeo had embarked on bringing hydro power to our country and fulfilling our electricity needs. Firstly, to our peoples in all parts of Guyana, the various industries in all parts of Guyana, and selling of electricity to neighboring countries. And with this new reliable form of electricity, we could have had an advanced style of road /highways infrastructure with the necessary toll control by an automatic system as we know operates in other developed countries and also as I saw in Jamaica, right here in the Caribbean/West Indies. Investors could come build the roads without any investments from the Government and peoples of Guyana. They could set up a toll system from which they could recover their money/capital after a number of years.

Most important, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force could have a reliable, powerful, integrated fingerprint and record of citizens of this country stored and transferred easily as I saw since 1973 operating in Ottawa, Canada when I was studying Police Technology.

And since then, I have been lamenting and speaking of the necessity of having this kind of system in Guyana. But I know it is impossible for all of this to happen, be it infra-structure, criminal records, health facilities records, to be fully stored and transmittable without proper reliable electricity.

Excellency, President Ali, peoples of this country, hydro was sabotaged by Khemraj Ramjattan’s AFC!  I do not blame the PNC. Because the PNC’s job as the main Opposition is to do all they can to possibly destroy a good, decent and reliable government, voted and elected by the people.  And they would sabotage obviously the “Hydro,” the same way they sabotage the children of Guyana and disaffected the parents by instantly stopping the ‘We Care’ cash grant of G$10,000 at that time to each child.’

I recall well, that Ramjattan wanted a particular thing and threatened the Bharrat Jagdeo Government with funding for the Amelia Hydro Project. But the PPP/C Government did not budge to the threats of Ramjattan’s sabotage. Consequently, Ramjattan’s AFC voted with the PNC to demolish Hydro.  Thereby bringing intentional trauma, torture, heartache, hardship, and pain to the Guyanese people mostly with the same ache and venom brought to the sugar workers in the Corentyne area by the closure of the factories without a notice.  It was a great sadness when I learnt later that the Amelia Hydro Project did not receive Government’s Parliamentary support at that time or the supposedly independent Ramjattan’s AFC.

Therefore, peoples of Guyana, I, the undersigned state most emphatically; that it is not the fault of GPL nor of the Government of Guyana, but that of the PNC/R to an extent, but mostly the AFC and its Leader Ramjattan. Therefore, like the sugar workers when we see the AFC leaders and Ramjattan, we almost frowned on him/ them.

Sincerely,

Haji Dr. Roshan Khan

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• Cabinet, Haji Dr. Roshan Khan, Imagine, President Dr. Irfaan Ali, RK’s Guyana Security Services Headquarters

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