NO SWEET SIXTEEN

Oct 25, 2008 Editorial

Many of the problems which defined the difficulties of living in Guyana in the seventies and eighties are once again becoming common fare. Extended power outages, inadequate potable water supply, high crime rates, and an increase in social deviancy are just some of the problems that are now signalling the failure of official policy.
There is no need now for another press conference to be called to diagnose these problems. The citizens of Guyana are all too well aware of these problems. They face them each day.
Things that would normally take seconds in a developed country, such as filling a large bucket of water, take hours in Guyana, and often involve backbreaking efforts. After sixteen years of the return of democracy in Guyana, the water pressure in most homes is not enough to take water waist-high on the ground floor, much less to reach the upper floors, as it once did under colonial Guyana. Perhaps the most signal failure of the PPP Administration has been its disastrous handling of water.
Electricity was one of the strong points of the Cheddi Jagan Administration. He was able, within a short period of time, to bring in extra generating capacity through Wartsila, and thus stabilise the erratic supply to the Guyanese public. That stability is today being totally undermined with regular and extended blackouts facing the Guyanese people. It now seems that Guyana has returned to the glory days of load shedding and that we are in for difficult times.
In the difficult days of the seventies and the eighties fear prevailed throughout the country, none more so than the fear of criminal violation. Despite the tremendous efforts made to reduce crime in Guyana, and especially the successes in dismantling major criminal networks, there continue to be worrying incidents of crimes involving the use of small arms. This has, of course, once again raised fears in the society about security and safety.
Social deviancy has also become pronounced. Drug use is increasing and destroying the bodies and minds of many able-bodied Guyanese who, suffering from addiction, have limited avenues for redress or help. Domestic violence has now re-emerged as a serious social problem to add to our litany of woes. The number of beggars is increasing each day, and so, too, are the numbers of children forced to take to the streets to make a living. Life in Guyana is becoming short, nasty and brutish.
We urge the Government to seriously consider whether its style of governance, dominated by an over-centralization of decision making, is not one of the main contributing factors involved in the failure to move our country forward.
Most Guyanese do not ask for much. They do not ask for a car for each household, or for the latest gadgets to adorn the interiors of their homes; they do not ask for the luxury of foreign vacations, or even the chance to shop at Macy’s.
Most Guyanese want secure jobs that would guarantee the breadwinners of homes pensions at the end of their working lives, a roof over each head, an adequate supply of potable water, reasonably priced and assured electricity supply, cheap food, and a decent health care system.
Most Guyanese would be happy if the Government can provide the basics and leave the rest to the private sector.
After sixteen years, the supply of the basic social services remains inconsistent, too erratic for comfort. Better can and must be done by the Government to ensure good water and electricity services.
This is the starting point, and must involve practical measures, and not by the making of excuses, to which we have become so accustomed over the past sixteen years.

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