Every day it’s a different horror story

Aug 31, 2010 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I have just returned to New York after a three-week vacation in my homeland, Guyana.
Last Friday (27-08-10) I sat down at a famous beer garden at Better Hope, E.C.D. for a few beers and conversations. My re-migrant friend Derek Kowlessar, Gerhard Ramsaroop, Fip Makeswar Motilall and his top American engineer, Osteen sat at the table.
Derek says he is enthralled with Guyana, everyday he makes a new interesting discovery: a new spot that serves up the best potato ball, plantain chips with tasty sour, doll-puri with great chicken curry, and the list goes on and on – all at great prices.
On my second beer I said to my distinguished and celebrated audience: “Forget about the culinary delights and cheap places to eat.
Every day of my short stay in this country I observe or hear of a new horror story”. I downed my second beer, started my third, and began the narration of my two selections:
(1) On Tuesday (24-08-10) I stopped at the vendor’s cart located on the side of the road right in front of the beer garden to purchase a few water coconuts. The vendor, was visibly shaken, unable to speak and almost in tears. Standing like a Gestapo over him was a uniformed police officer and a Ministry of Works and Hydraulics vehicle bearing four other officials. They had just ordered Mr. Siwnath to close his business. I intervened with the police to let the vendor sell me just two coconuts.
Later that evening the vendor appeared at my house with his permit issued by the local N.D.C. that reads: “Permission has been granted to you to sell water coconuts at the Better Hope public road (Puluch Junction) using a movable cart”. Signed by S.N. Singh, Overseer.
He also showed me a receipt as proof that his licence fee had been paid to the Central Government. Both documents were current for year 2010. His permit had not been rescinded.
The vendor had been operating at that site for 20 years. It is his only means of earning a livelihood, barely surviving. Now he is out of work. He is a broken man.
I asked my esteemed friends including the nationally controversial Fip Motilall who had recently won a $15.4 million contract from the Jagdeo government to build a road to Amaila Falls (and which road shall facilitate the construction of the $600 million Hydroelectric plant) to figure out who or what (think: corruption, bribery) is behind the destruction of this vendor.
Onto our fourth round of beers, my audience now captive, the only interruptions being the sound of heavy container vehicles on the highway and the power blackout that lasted for ten minutes, I began my second horror story with the aid of a weak light coming from a lantern.
(2) On Wednesday, Basdeo and Amina (not their real names) arrived at C.J. International airport at 4:00 pm. Check-in time was 3:30. They were told they were late and the flight had been filled.
They insisted they had confirmed tickets and reminded the airline clerk that the flight is 5:30. They stood there and watched – feeling angrier and angrier with every passing minute. Boarding time began. Lo and Behold! Basdeo and Amina watched as two “standbys” were called and given their seats.
If this were the only “meat and potatoes” of the story, it would be simply one of a low-life clerk cheating two confirmed seat-holders of their seats and selling them for a few dollars under the table.
The police arrived and arrested Basdeo. The beneficiary of Basdeo’s seat is a well-connected man. He knew the cell numbers of a top cop and had called and reported that Basdeo had threatened to blow-up the airport.
Would Basdeo have to sleep in the lock-up for that night? It has now become a tale of inflicting injury after insult and humiliation. Basdeo narrowly avoided having to spend a night in jail only because he hired a PPP-connected lawyer and Member of Parliament. This lawyer also had the private cell-numbers of the said top cop as well as the Crime Chief.
Eventually Basdeo was given “desk-appearance bail” and sent home. Next morning Basdeo appeared for his court arraignment. The charge: threatening to blow-up the airport. Sase Gunraj, the attorney interrupted the reading of the charge to ask: “Are we going to have a government-witness to testify, your honour?” The magistrate quickly realised the hocus-pocus going on. The big-wig who reported the allegation did so anonymously, would never testify what he heard, if he did hear any threat to blow-up the airport at all. He took the victim’s confirmed seat and flew out. The real culprits – the airline clerk and the man who made the false report and made a fool of the Commissioner of Police would never be charged.
Credit must go to the shrewd magistrate who saw through the genesis of the corruption – all too prevalent in a corrupt state – and dismissed the charge.
Both stories tell a simple tale of how “Big-wigs” have gained power through bribery and corrupted the machinery of government. The victims are the little people like the coconut-vendor who has lost his means of earning an honest living; and Basdeo and his wife who were severely injured and humiliated after being denied their confirmed seats on an outgoing airline from Guyana.
It is almost impossible to get justice in a state where the state itself is corrupted to the bone.
On Friday, I called Robeson Benn’s Ministry to inquire who gave the order to deal what in effect is a death-blow to the coconut vendor. Both Mr. Benn and his Permanent Secretary were out of office for the day.
In another letter I shall report on my discussions with Mr. Fip Makeswar Motilall. Suffice to say Fip is neither the problem nor the source of one of the greatest controversies and allegations regarding corruption in handing out million-dollar contracts in Guyana. The seat of the problem lies with the officials administering the Tender Board system. These officials have absolutely no credibility and the system itself lacks transparency.
Mike Persaud
(New York)

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