Using Guyanese Migration

Jul 18, 2008 Editorial

Guyana has earned the dubious distinction of having one of the highest migration rates in the world, resulting in almost as many people of Guyanese origin living outside Guyana as inside.

While these overseas Guyanese can turn up in some of the most unexpected places, most of them have ended up in the US and in Canada, two countries that are, not unsurprisingly, among the hottest destinations for migrants the world over.

Migration, after all, contrary to what some would believe, is not just confined to Guyana but is a global phenomenon driven by a host of factors, all generally related to the human drive to seek security.

For Guyanese, even though a handful may have been successful in convincing Canadian authorities that political conditions in their native land had proven politically oppressive, objective observers would concede that this is not a major aspect of Guyanese migration.

Economic security has proven to be the prime imperative and with the local economy stubbornly stuck with a low growth rate for nearly a decade, it is unlikely that the attraction of the US or Canada will decrease in the coming decade.

So we can expect Guyanese to continue to trickle out, whether through the legal avenues of sponsorship or through the various “backtrack” routes. What are we to do? Well for one we can look at the positive sides of our migration phenomenon.

The continuous outward flow of Guyanese has produced a windfall of remittances from those in the Diaspora who still remember their relatives and friends back “home”.

While the estimates vary widely, even the most conservative analysts concede that remittances exceed the earnings of both the sugar and rice industries. We are talking of at least some US$150 million.

Now when a source of revenue can surpass the two local industries that are the largest employers of labour in the land, one has to sit up and take notice.

Apart from the obvious positive effect on social stability, there is the supply of much-needed hard currency. The administration has to maximise the benefits of these funds by initiating programmes to ensure that the funds are not all frittered away in consumption of foreign consumables, but in generating jobs.

Then we arrive at what we believe to be the greatest dividend that can be earned from our citizens who have departed from our shores: the overseas Guyanese themselves.

We have identified this asset in several previous editorials and we are pleased that recently there have been signs that the administration has at long last begun to recognise it for a bit more than just a source of easy campaign funds.

It is imperative that the administration moves fast to mobilise the several benefits that are immanent in the overseas Guyanese community since the ones who are most critically positioned are getting on in years and there is no guarantee that the second generation, who were born in the foreign lands, will be as forthcoming.

First and foremost, the overseas Guyanese community represents a reservoir of talent and resources that can be the catalyst for jump-starting and then keeping the Guyanese economy on a sustained growth curve.

Guyana’s comparative advantage is in agriculture and agro processing. We do not necessarily need mega projects to get going in this area and in fact there is a strong body of evidence that a variety of smaller endeavours may serve our needs even more efficiently.

The Skeldon sugar expansion will result in the generation of at least 10 megawatts of excess electricity that is cleaner and more reliable than any other in Guyana.

The government has to look at this power not simply to satisfy consumer demand, but to form the core of a business plan for the Diaspora that identifies specific agricultural/agro-processing projects in say, the Black Bush Polder and its environs where superbly fertile, irrigated and drained lands are wasted on non-profitable rice.

In New York, at least, there are Berbicians who have the means and the desire to make such a plan a reality. We expect that the very energetic Minister of Agriculture has all the tolls to draft such a plan and sell it to the Diaspora to make it a reality. Over to you, sir.

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Using Guyanese Migration

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