The people are seeing red

Oct 07, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
Most of us who live in the city and its environs are seeing red, and I would like to thank whoever blanketed the city with red for doing so, because there is no better time for us to be angry than right now.
Red, the colour that symbolizes anger is a timely reminder of all that we have a right to be angry about. We should see red and be angry that the churches in Guyana continue to remain silent as the moral, social and religious fabric of our country is destroyed, replaced by lawlessness, lewd and lascivious behaviours, greed and hostility towards the poor.
We should be seeing red and be very dread that after nineteen continuous years of PPP government, not one red cent was spent to arrest poverty in Guyana, and in fact it has gotten worse.
When I see the red flags they are warning signals to me, that say the PPP must be stopped now before it destroys what is left our morals and our dignity.
I see red and I remember the spectacle of policemen giving each other high fives on television after the killing of Linden “Blackie” London in February 2000. The fact that in twenty-one years the Guyana police have managed to kill 239 persons, at an average of over 11 persons per annum is staggering. Murdering people have become pervasive in Guyana.
I see red when I think of the murder of George Bacchus in his bed at home on June 24, 2004 silenced because he knew too much and was about to testify under oath.
All this red reminds me of the sea of blood that has been shed in our country under the PPP regime. The over 400 killed during the troubles and the many police officers killed in the line of duty are all represented in this sea of red. When we see all this red, we must reflect on what this administration has brought us; the dubious distinction of being a narco-state, the laughing stock of Caricom, and beggars among friends.
The wasted national treasure; $69 million NIS Skeldon; $6.8 Billion CLICO debacle; projected (overpriced) $835 million (USD) Amalia falls hydro project; the Skeldon white elephant, the sinking stelling, the failing bridges and inoperable kokers and poorly built roads were all built on the backs of poor overtaxed and poorly paid workers who are left in the red, after 33 per cent PAYE and 16 per cent VAT.
When we see red I hope it will force us to act and do what is necessary to throw this PPP regime out of office. Red means stop, and we should stop then now. So as you go about your daily business and you see the proliferation of red banners and flags let it be a reminder of the 10,000 sugar workers that were laid off by the PPP from 1998-2008; let it remind you of April 6, 2002 when Tshaka Blair was killed in his home in Buxton by a police posse led by Senior Superintendent Stephen Merai, and the troubles that followed.
Over the last twelve years criminal violence and corruption has contributed to the degeneration of public perception of death and the value of life in Guyana, we have drifted into the dubious domain of ambivalence towards crime.
In a few weeks we will go to the polls to select a new government, and I hope that when we get into that booth we see red and get really dread and vote to throw the Bums out.
Nineteen is enough, they could not get it done in two decades, so why should we give them another chance to do more harm; Red means stop; let us stop them now! Time for change in Guyana.
Mark Archer

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