Guyana’s cure is in the hands of the electorate

Dec 04, 2009 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I truly want to write about all the good and positive things that are unfolding in Guyana and am becoming cautiously optimistic especially when I read the letter columns of Kaieteur News and SN and see the attempts made by letter writers such as Skinner, Lewis, GHK Lall, Ramsaroop and all the others who are doing their best to find and stir the conscience of this apathetic and racially divided polity.
But I can’t. State sanctioned torture, lawlessness, corruption and drug trafficking has metastasized like a cancer on this nation and the elected leaders are accountable to no one.
In 1992 when the PPP came to power it is fair to say that the majority of Guyanese and many across the world wanted to see them succeed and lift Guyana out of the morass that obtained under PNC rule. It is equally fair to say that the PPP and this Jagdeo government have squandered that good will and patience of a now traumatized and numb Guyanese populace.
When the Taliban fell in 2002, there was a well spring of support for President Hamid Karzai’s government and the world wanted to see Afghanistan join the ranks of modern enlightened nations. Almost a decade later Afghanistan is still war torn and the Karzai government is viewed with deep suspicion. Guyana is currently ranked 126 on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by the respected Transparency International and Afghanistan is second from the bottom at 179. Guyana’s downward slide on the CPI began in 2005 and shows no sign of abating and cannot be easily dismissed or spun by paid spin doctors and PPP apologists.
Up until earlier this year, opium production continued to flourish despite the Karzai government and United States efforts to stem the flow of drugs that make the powerfully addictive substance heroin. The consistent theme that draws the parallel between the two nations are endemic corruption that now pervades every facet of society in both countries and drug trafficking where members or people closely associated with both administrations have been credibly implicated.
With respect to Mexico, approximately three years ago the incoming government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched anambitious all out war on the half a dozen drug cartels that operate just south of the El Paso Texas border on the American side in Laredo Mexico. Since that time it is estimated that more than 14,000 people have been killed since the army took the fight to the cartels. Ironically, the majority of the killings have never been solved because the army, the police and district attorney’s office have been implicated by omission or commission in the drug trade and resultant carnage.
Fast forward to Guyana and the Roger Khan episode comes to mind with increasing revelation that army major David Clarke was involved in the same type of nefarious activities as Khan, who openly advertised himself as a savior of the Jagdeo/PPP government and is much admired as a hero by a large demographic that support the Jagdeo led PPP administration.
One cannot discount the likely scenario that the body count that numbered in the hundreds was the result of a turf war between Khan and Clarke that the duly elected government was either unwilling and or unable to stop because they abdicated their moral and constitutional responsibility by their tacit involvement with “businessman” Khan.
All Guyanese must realise that the world’s perception of their country is not confined to the government and is a reflection on them and as such, they will rightly or wrongly be viewed with suspicion or contempt when they travel.
When the government was exposed in authorising an illegal land deal, they went back to parliament to legitimize after the fact an illegal transaction.
When an extradition request was made for a “businessman” there was a lacuna in the law so the government went back to parliament to fix the lacuna. Nowhere else in the world does a request for extradition become a matter of discretion for a minister of the government instead of a court of law, the final arbiter on legal issues.
If the AFC wants the nation to truly believe that they are the radiation that can kill this cancer, then they should become more aggressive in their treatment of the diseased agent, the Jagdeo/PPP administration. Shout it out in every county and every village and every bottom house that the cure for what ails Guyana is in the collective hands of the electorate; they can help by removing them in the next local and general elections. It is the only way to stop the downward spiral of this nation abundantly blessed with natural resources and geographically located free from natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. You owe it to your children and grandchildren.
Nigel Jason

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