There is much to celebrate

Dec 28, 2008 Features / Columnists

The Christmas holidays are almost over, but the holiday spirit continues among Guyanese, who had saved all year round for just this occasion.

There were the intermittent power outages, caused largely by systems failure rather than by generation shortfalls. The Government had spent millions of dollars to ensure that there was no generation shortfall.

All in all, this Christmas was as bright as any in the past, if not brighter, because the Government put measures in place to ensure that this was the case.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of Government action was reflected in the security measures introduced and executed efficiently by the police.

Whatever petty crime was committed saw the perpetrators being arrested almost on the spot, and they are now awaiting a determination according to law.

The only blemish rested with the road users, and there were far too many road accidents that ended in fatality. Almost all of these could have been avoided, but there were road users who were bent on speeding and on careless driving.

It was as if they had conspired to make some people get less than a happy Christmas; and so it was, because there were households that were plunged into mourning throughout the season they had prepared so much for.

But perhaps the most significant happening was the flood avoidance programme put in place by the Government. Millions of dollars were spent on drainage, and special attention was paid to those locations that tended to hold more water than usual. Of significance was the fact that locations that were hard hit during 2005 were practically dry, and if there was any residual water, this was drained off the land in a jiffy.

People rushed to criticise the Government for allowing the flooding, but any right-thinking person would realize that, in the first case, the Coastal Plains are below sea level, so that there is bound to be residual water on the land after a period of prolonged rainfall. Secondly, the action by the very people helped contribute to this problem.

But this has not prevented the Government from dealing with the problem of draining the land, and so it was that most communities had a bright Christmas. To show that it cared, the Government had its representatives visit the flood-prone communities even on Christmas Day. No Government wanted to sit back and enjoy the finer things of life while its people suffered. However, the critics failed to acknowledge this fact.

As fate would have it, President Bharrat Jagdeo got his wish, because all he wanted was for the rain to stop; and as if by Divine intervention, the rains stopped, and in cases where they came, they were not as intense as predicted.

In the coming days, right up to when the season ends, the Government would continue monitoring the situation with a view to bringing relief to the people.

There was even more cause to celebrate from the point of view of the Berbicians, because a dream that many held for more than fifty years was fulfilled. They got the much-dreamed-of bridge that is cutting their travel time by as many as four hours.

Gone are the days when people, particularly those in East Berbice, were forced to leave their homes as early as midnight in order to cross the river at dawn.

Gone, too, are the days when people were stranded on either side of the river because the last ferry had stopped working.

Already there has been a noticeable increase in the movement of traffic from east to west and vice versa. Many who were reluctant to travel because of the delay in completing a journey are now moving without hesitation.

Full credit should go to the Government, but the critics are now carping on something else. They are factoring in the toll, which is slightly higher than what would have prevailed on the ferry.

Rather than accept the maxim that time is money and that people are using the waiting time to complete their business and save money, the critics are looking at cost.

In the first instance, the bridge, which was constructed at great cost, must be maintained and must also provide some returns for the investors.

The very critics are also going to enjoy the facility, but such in the nature of people who always seek an opportunity to cast blame.

More is going to happen in the coming weeks and years, and as these developments come on stream, the Government will simply continue working to ensure that even more beneficial things happen, even as the critics seek to blame the Government.

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There is much to celebrate

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