The day the weather people got it all wrong

Feb 24, 2011 Editorial

It is written somewhere in the Scriptures that Jesus once chided someone of his believers with the words, “Oh ye of little faith.” Yesterday almost never saw the annual Mashramani Float Parade because there was a downpour a few days earlier.
Indeed, the showers were heavy enough to flood most of the countryside. Motorists had a torrid time trying to differentiate road from waterways and schools closed their doors. In the city people blamed the Mayor and City Councillors while in other parts of the country the residents blamed anyone who crossed their minds, including the Head of State.
Some reported unseen breaches and blamed the flooding on sources other than the rainfall and the government moved to postpone the Mashramani Float Parade. They spoke of the rains and the likelihood of the parade being held on Sunday. Perhaps they were relying on the accuracy of the weatherman or weatherwoman whoever was predicting the movement of the heavy clouds.
These very weather people also predicted that it would rain on the parade. This did not happen. The sun came out in all its glory. People, who up to a few hours earlier were moving about with umbrellas and raincoats, were taking out their fans and handkerchiefs.
But for the Guyanese who visited just to observe the spectacle there would have been no parade yesterday. They explained to the Youth and Culture Minister that they would not be happy to take time off, spend money and go back without witnessing what they have come to accept for them, as one of the greatest shows on earth.
The parade was ordered and to the resilience of Guyanese they actually put together everything with no more than one day’s notice. Yesterday was an example of what could happen on a larger scale if only the nation recognises its goals and pursues them without any serious thought to the hindrances that may pop up from time to time. The rains should represent the hindrances that always disappear when people persevere.
Guyana has not been without its share of hindrances. They have come in many guises, not least among them being the dwindling human resource as people claim to be seeking better remuneration for their skills. Others claim that they want better for their children, and still others contend that they want to escape the politics and racial division that keeps plaguing the country.
The harsh reality is that countries developed not by having its people escaping to lands where others had struggled with their trials and tribulations to fashion the kind of country that they wanted for themselves and for their children.
The word sacrifice comes readily to mind. Guyanese have never been strangers to sacrifice but it would seem that those people who were prepared to make that sacrifice, to go the extra mile to compensate for their colleagues who simply could not or would not, have all disappeared. And to make matters worse, the politicians are failing to motivate people.
If there are not those who blame the administration for causing people to leave in droves, then there are those who look back over the years to blame migration on policies long since disappeared. The result is that this once proud country is forced to recruit people to undertake its development.
It is not that recruiting people is a bad thing. Many countries owe their development to the presence of others. Even the new Asian giants recruited heavily but even their recruitment exercise was not without purpose. They created opportunities for their people to work closely with the recruits and to learn so that when the recruits left the skills would remain.
Singapore, for example, recognizing that it had no natural resource, used that hindrance to good effect. The islands of the Caribbean used the only resource most of them have—sea and sand—to create on conditions that would see their economies grow.
Guyana with its abundance of resources seems willing to accept the designation of having an abundance of undeveloped resources. There is precious little to motivate its people. The overflowing banks are not prepared to invest in risky ventures and the money laden businessmen are content to sit on what they have unless the venture is relatively risk free.
However, there are supreme optimists who for years have been saying as sure as the sun rises each day Guyana will burst free. These are the people who would echo the words of Christ “Oh ye of little faith”. But development always needs much more than faith. It needs motivation.

Latest News

The day the weather people got it all wrong

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 20th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Rutherford gets big payday from Gujarat Titans at IPL 2025 Mega...

Roach and Seales star as West Indies close in on...

Delroy Tyrrell continues to excel at Oneonta...

Ramdass Royals Crowned Champions of the Inaugural...

KFC Guyana distance self from delayed payment of...

Ravens and Royals ready for epic Elite 16 final...

Features/Columnists

A call for more cultural centres

Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all

Political constants: opportunism, ambition or betrayal

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

The day the weather people got it all wrong

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 20th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]