Conflict resolution and Guyana

Jun 21, 2011 Editorial

Conflict resolution is being promoted as the most efficient way to end legal disputes. Some people who have had matters tied up in the courts for years are now opting for conflict resolution. No one wants to sit on an issue ad infinitum because in the long run no one benefits.
For example, there was the case of the fire that destroyed a facility owned by Cladwin and Sarswatie Barnwell on Sheriff Street. There was no doubt that fire had destroyed the premises. The Guyana Fire Service, having investigated, reached a conclusion that the owners were not at fault. It was now up to the insurance company to honour its liability.
As is often the case, the insurance company balked, so off to court the Barnwells went. But the court is chock full with such matters. It would take years to even get this Barnwell matter to the trial stage so both parties –Barnwell and the insurance company—opted for conflict resolution. The matter has been settled and all is well.
This is just one case. There are several others. The fact is that people want an early resolution to disputes and they recognize that the courts could take inordinately long to process the matter. Such has been the success of such matters that the judicial system is moving to have conflict resolution a part of the life in the hinterland communities where court sessions are conducted sometimes once a quarter.
These people who would hear the complaints have no legal powers but they can get people to sit at the table and seek to resolve the issue before they go to the courts where the exercise could not only be costly and time consuming but also frustrating.
There was a time in the life of the country that people turned to the village elders, a tradition that came with our forefathers regardless of which country they came from. That went through the window as increasingly we adopted the culture of the powers who ruled. The result is that not much is going right. One man, Prakash Persaud, said that for more than two decades he cannot get a matter resolved. The result is that millions of dollars are tied up.
But conflict resolution goes beyond civil matters. In recent times there seems to be serious conflict in the world of politics. Ever since the split in the People’s Progressive Party that gave rise to the People’s National Congress there has been conflict. In the first instance the conflict appeared to be based on ideological considerations. This was certainly fuelled by the colonial masters.
In a country with less than one million people and with two major races, all of them exposed to the same social and political conditions, one can hardly imagine any ethnic conflict. To begin with, people of all the major races are installed in the two major parties. Given such a development, one could expect brothers to be pitted against brothers, spouse against spouse, and neighbour against neighbour.
Surely this will not enhance development because of the chasm that would be created. However, any government that emerges, promises to lead the country for the good of all. This would mean that decisions taken at the administrative level are not influenced by ethnic considerations. The belief is that the converse operates.
There is ethnic distrust leading to charges of discrimination. Because of this the government of the day established the Ethnic Relations Commission. This body should have been the forum for conflict resolution. Instead, it seems to have created conflicts of its own. There is a quarrel about its constitutionality.
Strange though this may seem, the political parties can resolve the conflict in which the Ethnic Relations Commission is embroiled but there is a certain stubbornness. Neither of the major parties is prepared to accept the views of the other. The result is that there are many unresolved issues. The position of Chancellor of the judiciary is still unfilled as is the position of Chief Justice; the Ethnic Relations Commission is now being restrained by the courts for being unconstitutional; certain oversight bodies are not in place.
The result is that the people go about as though life is as usual even though they stand to be hurt. And the politicians continue in the same vein. Lead by example is as common saying and the lead should come from the politicians. Conflict resolution is crucial.

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Conflict resolution and Guyana

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