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Perfume, gunplay, fireworks: Welcome to the Guyanese nouveau riche

Dec 22, 2010 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I thought I would ask the editor to repeat for today, my column of November 4 captioned, “Gunplay at the princess ball in a failed state.” That article was about a nouveau riche birthday party held at the Princess Hotel. Two nouveau riche young men refused to behave themselves and when spoken to by security, pulled their guns and shot two guards.
I was able to identify the two persons who are still in possession of their licensed firearms. Yet the Government leaders deny that this is a failed state.
In “Gunplay at the Princess Ball” I went on to describe the nature of the Guyanese nouveau riche. Space would not allow for a repetition of that typology here, so I will move on to two more incidents of donkeyland in Guyana or to put it in more academic terms, the story of a failed state in the Caribbean.
This man thought that he should be served before others in the gas line. My nephew refused him preference and he slapped him. I came into the picture. The reports pointed to a nouveau riche gentleman. I rang his business place and spoke with him. He indicated that he was aware of the unpleasantness and would discipline his driver.
Time passed. We didn’t hear back from him. By this time the police were called in. The police took my nephew to the jewelry store and he pointed to the person who assaulted him. It was the owner himself. This fellow had lied to me.
All the officers at the station refused to charge him. One brave soul came up and did the professional thing. My nephew was scared of this guy. The tales about him were tall. A poor gas station attendant was not willing to risk his life to convict a lawless member of the uncouth, uncultured Guyanese nouveau riche.
Now we have another display of the mentality of the nouveau riche. Let us quote yesterday’s editorial of this newspaper; “It must be this level of tolerance (by the police) that encouraged a member of the nouveau riche to detonate explosives much larger than any that had ever been exploded in Guyana, except for the GDF…the early morning was so shattered by these terrific explosions that people were shocked out of their sleep…what was astonishing was that this individual had the gumption to set off these explosives in full public view and in a manner that suggested he had every right…” (end of quote)
So do we need any more evidence that Guyana has become a failed state? Gunplay at the Princess Hotel. No police action. Then outside of Buddy’s entertainment centre, another member of the nouveau riche puts his crassness on exhibition.
The pyrotechnics occurred outside of Buddy’s on Sheriff Street. The man was celebrating his birthday. We are talking about yards from the street itself. There is one immediate danger in setting off fireworks on the roadways. It can cause an accident when drivers panic. No one can tell me otherwise because I have had that experience more than once.
Then there is the disturbance to the peaceful citizens of the surrounding areas. People live on Sheriff Street, and behind Sheriff Street are many areas of citizenry. How could you scare them in the uncivilized hours of the morning by setting off fire-crackers? They sound like gunplay.
I live next to the Caricom Secretariat at Turkeyen, and we heard the sound. My wife got me up and told me to listen to gunshots. I ran to the window and looked at the security huts at Caricom to see if the guards were mobilized. The sound appeared to be coming from our area so I took a seat at the window, waiting to see the police units. They never came. Now I know why.
The Guyoil gas station on Sheriff Street goes around the clock. I was told that the attendants ran for their lives because they believed that a huge robbery was in progress.
Has anyone ascertained if any of the guards at nearby business places died of heart failure because of the fireworks display? Older folks can succumb to those kinds of situations.
I hope the police are checking on those guards on all business units on Sheriff Street.
So where next will the nouveau riche go? What are they doing for Christmas? How are they going to celebrate Christmas? Will they take over an entire street? I actually saw that happen.
In discussing the egregious behaviour of Guyana’s untouchable nouveau riche, we must bear in mind that this class is intertwined with the ruling politicians and the police force.

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