Where is the conscience of this nation?

Nov 01, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

One of the really great things I remember about the late Edward Kennedy was a statement he made during the unrestrained domination of hardline conservatism at the beginning of the Reagan era in 1980. He said that despite the onslaught of Republican rule, he never felt more committed to the cause of liberalism.
Kennedy never wavered and before he died he saw the liberal dream came true – the US elected its first African-American President.
In Guyana, at the moment, it is becoming impossible to restrain your anger at the almost total obliviousness of this nation to the complete degradation of Guyana. You feel you want to give up, but Edward Kennedy’s echo is there to remind you that you must persevere because as Sam Cooke once sang, “a change is gonna come.”
I went to bail Mark Benschop on Friday afternoon and the police allowed me to go to his cell. All the cells at the Diamond /Grove police station (newly built) consist of bare concrete floors. That was where Benschop slept. How in a civilized society can you take an accused and put him to sleep for several nights on a concrete floor? His health is bound to be damaged.
The bath/toilet facility was worse than anything the world had a thousand years ago and this is 2009. This country is returning to a pre-civilization era. Not only is the physical structure of this territory disappearing but also its mental integrity.
The Minister of Home Affairs who is in charge of the prisons informed the media that the Brickdam lockup is not Pegasus. This was his response when told of the uncivilized condition of that place. This very Minister could be that callous because the Burnham Government which he calls a dictatorship treated him in a civilized way when he was an opposition activist; they never threw him in jail the way Benschop is being tossed inside a jail cell the past six years.
This view of mine on the conditions of the horrible conditions of the police cells in different locations will be laughed at when read by Guyanese students all over this country. The same day that I saw the conditions under which Benschop was kept, there was a letter in the newspapers describing the non-existent toilet facilities at one of the country’s leading educational institutions – West Demerara Secondary School.
A parent described how the toilets have been overrun by worms. I know that sight. I have taught for twenty-three years at UG and I never used the toilet facilities except the urinal. In 1994, a group of Jamaican students told me they would never complete their studies at UG because no university should have its toilet facilities in such a deplorable state. They left the same year.
Nothing has changed since then. It is not only the West Demerara School that the worms have invaded. I would like to think this is the pattern throughout the public schools.
Where is the conscience of this nation when one sees the tyrannical shamelessness of a government that embarrasses the people of this country everyday without exception? After bailing Benschop, on Friday about 13.00 hours, I went to Water Street to make a purchase for my daughter. I came across Main Street on Quamina Street to enter Holmes Street but couldn’t get to Water Street because Holmes Street is taken over by a seafood company that has permanently placed three humongous refrigerated containers onto the road thus blocking traffic.
I did an entire column on this outlandishness months ago. Since then the people of this country have watched Robeson Benn’s Ministry demolishing encumbrances that are out of harm’s way yet Holmes Street has been lost to the people of Guyana. This thing is so barefaced that it cries out for protest.
Mr. Benn’s Ministry last week removed two fruit stalls on Vlissengen Road where poor people are trying to make a living. Yet the monster-containers are still occupying Holmes Street.
Where is the conscience of this nation when hypocrites gather outside the Office of the President protesting lack of legislation to protect children and a private school kicks out children in the middle of the school term for mere possession of a cell phone and not a word from these publicity-seeking protesters?
Dale Andrews, of this newspaper, and I drove past them last Thursday as they picketed Parliament. They loved the publicity they were getting from the media and Parliamentarian, Moses Nagamootoo, who engaged them in conversation. I wonder what Moses said to them.
Was it about the containers on Holmes Street or the school that loves to expel students?

Latest News

Where is the conscience of this nation?

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Dharry reigns supreme with second-round KO against Ramirez

Rutherford among nominees for ICC Men’s ODI...

Lumumba appointed Advisor to GBA

K&S/One Guyana National Futsal Championships...

Lewis, Gentle defend GTA One Guyana Open Tennis...

Zion Hickerson scores one-year sponsorship with...

Features/Columnists

Consent is not a veto

Breaking the Chains of Poverty: A need for political will

Barrels, boxes, and bills

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Where is the conscience of this nation?

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]