The 1823 monument: The tragedy of power

Feb 06, 2013 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I could just visualize the boyish smile on his face that masks his cynicism as Burnham debated where a monument to the East Indians of Guyana should go. Burnham, with cigarette in hand, and his tiny grin, would say, “If they want it there, then put it there.” Such was the nature of the man.
I would go so far as to say that I doubt for a moment Burnham would have opposed the wishes of Indian organizations. He was a master strategist and would not have seen any virtue in defying Indians on a matter that had no strategic importance for his government.
If any issue since he became President shows how politically naïve, limited and judgementally flawed President Ramotar is, it is his Government’s defiance of African organizations for the 1823 monument to be erected at Parade Ground.
His rejection of the site is fraught with political and ethnic repercussions. What makes the entire situation bizarre and utterly foolish is that it is a policy decision that has no advantage to the Government whatsoever. Why is President Ramotar’s Government preoccupied with a subject that a majority of Guyanese have shown no particular feelings over?
I don’t believe any Indian organization, any major Guyanese stakeholder, any important organization in Guyana cares about the location of the monument, one way or the other. Only the Government stands to lose by the moving of the site. One is forced to ask the leaders of the PPP what has the government to gain strategically and politically by putting the monument on the old seawall parapet (which the Ministry of Culture says is on Carifesta Avenue).
Let us look at the reaction. Both independent dailies, the Stabroek News and Kaieteur News, have not come out in support of the seawall site. The AFC and APNU have supported the wishes of the African groups that want Parade Ground. The Private Sector Commission has not spoken on the subject.
No Hindu, Muslim or Christian churches have pronounced on the issue. No Indian group has thrown in their support with the Ministry of Culture. One suspects that most Guyanese feel that it is a situation best left to those affected –African-Guyanese organizations.
I am sure if a poll was taken tomorrow, a substantial majority of Indians in the countryside would say it doesn’t concern them.
Why the government wants to put the structure on the old seawall road instead of Parade Ground defies logic. In what way, would the new site be an advantage to the Government? On the contrary it will deepen ethnic suspicion and it will be a theme for the opposition in upcoming local government elections.
In plain, simple language, the matter is not worth the hot water the Government will get into. I can think of no other analogy than Georgetowners telling the Government where in Lethem to put a monument to honour our Amerindian people.
So why is President Ramotar still unmoved? First, I think Ramotar leaves policy-making up to his people. He doesn’t feel intellectually comfortable with sensitive political issues and I feel this will be the pattern of his rule.
For Ramotar, Anthony is the best person to make the decision. Secondly, once political voices are heard and they come from critical angles, the PPP feels it has to fight, has to defy, has to bully its way and have its way. This second factor is at the heart of the matter.
A majority of Guyanese do not realize as yet the tragic implications of this monument controversy. It graphically shows the nature of Guyana’s enduring nihilism. The PPP will not concede even on minor points. If the PPP cannot compromise on a situation that really doesn’t concern its constituencies, has no major implications for the economy, is not a matter that has national repercussions, then why would it make major changes that are asked for by the opposition?
The budget is around the corner and if you want to know what it is inside of it then just look at the Government’s attitude to the location of the 1823 monument.
The brutal reality is that if the PPP cannot see the total uselessness to its power base in opposing the Parade Ground site for the 1823 structure, why would the same set of people give in to the opposition and reduce VAT or open up NCN or set up the Human Rights Commission or give GECOM its independent budget etc.
One way or the other, the people of Guyana have to change their country’s outdated governance system.

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The 1823 monument: The tragedy of power

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