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Will Guyana ever rise again?

Jun 30, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
I am a Guyanese national who has emigrated to ‘greener pastures’ in one of the Caribbean islands in search of a better life, not only for me but for my family.  But, while I am comfortable where I am, thanks to the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), I can live and work legally and whenever needs arise, I get the chance to remit some funds to my family.
But, why did I have to go?  The answer is quite simple. When I compared what I was earning in Guyana as a professional in my field, my colleagues in the region were getting about ten times more. No exaggeration here! So it was quite obvious why I wanted to leave.
My situation is not unique to me.  One of the dailies in Guyana had reported that every day about fourteen Guyanese emigrate. They leave behind a country that they loved and that they had known for all their life. This movement, according to the International Office For Migration (IOM), has both pros and cons.
In an interview with a female representative of the IOM, during last year’s International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria, I was told that this trend was particularly prevalent in developing countries such as Guyana. But then she went on to say that there is something that is called the push-pull factor that   contributes to this trend.
Jobs, marginalisation, the loss of hope, illiteracy, crime, violence and most of all the failure of the government of the day to generate a sense of a future for its citizens – also the failure of the Jagdeo administration to cater for the youth in the country. There is no sense of nationalism; there is no sense of patriotism. There are feelings of despair and the continued poverty of the lower and the middle classes.
I have had the opportunity to listen to an employee of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) about the situation in Guyana. She said Guyana is a beautiful country, but the problem she has is with the “state of the garden city”, the  continued prevalence of mosquitoes  and  the frequent occurrence of blackouts, the piles of garbage,  the unclean canals, the increase in street children, the large number of child beggars,  and the list goes on.
Why should this be? I was once told that in the 1970s Guyana was the place to be. I was told that Georgetown was the bread-basket of the Caribbean. So where has all this gone?
As a student who has studied Political Science, I learnt that the government’s role is to take care of its people. From the utilitarian principle which speaks to the fact that if the majority of the population is happy with the government’s policies and programmes, then this is all that matters. The principle allows for dissent, but this is in the minority.
I used the analogy to bring an understanding to the question, as to if Guyana will ever rise again.  I have listened to the common man on the streets, my friends, and family, whether African, East Indian, Amerindian etc… they are all hurting. They are not satisfied with the way things are going.
Despite the odds I remain hopeful; I remain hopeful that come election time, I am joining the movement to bring about change, to restore hope to my beloved Guyana.
Frank DaSilva

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