There is a scramble by powerful people to get as much of the state’s largesse as possible

Nov 12, 2009 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Thankfully, my family ceased planting rice several years ago, because rice farmers in Guyana are always facing some sort of difficulty and nothing substantially is being done to help them by those with the powers.
My family migrated from Guyana many years ago after several generations in the rice industry. Today my family members are scattered around the globe and some live as far away as Australia and Mauritius.
We still have our rice lands on the Corentyne, but these have been rented out to area farmers who face a daily struggle even to meet the low yearly rental payable to us.
I now live in Baltimore, Maryland with my wife and kids, but like so many of my countrymen, my heart resides in Guyana.
I am fortunate to be able to often visit my country and together with the internet, I have been diligently following the plight of the rice farmers and everyone else in my beloved country and the many problems my country is facing. Nothing of substance has been done to help the poor and suffering class and I am doubtful that anything significant will ever be done.
The dreams of the ordinary Guyanese man living in Guyana have been shattered by the ruling PPP. This is not what was expected of this party in 1992 when it took power.
Regarding the rice farmers, many promises were made to them but 17 years on, there is not much that the government can show in the area of progress. The rice industry continues to suffer a slow and painful death and it’s only a matter of time that its demise will be confirmed. No post mortem will be done because there is an acute absence of the will to understand and appreciate the problems of the industry.
In which other country, almost totally dependent on agriculture, is there no agriculture credit bank to assist the sector? Guyana had one such facility and it was disbanded by this very government which calls itself “working class.” The irony which is public knowledge is that most of the borrowers of that bank were Indo Guyanese who voted for their party, the PPP.
So as if to say that medication, in the form of Venezuela, has been found to treat the illness of the industry, Guyana and Venezuela recently signed a deal for Guyana to supply rice to that neighbouring country. Many farmers had hoped to cash-in on this new market where the price is said to be good. Many weeks later, the farmers are still frustratingly waiting for this contract to become effective and for them to start collecting the higher prices for their paddy.
According to one letter writer, Mohamed I. Ally, who, in questioning the status of this contract, said that the government must tell the farmers exactly what, is happening.
The Kaieteur News editorial note to Mr. Ally’s letter confirmed that no shipment has left for Venezuela, but that one is expected to leave later this week. This means that this shipment must be in the process of being loaded in Guyana. I cannot confirm if this is the case but so far, in the absence of a status statement and update from the government, the doubts continue to linger and farmers continue to live in despair.
It is sad to see what is happening back home and I am no longer in any mood to return and assist in whatever way I could with our country’s development. Some years ago, I felt the yearning to return but not anymore. Not with the lawlessness that now pervade the land.
There is too much oppression, depression, corruption and hardships and I sensed that there is a scramble by powerful people, willingly facilitated by politicians, to get as much of the state’s largesse as possible before the next general elections. We have prime examples of friends of the government benefiting from questionable divestment deals.
But the more I read about the destruction of poor people structures which were constructed on state lands, the more I recognised the helplessness of the poor and the total loss of hope.
It becomes more glaring when the rich and powerful are allowed to do as they please with these very state lands which have historically been reserved for various purposes. Just imagine that in a flood-prone country like Guyana the government is allowing drainage canals to be filled-in so that the rich can construct buildings and establish businesses!! This is a government which has gone paranoid.
The laws of the land of Guyana go into hiding and justice takes flight at the sight of the rich and powerful but the same laws become fully recognisable and enforceable on the poor and humble citizens when there is a minor infringement. One need not look beyond the demolition campaign of the Minister of Works, Mr. Robeson Benn.
Mr. Benn thanks to the SN and Kaieteur News and the internet, we in the Diaspora know exactly what is happening in our dear country. We have been closely following your gimmicks and antics and your campaign of destroying the lives of the poor people of our country and your support for the rich, famous and powerful.
Not that I am against clearing the reserves of encumbrances. Rather, I am wholly supportive of such an initiative but it must not be a one-sided, selective affair like that in which you are presently engaged.
I can list a number of businesses owned by both Indo and Afro Guyanese which have been unfetteringly allowed by this government to thrive on reserves belonging to the state. I wish if Mr. Benn can prove me wrong.
We in the Diaspora have contributed tremendously towards the return to democracy in Guyana for which Dr. Cheddi Jagan fought so tirelessly but all the gains of Dr. Jagan and the PPP are now being destroyed in campaigns such as that which is spearheaded by Minister Benn.
A recent letter in the press by Mr. Lenny Singh sought to highlight the glaring double standard in Minister Benn’s demolition campaign. The poor, which comprise the masses and have largely been responsible for repeatedly voting the PPP to power, are truly a downtrodden people who are only fleetingly remembered at elections time. What have the PPP done for these people in 17 years?
How can a government, which had claimed to be “lean and clean” when it took office in 1992, allow itself to end up in this mess it is in today? How can Freedom House sit idly by and allow Mr. Benn to trample and destroy the poor and helpless but supports the business class run-and-spread on public reserves?
Is this system of helping the rich to get richer and literally destroying the poor not in contradiction to the legacy of Dr. Jagan?
The poor are facing a multi-dimensional struggle against crime, impoverishment, persecution and prosecution, joblessness, homelessness, diseases and now destruction of their shacks, while the rich enjoy entrenched governmental support for all sorts of illegalities and corruption and immunity from prosecution.
The country is now being over-run by an elite and corrupt group of politicians and ‘businessmen’ grabbing ‘hook, line and sinker.’ The groundwork for mass protest which can lead to civil disorder and disobedience and probably worse, is subtly but wittingly or unwittingly being laid by an administration which fought on the political platform of working class-friendliness and unity.
Here in the US, all businesses have to declare their incomes to the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) and other monitoring agencies. Taxes are paid and development takes place in a system that is transparent and equal to all.
In our beloved Guyana, there are many businesses which cannot support the types of lifestyles and investments displayed by their owners. It is really out of sync.
Yet the tax boss, Kurshid Sattaur, is turning a blind eye and sporadically makes half-hearted cat calls for evaders to be indentified for possible prosecution, as if to say that he is doing something.
If Guyana couldn’t charge one major drug lord, do we expect them to charge and prosecute tax evaders who consistently fill the cup of the PPP?
The very evaders to which Mr. Sattaur referred are those whom he can find at PPP socials and fundraisers. Those are the people who are benefiting from the plunder which has now engulfed our beloved Guyana. Mr. Sattaur knows them but can he go after them?
Guyana is really in a poor state and may be on track to fast becoming a failed state.
Dr. Jagan must be turning in his grave to see what his so-called protégés have done to our country.
Though the hand of local justice may be selective and short, the corrupt politicians and so-called businessmen of Guyana should take note that the hands of the international justice system is impartial and very long and can strike anywhere in the world. Guyana is a part of that world.
Lall Kumar Ramdin
Ocoee, Florida

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