From the Diaspora…WHAT DO DRUGS, NIS AND THE 1823 MONUMENT HAVE INCOMMON?

Jan 13, 2013 News

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By Ralph Seeram

My article today would be of a rambling nature, a sort of rants, if you may. I am a little depressed, that might be too strong a word, a melancholy mood might better describe me. Sometimes you have to be careful what you write or predict.
Last week I wrote of the uncertainties of life, wealth and happiness. I was worried that some of us may not be around to celebrate the dawn of 2014. Five hours after I submitted that article I got the dreadful news that a close family friend, a businessman in Jamaica was robbed and murdered.
His death is a classic example of a “Catch 22” situation that faces many Guyanese businessmen who hold U S residency or citizenship. Doing better at home in terms of accumulating wealth, but facing the high level of risk of being robbed and murdered is happening in Guyana almost daily.
My friend knew the risks; he expressed that to me so many times, and for so many times I suggested he take a simpler and happier life in Florida for his family and himself. He gambled and lost. He left to mourn a wife and two young kids. He worked so hard to prepare a better future for his family. Life can be cruel and very unfair. We need to enjoy the moment.
Speaking of enjoying the moment I spend most of my evenings reading stories to my three-year-old grandson while putting him to bed. In fact, he demands that I read him stories. I have gone through dozens of story books. Recently I started reading him short stories written by Guyanese author Maureen Rampertam. She has a two-book collection of children stories, well written, which I would recommend parents and grandparent to purchase.
If you are interested in purchasing the collection you can contact Maureen at [email protected] or connect with her on Facebook. It would be nice if those of us in the Diaspora support our local authors. I am taking full advantage of the “moment” with my grandson, snuggling  in my arms as I read to him. I know as he gets older he is going to tell me “Papa I am too old for you to read to me.”
Coming to my main topics, NIS, Drugs, and the 1823 Monument, the commonality is the PPP Government, which cannot seem to get anything right, at least in the eyes of the public. Can anybody tell me why Dr. Roger Luncheon is still head of the NIS?
Considering the downward slide of that institution under his watch, any self respecting person would have relinquished the position.  Luncheon has outlived his usefulness there. In fact I think the good doctor has outlived his usefulness in government. If I were him I would retire completely from public life and focus on my health and happiness. Enjoy the “moment”; Doctor it may not be around later. There is no tomorrow.
The PPP regime is mired in one scandal after another; it does not seem to go away. Now that the opposition is in a position to demand accountability, so many things are coming to light. The latest is the revelation the Government paying for drugs years in advance of delivery. There seems to be an element of criminality here.
From the beginning there seems to suggest an incestuous relationship between New GPC and some in the PPP government. Now tell me who in the world pays hundreds of millions of dollars years in advance for goods not supplied. Conventions dictate you pay on delivery. The nonsensical excuse but there was no bond or warehouse to store the drugs is complete rubbish. A bond can be built in a month. Something more sinister is at work here, and the opposition needs to dig deeper into this relationship between New GPC and some in the government.
There is a suggestion or allegation going around that the money when advanced coincided with a large purchase of an entity by that company.
The opposition needs to dig deeper into this affair to see if there is evidence of criminality, and if so insist that the offenders be prosecuted. I have no tolerance for people misusing or stealing taxpayers’ dollars. This seems to be a recurring problem for the PPP government which emanated from the Jagdeo regime.
To his credit the current President Donald Ramotar has opted for more openness, resulting in some of the exposures. The question is how is he going to solve the problem? Would he support criminal prosecution of a Government minister if there is evidence of criminality against him or her? Just asking.
Controversy seems to follow the PPP even in their good intentions. Now I will give the Government full credit for their initiatives in erecting the 1823 monument to commemorate the 1823 slave rebellion, which along with the death of Rev. John Smith was the impetus for the emancipation of slaves.
Now this was a very important slave rebellion and considered the largest at the time in the British Colonies. There seems to varying opinions as to where the monument should be located. One of the suggestions I totally disagree with, that it should have maximum exposure that is pure rubbish, it should be the least criteria.
Some time ago I was in down town Orlando, Florida, doing business in an office complex. Having lunch in the garden area of the complex I could not but help notice a monument in the middle of the garden. It was the site of a previous Fort and a famous battle between the native Indians and white troops/ settlers two centuries ago.
Regardless of the modern development that engulfs the area the monument was built on the actual area the events occurred. And so with other historical sites I encountered in my travels around the US, plaques or monuments were located in the area that had the historical significance. Visibility or exposure was the least of the criteria.
So the question remains, where should the1823 monument be located? Having researched the 1823 rebellion for a previous article, it is pointing me in the direction of Plantation Le Ressouvenir and Plantation Success. The rebellion has its origins from those two estates.  Quamina, the alleged leader kept meetings on both estates a precursor to the uprising.
Let us also not forget John Wray who was based at Le Ressouvenir and who was accused of inciting the uprising. Smith paid with his life and his death was the springboard that ultimately led to the emancipation of slavery.
While the slaves were murdered throughout the East Coast, one must keep in mind the origins where events fermented. It was on Pln. Success and Pln. Le Ressouvenir. One must also bear in mind that it was on Plantation Success that Quamina, a Deacon of the church named as leader of the rebellion, had “his dead body dragged to the front of Success Estate and there between two trees, he was gibbeted, the corpse bound with chains allowed to swing in the breeze many months after, to the terror and disgust of every passerby”.
A powerful argument can be made for the monument to be located on either of these two estates. It would be a win/win situation for the Government and its critics. It’s not where the Government wants it, not Parade ground where some have argued for, but it’s a location which both the Government and its opponents can find common grounds for agreement, again the issue should not be one of visibility, but on history, and history suggests Le Ressouvenir or Success estates. Anybody wants to compromise?
Ralph Seeram can be reached at email [email protected]

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