More and more people are leaving these shores

Aug 03, 2010 Letters

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Dear Editor,
More and more people in Guyana today are waiting to hear from the United States Embassy for their final interviews and paperwork to be completed; completed so that they can run off of these most troubled shores.
I am sure our people do not take lightly leaving (sometimes for good) the land of their birth, their motherland, their home.
But circumstances push many people to migrate to other countries, as do the dozens of Guyanese that leave on jam-packed outbound flights to JFK Airport and such.
Every single day, more and more persons are being qualified to take up legal residence in the United States and Canada, even the Virgin Islands.
The U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security websites detail the number of worldwide visas according to countries and regions of the world, and a chart which is updated monthly, gives information of the preferences and visa categories currently under processing.
But so much time has passed and so many governments have sat, and yet Guyanese are literally running away from their homeland. Can you blame them? Can you really blame citizens of Guyana wanting a better life for themselves and their families?
Surely, venturing into the unknown, to a new world, among new people, has its own consequences, but this has not stopped the thousands of Guyanese who have taken up residence in North America over the past decades.
Yes, today, the enormous Guyanese population in New York and Toronto speak volumes; they certainly tell an interesting story.
What could have possible sent all these Guyanese abroad over the years? Decades of mismanagement, corruption, racial tiffs, and brainwashing by politicians that better days are ahead.
The times get worse every time they sing that tune. Persons have been fleeing Guyana since the years of dictatorship; and now, under the elected-dictatorship, the situation isn’t any different. Guyanese are leaving by the droves every day. Just check in with any airline going to New York, and you’ll see what I am talking about.
There are more applications than actual visas available now for residents of the Caribbean states.
Perhaps, Guyana’s population would have been much larger today had it not been for the mass migration that has, is and will always take place on these shores.
There has also been Guyanese who became fed up of the political tug-of-war here that they have packed their bags and left. Many names come to mind. How many of you are reading this essay right now in the Diaspora?
Guyanese have found themselves in all corners of the globe trying to find new lifestyles and make ends meet. And many of them certainly have. Life is not easy for many overseas-based Guyanese, but many of them certainly see where and how each dollar is being spent.
The actualities of a developed nation, free and democratic in every sense of the words, have fuelled their successes and will ensure viable economic successes in the future.
You see, the Diaspora in North America and other places, with just a few years of being residents and even citizens of another nation have been living under different circumstances, not under a dictatorship which muzzles people’s views and ideas; which victimizes individuals when they express themselves in the letter columns; or one which punishes newspapers especially when they don’t suck up to the fallacies and propagandistic ideas that flow from administration after administration.
Yes, the countries in which our Guyanese brothers and sisters have chosen to spend the rest of their lives in have problems and issues.
Which country doesn’t? Which government does not have problems, especially with its people, policies, etc?
But there’s a difference between problems that arise as a consequence of the 21ST Century challenges of these times, and bold-faced dictatorial policies, frauds, extra-judiciary killings, unsolved murders, thieving by public officials, mismanagement of taxpayers’ monies, etc. Shall I go on?
I am a young Guyanese and I believe the few experiences I have gotten over the past years have taught me a lot.
I know so much about what is going on in Guyana — behind closed doors as they say. No doubt our brothers and sisters who have left these shores are keeping track of what is going on every day here.
I am sure that every nasty headline — nasty but true, pains their hearts. “Look what Guyana has come to”, they say. “I don’t think I could’ve stayed and endured all that”, they say. “And what is the government doing about it?” they ask.
Very shortly, a family of four would be leaving for their new home in New York.
Born and bred here, endured all our Guyanese customs and way of life, I wondered how those four Guyanese would adjust to their new home.
I believe they would. If thousands before them did, they are sure to as well. I could’ve seen the sadness in their faces, especially the children.
“Maybe if our Guyana was going somewhere, maybe if we as a family were getting somewhere in life, maybe we might have stayed,” I imagined them saying.
None of those ‘maybes’ have worked or can work in Guyana.
I believe many of our country’s problems are deeper than what actually protrude to the surface. Many of our problems like it or not, are here to stay, with no light at the end of the tunnel. You can thank our arrogant politicians for that; from 1966 to 2010, Guyana has been getting worse.
Arrogance reins today right from the very top in this country. So what do you expect? I wonder how many of them go to sleep at nights.
For that family of four, I wish them all the best life has to offer in a new land among new people.
Guyana will always be home to them though. Their flight leaves this weekend under the cloud of darkness. They would leave these shores for one last time, to make beds of comfort elsewhere, in a strange man’s land. Little do they know that with a little extra determination and zeal for living, and with the perfect (or near to perfect) economic standings, a diligent government that values the working- class, a more value- rich currency (all of which is present where they are going), and many hours of work, they would surely enjoy the sweetness of life in what Alicia Keys in her song fittingly describes, “concrete jungles where dreams are made of”.
They surely are. In Guyana, they don’t even allow you to dream; if you do, they turn them into nightmares. And this is one nightmare from which you would never awake.
Leon Jameson Suseran
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It’s Surinamese sovereign right to choose their own leader

Dear Editor,
I’m appalled at the request of the Jamaica Gleaner in its attempt to instigate Prime Minister Bruce Golding to lead a charge to suspend Suriname from CARICOM until another leader replaces Desi Bouterse.
The people of Suriname have spoken and it is their democratic right to elect whomsoever they wish to lead their country.
The Surinamese populace has through their votes expressed that they have overlooked the past for the future and which other country or people has the right to deny Suriname its sovereign right to choose their own leader without fear, favour or threats from any other nation.
I think it’s hypocritical of this Jamaican media house to pass judgment on officials in Suriname when their own Prime Minister was in bed with the biggest and most wanted drug and gun running baron in the English speaking Caribbean.
As a result of this unholy alliance, Jamaica had to be coerced into ‘Dudus’ Coke’s extradition. The recent 70 odd civilian deaths, state of emergency and a call by the opposition for the resignation of Mr. Bruce Golding should give the Gleaner, Prime Minister Golding and all of Jamaica reasons for introspection.
Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones, a wise saying Jamaica should pay heed to.
Bilaal Eusi Nantambu
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Unless Corbin removes himself there will be concern to any possible alliance partner

Dear Editor,
I am surprised by the sentimental reactions to the position taken by the AFC to rule out an alliance with the PNCR. I agree in particular with the view of my respected friend and comrade Rickford Burke that there is the need for a broad alliance with groups shelving individual differences to remove the PPP from government.
What I do not agree with is the fact that there needs to be an alliance at all cost and with any group regardless of their objectives philosophy, and actions.
The AFC was formed by two courageous young men who defied the concept of not betraying your party at all cost and established a modern political outfit that moved away from traditional third world politics.
The AFC is right because the PNCR with Corbin as its leader is short on political integrity and representation of the people.
What does the AFC and its supporters stand to gain from an alliance with the PNCR? In recent times under Mr. Corbin’s watch the PNCR has become a dysfunctional, shortsighted and visionless outfit that offers no form of representation to the people that voted for them or the wider Guyanese public.
Whatever structures remain, only serve to fortify the position of Mr. Corbin and his cabal that he has surrounded himself with.
I am shocked that Mr. Corbin expects to be taken seriously about alliances when he has banished anyone who dares to challenge him to the political wilderness, even some of the brightest in the party.
How can one trust such a person (and I deliberately didn’t refer to him as leader) that cannot facilitate opposing views within his own party?
Just examine the record of the PNCR under Corbin and the culture developed by the party since he became leader.
All significant elections in the party that either challenged Mr. Corbin or his henchmen were blatantly rigged and mobbed by his street thugs.
I was present at the 2009 Congress and it was a cardinal sin to be opposed to Corbin in anyway. The rigging and intimidation was so clumsy it remains laughable but that has already been ventilated in the press. This man has shown that he is not interested in building a party that is a credible institution that can be an alternate government, but one that will protect him as leader at all costs. Where is the PNCR when national scandals, corruption and executive lawlessness dominate our society?
They respond to these safely behind the walls of Congress Place holding press conferences and issuing press releases (paper tigers true to form).
So many injustices are meted out to the population on a daily basis yet we can see no militant response from the Party. When the Roger Khan saga unfolded Mr. Corbin sounded the call to take to the streets.
This was around the time of the congress where his leadership was challenged and he wanted to show a militant side of him. Thirty people responded to the two-hour ‘protest’. After the congress we didn’t hear any more calls for protests.
What is the parliamentary record of the PNCR under Corbin? Like Mr. Murray stated the party endures a lot of ‘eye pass’.
The party has been unable to influence the legislative agenda of the government in any shape or form. I recall early in the days of the PPP government, they were refusing to pay the diplomats they dismissed.
Mr. Hoyte kept that issue on the political front burner at every opportunity.
He was able through skillful negotiation and political action to get the government to bring a bill to the parliament to effect that payment.
The point here is that in parliament, the PNCR under Mr. Hoyte wasn’t used by the PPP for their narrow political objectives.
Mr. Hoyte never met with any of the PPP leaders or presidents unless there was a substantial issue of national importance to be discussed.
Today Mr. Jagdeo ‘pick and choose’ the minor issues to discuss with Mr. Corbin giving the PPP their photo and press opportunities at his and the PNCR’s expense.
The present PNCR has made no achievement or impact on the lives of ordinary Guyanese by their presence in the parliament; they simply give legitimacy to the actions of the government.
In sum total the PNCR has been reduced to an undemocratic, impotent and visionless political ensemble.
Whatever remains of the great party built by the founder leader is used to pursue critics of Mr. Corbin and focus on his preservation rather than national issues. Its electoral performance worsens consistently.
In 2001 the PNCR won 166 090 votes “(27 seats) and in 2006 the party won 114 608 votes (22 seats). Anyone can see that this trend will continue in the next election with the party doing nothing to broaden its support base and attract new members.
Mr. Corbin is not politically attractive to the electorate and he knows that. The party says that he will not be the presidential candidate but they have failed to say what his role will be. The history of the PNCR ties the leader and the presidential candidate as one. Could the party categorically state what will his role be?
Unless he completely removes himself from the process this grey area will remain a source of concern to the electorate and any possible alliance partner.
Then what does the AFC stand to gain from an alliance with a party with such a dismal record?
The role of the AFC is to strive for the creation of a new political dispensation, with openness, transparency, integrity, and equity as its watchwords.
In terms of coalition politics the AFC needs to form alliances with likeminded organizations.
I would like to know how are they likeminded with the PNCR? How can they further achieve these ethoses with a PNCR alliance?
Those who disagree with the party’s position must call on the PNCR to address their issues so that it can be an attractive coalition partner. Do not divert attention from the issues tat affect the viability and political integrity of the PNCR.
One may argue that the AFC is not as popular and may need the political muscle of the PNCR? Where is that muscle? When last have we seen a mass gathering of the PNCR?
Any party of consequence must be able to summon the troops and have a mass showing of its people strength and support. We wait.
Jerrick Rutherford
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The depletion of our hinterland fish stock

Dear Editor,
Some weeks ago, the Minister of Agriculture lamented the depletion of our hinterland fish stock, attributing it to sport fishing.
I wrote the Minister acquainting him of mass destruction of the fish population in the Water Conservancy spanning Canals Polder to Naamryk on the West Demerara/East Essequibo area. Miles and miles of tangle seine and fly rods are strung along both banks of the Conservancy. These are being manned by fishermen who have camps in the Conservancy and who carry firearms.
I suppose the Minister is a very busy person and can hardly be expected to acknowledge my letter on a matter, the gravity of which he himself made public. Perhaps the fish stock in the West Demerara/East Bank Essequibo is not important.
I am now openly advocating that those who object to wanton and mass destruction of our sweet water fish stock, as in the case noted above, to bring pressure to bear on the unscrupulous fishermen to up their seines and fly rods and exit the area, and let the fish stock be replenished.
I also call upon Conservation International to visit the area for a first hand look at the situation.
Taajnauth Jadunauth

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