A people that live in fear cannot be productive

Aug 02, 2013 Letters

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Dear Editor,
A mother “bawled out” for her dead son and a wife sobbed as her husband took his last breath. They both were responding to the frequency with which violent crimes and murders are being committed in this country. Women, children, and the elderly are among the victims of murder committed almost every day by heartless criminals who see life in Guyana as cheap and therefore expendable and the government, especially the Minister of Home Affairs seems incapable and incompetent to act to protect these innocent and law abiding citizens.
Meanwhile, the president is also bent on turning his back on the citizens despite numerous calls by the majority opposition and stakeholders to end the criminalization of the country. After 22 years in power, the feeble PPP regime has done absolutely nothing to reduce the crimes perpetrated on innocent citizens. It is for this reason that many people are calling it quits and are migrating to the Caribbean and North America in droves for a better and safer lifestyle. And while there are good reasons to suggest that they are not turning their backs on their beloved country for good, one cannot help but think that Guyana under the current PPP regime had sufficiently fulfilled the dream of being a criminal—narcotics state and hence an unsafe nation. Therefore, it is no secret that because of the specter of crime and the lack of job opportunities, migration has become a most attractive proposition.
Guyana is deemed to be among one of the most violent countries in the Caribbean. Some argue that it has to do with the return of hundreds of deportees, most of who were involved in acts of extreme violence in their adopted countries. Others point to the poor socio-economic conditions that a large section of the population have to live under which have led them to a point of hopelessness and anger. Whatever are the real reasons for these criminal acts, most Guyanese feel that the blame should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the ruling cliché who for the past ten years have done little or nothing to effective reduce crime and protect the citizens. Not only that the Minister of Home Affairs is incompetent and lacks the ability to deal with the crime, it is way above his head.
We are deeply convinced that the role of government is to protect and safeguard the life of every citizen in Guyana not only the rich and powerful who can afford huge security details.  Interestingly, the PPP cabal is now 22 years in office but regrettably crime continues to escalate at a rapid pace. We are making it loud and clear that the regime’s mission to reduce crimes as promised has not been accomplished. In fact, there are more robberies, theft, corruption, rapes, domestic violence and murders in Guyana than in any previous times. This is what we see as a case of “mission impossible”—a colossal failure by the PPP cabal.
One of the major failings of this regime is rather than dealing with the high crime rate, they have used every opportunity to ‘dumb down’ the population and manipulate the people with cheap propaganda to make it appear as though they have the interests of the people at heart but this is further from the truth. Everything the PPP cabal does and every action it takes is for the enrichment of themselves, relatives and friends and not the people. This selfish and venal behavior has only serve to nurture the criminal and corrupt activities that are taking place daily with no end in sight. Is this a caring and considerate regime? You be the judge!
A people that live in fear cannot be productive. The fight against crime needs more than putting criminals in jail. It needs pre-emptive intervention on the part of the government at the local, regional and national levels. In other words, a holistic approach is the way forward for the government to save this nation. The PPP regime has so far failed to deal effectively with the scourge of crime, because they micro-manage a police force that is in desperate need of reform, better wages, vehicles, and other equipment.  Is it any wonder that the incompetent Minister of Home Affairs has been pilloried constantly for not getting the job done? And is it any wonder that the police has become so frustrated that alleged drug and robbery killings have become the order of the day?
No country can attract foreign investors or grow its way out of its economic and social problems if the productive sector is one comprising mainly of persons who continue to wallow in a state of perpetual poverty. The government should know that the people have to survive and if there are no opportunities for them to do so, then they will resort to acts of criminality. Interference by the minister has made the Police Force and unprofessional body. Their motto “to serve and protect” should be changed “to indulge and collect” from the public.
The time has come for this corrupt and inept PPP regime to get serious about the security of the people, and we mean really serious. If the regime is to sufficiently weed out crimes from the society, it has to start discipline those corrupt officials, including ministers, permanent secretaries and the heads of various agencies. This means that the president must provide honest and meaningful leadership which he seems not to have. Having a professional police force must take priority. For too long, the PPP administration has only paid lip service to the security sector, even as the slaughter continues on innocent citizens. Not only this shameless behavior should not be tolerated by the people, it also represents the ineptitude of this uncaring cabal whose primary goal is to maintain power at all costs and bleed the treasury—the people’s money . Their priority is not to reduce crime or protect the people.
Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh

 

 

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