My column – There is so much wrong in Guyana

Jul 13, 2008 Features / Columnists, My Column

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It seems that at every turn there is bound to be some controversy or the other because I want to believe that people thrive on controversy. The first was the issue of the higher fares charged by the minibuses.

The owners and operators of the minibuses and even those operating taxi services had long been complaining about the high gasoline prices. They were also complaining about the increasing cost of spares and so many things, not least among them the cost of living.

I knew that it would only be a matter of time before there was a fare hike, especially since the last one was some three or four years ago. And as could be expected the fare hike came and with it the protests, first from the commuters and then from the government.

There was an agreement that the fares could go up once the price of gasoline passed the $1,000 per gallon mark and that it did, except for the Guyoil service stations. But the minibus drivers, many of whom sought after the cheaper gasoline decided that the price had passed the mark at which they were promised that they could increase their fares.

There are no price controls in place so people who provide a service could charge whatever they please. The person who operates a private school cannot be dictated about how much he or she could charge students. Similarly, the minibus operators and taxis are not bound by any such norms.

To their credit, the minibus operators indulged in conversations with the subject Minister and it would seem that they failed to reach a resolution, at least for a few weeks.

The prices have gone up and now there are calls from the government sector that the people must not pay any increase. This is a dangerous pronouncement especially since many have already begun to pay the new fares.

And in any case, a passenger would only be allowed to escape without paying the new fare on one occasion. After that, the minibuses would simply pass that person by.

But there is another side to all this. Violence seems to be the order of the day. These days, minibus operators and conductors are not among the most reasonable people in the world. They have been known to visit people who refuse to pay them with violence and I am sure that they have not changed.

The message, therefore, that people should not pay the higher fare is a message to people to be prepared for whatever the minibus people decide to visit them with. And it is not that all the passengers are simple people; some are equally capable of defending themselves so one could easily visualize a situation in which a minibus operator decides to go after a passenger with some instrument or the other and the passenger retaliating.

The other area of controversy involves schoolboys and schoolgirls. I say that this is a controversial issue because the schools are limited in the extent of correctional measures they can apply. The teachers are told that they should be wary of using corporal punishment.

I am not a person who would condemn corporal punishment because I suppose I grew up in an era when corporal punishment kept many of us, including me, in line. I was caned at Queen’s College and I came out none the worse for wear. For sure, I never made the same mistake again and that was to get two detentions in a day.

It is true that only the head and deputy could cane but they were allowed to recruit a senior teacher who had the ability to dispense punishment, but only in the presence of the head or the deputy.

The other day I heard of the boy from that same school who attacked a taxi driver with a gun and proceeded to rob the man. What the hell has Queen’s College come to? That school indeed, produced the best and the worst, but never a gunman. Now it can boast of that distinction.

I am convinced that the student was a drug addict and that is another story. Drugs, I understand, are common features in some schools. Schools are said to be the venue for both vendors and users and this is a frightening situation.

I can only conclude that parents are not what they used to be. How they can see their children with money, knowing that they, the parents did not provide the money is an interesting issue.

I know of one case where a schoolgirl actually lived with a fellow and when the school sent for the mother, the woman simply told the teachers that her daughter needed things and that she was old enough to go and get the things she needed. That is lawlessness of the highest order and I am still at a loss wondering why the teachers did not pursue the matter with the welfare department.

Another issue that is controversial to say the least involves the dissemination of information. It was not too long that a British expert came here and spoke about the need for a Freedom of Information Act.

Prime Minister Sam Hinds went public with the news that the public gets about 90 per cent of the news anyhow. That might be the case but that 90 per cent is surely not the all the news that the people need. Some may very well be irrelevant.

I want to know about Lindo Creek and I am getting no information. The Police Commissioner said that he had arrested an individual in connection with the Lindo Creek massacre. The law is that a person cannot be held for more than three days without a charge being laid. It has been more than three days and there has been no charge. Perhaps there was no arrest in the first place.

The Trinidadians have come and gone and it seems as if they have taken all the information with them because the public is hearing nothing. Had it not been for Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon, the public might never have known that the Trinidadians found the campsite and conducted whatever tests they wanted to do.

I know that both the police and the army were quick to host press conferences when they killed some people. This time they are silent.

And what about the torture report? It is said to have been completed but once more a wall of silence surrounds that issue.

Perhaps the issue here is the old adage “Silence is golden” or “No news is good news” but for me, silence is deafening.

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