Those affected by Mandela Avenue dumpsite are to be blamed for their lot

Dec 17, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
There is the saying that a people get the government that they deserve, and sometimes it seems that this adage was made particularly for Guyanese.
We bemoan corruption and favouritism in high places, we complain about the reckless and crude behaviour of mini-bus operators.
But that’s all we do – complain, and then shrug and say, “Well, wha you gun do, this is Guyana.”
We are very excellent complainers.
This attitude was very much on display on Wednesday (15-12-10), when social activist Mark Benschop blocked the entrance to Le Repentir Cemetery to prevent trucks from dumping more refuse onto the Mount Roraima of garbage that is already there.
For his pains, Benschop was detained and charged.
But Mr. Benschop doesn’t live near the dumpsite. So where, may I ask, were the good men and women who have been inhaling the dumpsite’s stench for years?
Not a single resident was out there lending support to Mr. Benschop.
On Tuesday (14-12-10), I watched Prime News as some of the same residents complained about the stench, the flies and the respiratory problems they have been enduring.
I listened and wanted to scream: “And besides complaining, what have you been doing about it?”
I have told my fellow journalists that I will never write a story about the residents’ self-imposed plight.
In my opinion, they should have been out there – man, woman and child -blocking every access to the cemetery long before the problem got out of hand.
If a people get the government they deserve, then surely, because of their inaction, the citizens of Princes Street, Lodge; fully deserve this terrible blight on their community.
Michael Jordan

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