We will not be prisoners of the past!

Apr 19, 2009 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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“We will not be prisoners of the past! I’m here to talk about the Future!” – President Barack Obama at the 5th Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, April 17, 2009.
There is no doubt that Trinidad and Tobago’s hosting of the 5th Summit of the Americas is a monumental event for the entire Caribbean. It’s a unique historical opportunity for the region to place on the agenda of the Americas, the special challenges that confront small nations.
The tone of the summit was set by that transformational figure, United States President Barack Obama, who said in his keynote address at the opening of the summit, ”We will not be prisoners of the past! I’m here to talk about the Future!”

So let us for a moment escape the shackles of our past, examine our present and see if we can create a better way to shape our future. What is the reality of where we are, in this the tenth year of a new century.
Communication and the ability to exchange ideas in an information-driven, competitive world economy are vital to the economic sustainability and future of any country. In Guyana, a country of some 83,000 square miles, there is one ONE radio station.

Is it really acceptable as an explanation, after 43 years of independence, that we cannot draft and implement broadcast legislation which would address and protect the interest of all stakeholders?
Further, in this technology-driven global interconnected environment, is it acceptable to limit choice and access to information? To force a community as happens in Region 10, to watch only one TV station and an entire nation to have just one radio station – a stark contrast to Trinidad’s 17?
And worse, is it acceptable that a national television station – which should inform and educate all of our peoples, as well as encourage debate with a view to finding meaningful solutions to a myriad of challenges – operates solely as a government propaganda machinery under the control of a few who seek to dominate the many? When will our taxpayers’ dollars be used to fund our own equivalent of the BBC, committed to giving access and representation to all?

The problem is that in Guyana now we have lived with the abnormal for so long, we are unable to recognize how abnormal we have become in a world that is leaving us behind.
Race continues to infect our society, spreading its cancerous tentacles over every national institution. Fear and insecurity, whether physical or economic, pervade our daily life, creating separate and conflicting narratives.
The only aspect of national activity which has escaped the pollution of race is migration. The national consciousness is a permanent resident of the departure lounge at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.

Our ability to constructively contribute to national debate continues to be stymied and frustrated by the lack of access to national data and information. There is no Freedom of Information Act. However translated, the Government has access to all the information and you have none. In functioning democracies you can go online and access the most basic of data.
So how do we go forward and what can the future hold for Guyana.
President Obama speaking on Democracy in France on April 3, 2009 said,
“That we will open up our markets to trade from poor countries,
That we will also insist that there is good governance and rule of law,
And other critical factors to make these countries work…….
A well functioning society does not just depend on going to the ballot box.”

For Guyana to begin to realize anything near to its true potential, it must create equal opportunity for all its young citizens to realize their true potential. Fundamentally, this must start by addressing the deficiencies in our education system. You simply cannot have the national average pass mark for English and Mathematics hovering around 30%. This means that every year we are sending our youth into the workforce with severe challenges and disadvantages, which can only adversely impact on national productivity. What’s the point of building brand new spanking schools when there is no teacher to teach in them and little or no money spent on the maintenance of the old ones?

The AFC believes that the continued insularity of the Government and their refusal to address these issues will irreparably damage Guyana. We believe that global attention must be drawn to these severe weaknesses in our national development. We ask you not to cower to fear but to stand up and speak up for what is right, fair and just!

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person
Or some other time
We are the ones we have been waiting for
We are the change that we seek.”
– Barack Obama

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