Mosquitoes drowned an old tourist in the “Blacka”

Sep 01, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Last Friday evening, President Jagdeo told the guests at the dinner of the Private Sector Commission that crime reporting on the front page of the newspaper, particularly the Kaieteur News, is responsible for tourists being scared and business people should be concerned because the non-arrivals affect the success of their ventures.
At the time he made that pronouncement, a female centurion who left Guyana when she was five years old, had a terrible experience all due to Mr. Jagdeo’s fault.
This old lady who settled in San Marino ninety-five years ago came home to visit the place of her birth but didn’t make it. She stayed at a private residence in Lamaha Gardens. She was to go to the very Pegasus to hear President Jagdeo speak. She was in fact the guest of honour. Two hours before getting dressed, the aged soul endured another bout of blackout.
She came in the country four days before and got electricity disruptions each day. She fell asleep and a school of mosquitoes picked her up and landed her on top of the “Blacka.”
When she awoke, she found herself floating on the dark waters. The poor lady could not swim and she drowned. I understand her great, great grandchildren will be flying in to donate her ashes to the Tourist Board.
This is my satirical reply to President Jagdeo’s exclamation as to why tourists do not come to Guyana. The fictional account above reminds me of a woman I met in Medicare Pharmacy on New Market Street last year. She told me her mom left thirty years ago and had to cut short her three-week holiday because of blackouts.
President Jagdeo is known for making enormous political mistakes in the speeches he gives, the Private Sector occasion last Friday was no exception. Here is a glaring example of a leader who needs to think before he speaks.
Why bring in the question of the rate of violence in Jamaica. It was a self-destructive point. President Jagdeo pointed to Jamaica’s high murder rate for the year. But the world knows about Jamaica’s endemic violence. I grew up as a little boy hearing about how violent Jamaica was.
By now, no human being on Planet Earth should want to go to Jamaica. But Jamaica’s tourism thrives. It was thriving thirty years ago. It has been getting visitors the past twenty years.
And in the past ten years nothing has changed. A global recession will obviously affect numbers, but still Jamaica’s tourist resource is intact. Usain Bolt will no doubt help it to bolt away from its Caribbean competitors.
I don’t know if his audience was paying attention to him when he zeroed in on Jamaica but most of those investors who listened to President Jagdeo would know that Jamaica’s crime rate has not deterred visitors.
The question is why? One hopes that President Jagdeo knows the answer.
Jamaica is a clean, lovely island that is immensely attractive. Guyana, if not the dirtiest, is one of the dirtiest territories in the world. No visitor will be that crazy to want to come to Georgetown and pick up an infectious disease (could you get infected with Ebola here in Georgetown?) In Jamaica there are parks and gardens that are manicured and beautifully preserved.
The Botanic Gardens, the Promenade Gardens and the National Park are eyesores compared to these aesthetic manifestations.
This is why tourists go to Jamaica. This is the atrocious reason why they stay away from Guyana. The sewage system, power generation, water supply, traffic lights work in Jamaica.
The Private Sector Commission should invite President Jagdeo to go to the junction of Light and Regent Streets for just five minutes. Not more than five minutes, perhaps less.
There he will gaze upon construction work going on that will see a huge building going up at that corner. Next to the site is an ancient rusting sewage station.
This unit looks like it has been in disuse for more than fifteen years. This is the reality of Guyana. People do not want to visit our country because they know Georgetown has sewage overflow as a way of life.
Those listening to Mr. Jagdeo knew in their hearts that they would be going home to blackouts after they would have feasted on the sumptuous dinner.
If they live in Georgetown, then they know where the faeces of their toilets are going. Where I live, I pass rotting horses, dogs and cows often on the highway. Did those listeners believe President Jagdeo’s jazz about sensational crime-reporting affecting tourist arrivals? I doubt it!

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Mosquitoes drowned an old tourist in the “Blacka”

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