US fact finding mission mulled for Guyana

Oct 22, 2012 News

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– Region 10 Chairman says “broken system must fix now!”

By Lin-Jay Harry-Voglezon

The touring party of Alliance For Change (AFC)  Chairman Nigel Hughes, with Lindeners, Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon, Vanessa Kissoon; Aubrey Norton, former MP and Pastor Maurice Mc Kennon, are impacting both Guyanese emigrants and American politicians. Last Friday evening just over 100 persons, almost all Linden emigrants, turned up at the Rose Garden Catering for the Brooklyn leg of the planned meetings in with the Diaspora. By the end of the two-hour session people had become quite animated and expressive of their will to ensure that justice, democratic values, equality of access to opportunities, fair play, and respect for human rights exist in Guyana for everyone. They learnt from the Regional Chairman that US politicians, especially Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, have committed to put together a fact finding mission for Guyana. A follow up meeting was scheduled for the following morning for the Guyanese emigrant community to identify specific ways of investing in or aiding the social, political and economic transformation of Linden.
When it was suggested that people are tired of talks and Guyanese seeking assistance from the US rather than taking decisive actions at home, Solomon explained that the team is not looking for a vision from those in America, or carrying a vision to them, but working at shaping a mutual vision for the development of Linden. He added, that emigrant Guyanese pay taxes to the US government, which is supportive of the Guyana government and therefore they must have a say in the choices the American government makes towards Guyana. The Regional Chairman was the star of the evening in getting a standing ovation for his speech and being sought after for photographs.

He contended that Linden’s collective resistance to the Guyana government’s wish to impose a significant increase in electricity rates has nothing to do with any political party as the state wants the public to believe. Instead, it is driven by years of marginalization, impoverishment, oppression and disrespect for the people and their constitutional rights.
One thousand percent increase in electricity rates meant at least 1000% increased inflation rates in that community, which is 75% unemployed and economically stagnant, Solomon contended.
Vanessa Kissoon, as a parliamentarian who claimed that she has to use her personal resources to do her parliamentary work, noted that women face the brunt of the hardships. But according to Solomon, the government refuses to consult with the community, which is a constitutional obligation. Thus the community interprets the imposition as retaliation for its solid support of the opposition at the last General Elections.
What he failed to clarify is that the historically low electricity rates in Linden and in some cases none, when compared to other areas of Guyana, were never a privilege but based on a ‘quid pro quo’ agreement between the community/Bauxite Unions and the bauxite company many years ago. The company opted to grant its excess electricity to the community in exchange for wage limits, reliability of labour etc. As transnational companies locked off markets from Guyana’s bauxite, partly in response to its nationalization, successive governments have either ignored or mishandled the agreement.
According to Nigel Hughes, the well-organized protest in July this year, which cost the lives of Lynden Lewis, Ron Sommerset, Shemroy Bouyea, and several injuries, is driving “the most beautiful revolution” in Guyana since independence. Besides complimenting the negotiation skills of Aubrey Norton, he observed that the revolution is not driven by wild men, but the use of minds rather than emotions, by a most disciplined “unity of purpose by everybody.”
Pastor McKinnon, himself a leader in the “revolution”, declared that in spite of the raw emotions, it is the church that managed to tone things. “I will not renege”, he said “and I will not encourage the church nor the religious community to withdraw…we have the potential to do lots of things.”  The fight has to be both spiritual and intellectual, he observed.
Solomon described the “revolution” as a process “for economic emancipation” and freedom from censorship of ideas and information, and undemocratic governance. Restricting Linden to only the state media is unlike what happens in the Essequibo and Berbice. It is also a violation of the Guyana Constitution and the UN Human Rights Convention. Solomon remarked that “we have a broken system” that is threatening to all “and it has to fix and it has to fix now.” He added that the deliberate burial of the deceased on August 1 was intended to redefine the meaning of Emancipation Day.
Aubrey Norton sees the “revolution” as a struggle for regional autonomy; a system for allocating resources to the Regions objectively, empowerment to access and mobilize resources regionally,  empowerment to negotiate for development, and removal of government control of the executive arms of regional governance, which normally manipulates the Regions. “We cannot succeed by winning a few battles and lose the war,” he warned.
This motivated George Correia from the audience to contend:  “I’m here about Guyana and that is what is important. If we take Linden away from Guyana, we will have a problem. It’s like taking your head off your body and become a cripple. If we take Berbice away from Guyana, we’ll have another problem. So we must put our differences aside and take back Guyana from the criminal men.”
“Linden is the most geographically and strategically located community,” said Hughes, “so there is absolutely no reason why it should be so poor.”
“There is absolutely no reason why people from Linden should be coming to Georgetown for goods and services, which could be provided right there.”
He added that people’s outlook has to change from the historical belief that the state would secure their future. The state has always failed, he argued, and the fact that the current government could send a helicopter to remove the dead as its priority rather than to take the injured to hospital, is an important lesson not to forget. But he suggested that the community could be out of its “position of jeopardy” if it takes advantages of its resources, organize and plan for the future.

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