Suicide – the crime we struggle with

Feb 11, 2013 Letters

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Dear Editor,
The Kaieteur News of the 23rd January 2013 informed us of a recent press conference held by the AFC, at which its vice chairman – Mr. Moses Nagamootoo, expressed his party’s disappointment “with support from the public against suicide.”
Mr. Editor I must admit that for me it is more the lack of robust response by the government to what seems as a frightening level of extreme violence against self here in Guyana, that is most note-worthy.
I am not really surprised by the absence of “support from the public against suicide” as Mr. Nagamootoo seems to be, simply because Guyana is a country in which, on too many occasions, governments have taken upon themselves the right to initiate and lead on most aspects of life in the country.
This is even more evident as it relates to a particular race group. As it relates to this group, for example, it is the party and government that identifies what aspects of our history is to be remembered, what form the commemoration takes, the planning and organising all done by the government or the PPP.
This paternalistic behaviour of the PPP towards this group has undermined what was this group’s much admired and incredible tendency to do for itself. So, now faced with an absence of enthusiasm from the PPP to provide leadership on this matter, which affects this group the most; it sits still, seemingly incapable of doing anything in its own defence, as if hoping time itself would eliminate the plague.
But the PPP’s inaction on the matter of suicide is easy to explain. If one tells the PPP that Guyanese are generally dissatisfied with the state of affairs in the country, they will respond “it is a lie.”
They will say citizens are generally happy, that it is the power hungry PNC and its disgruntled supporters who are spreading this lie, in an attempt to discredit the PPP. With this narrative it then becomes difficult for the PPP to explain any act of its supporters that suggest dissatisfaction or that a major problem exists in its midst.
Mr. Editor, to illustrate this point, let me share with you an experience a friend of mine, who lives on the Corentyne shared with me. Sometime ago he had become very concerned with the number of suicides and attempted suicides in his community and sought to draw public attention to this serious matter.
Soon he was invited to a certain senior government official’s office in Georgetown, and told he must stop peddling such lies. Anticipating this would have been the reason for the invitation, he had armed himself with figures and names of victims, so as to support his claim, his information was waved aside and the senior government official reiterated that he must stop spreading lies.
The above incident makes it easier to understand why we have contradictory messages coming from the government on this matter. For instance, in an article carried in the Kaieteur News of the 7thSeptember   2009, the then Minister of Health was quoted as saying his “ministry does not have any evidence which indicates an increase in suicide deaths.”
On the other hand the government’s spokesman – Dr.Prem Misir told us in a letter that appeared in  the Kaieteur News of  November 15th 2009 that “Guyana is teeming with suicides; the rate of suicide is up and up.” Sorry Mr. Nagamootoo, your wish expressed at the same press conference held on 23rd January 2013; that this suicide issue does not “become a political football,” is a bit too late, it is already “a political football.”
I would urge the AFC, to organise its discussion sessions on this matter either in Essequibo or /and Berbice, I do so simply because I believe it is easier to organise and gain the participation of rural communities on this matter.
You see, in the city there is an absence of public trust of politicians which manifests itself in this absence of public involvement and contribution. If the AFC can develop momentum in the rural areas, the enthusiasm might inspire citizens in the capital to get on board. Of course Mr. Nagamootoo, the biggest threat to you doing this work in the rural areas would be action by the PPP to undermine the initiative.
Mr. Editor, in anticipation that some action will be taken by an interest group, let me beforehand, offer this contribution to the forthcoming discussions. Suicide is one of those crimes/social problems that are not always easy to establish.
In that same article appearing in the Kaieteur News of September 7th 2009 Dr. Ramsammy was quoted as saying he “is confident that there is 100 percent reporting of all suicide deaths.”   Let it be clear no one knows with certainty how many suicides occur in any country for any given year.
This is so because suicide is one of those crimes that are usually committed when alone, thus making it difficult to detect in some circumstances. For example a few years ago a businessman; who was a friend of mine; was driving in down town Georgetown during the very early hours of the morning, allegedly he drove into a canal and drowned.
Was this an accident or a suicide? Around the same time we had the case of another man who died after driving into a post; apparently he was earlier drinking heavily; again this occurred during the early hours of the morning; was this accident or an act of suicide?
It is true that in some cases; for example, when a note or letter is left by the deceased or when behind a locked door a person is found hanging from a roof with a chair obviously kicked from beneath him/her; it is reasonable to conclude that an act of suicide has been committed.
However, outside of such situations it is difficult for us to know, with a fair amount of certainty, whether we are dealing with an accident or a suicide? How we decide to dispose of incidents like those mentioned above will influence the number of accidents and suicides we offer the public and international agencies as having occurred in our country over any given period.
Claudius Prince

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