Expectations after 2011

Sep 11, 2013 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Three news items in recent days offer some hope that we may move away from the traditional stagnation that has been with us since the fifties. First, there is the statement by Minister Robeson Benn that construction of the road to Amaila Falls will continue. Secondly, the same Minister told the press that he hopes the airport expansion project, halted by budget cuts, will proceed. Thirdly, the Attorney-General hinted at sanctions by the international community over the stalled anti-money laundering Bill.
Reading these statements, it must occur to every Guyanese that it makes no sense to spend so much on the road and then it is left to die in the wilderness. So it looks like the government will pursue the Amaila Falls project after all. Once it decides that, then the wisest thing to do is to avoid secrecy and inform the major stakeholders about the new investors and what the details are.
If the airport extension was stopped by the opposition, dialogue with them and let the project go through. This writer, though, does not believe the opposition will remain inflexible.
Finally, the anti-money laundering Bill is the major one for the private sector. It has direct bearing on the private sector. It would be more than commonsense for the business community to sit down as urgently as possible with APNU and AFC personnel and discuss what it is they want to see in the Bill.
Last week there was a spat between Mr. Carl Greenidge and Mr. Clinton Urling over local investment in the Amaila Falls project. Both gentlemen had their strong points but Mr. Urling may have missed the Freudian underpinnings in the plausible analysis of Mr. Greenidge. And it all goes back to the election results of 2011.
Mr. Urling is right when he wrote that Guyana’s private sector is tiny compared with what takes place globally; therefore investment in Amaila may not have been easily forthcoming. But Mr. Urling should be reminded that Dr. Bobby Ramroop’s investment in the Caribbean Premier League was no minor involvement. That was a huge financial investment by Caribbean standards.
I think Mr. Urling has failed to situate the continuing annoyance of APNU and the AFC people with the PPP Government within the 2011 election results. Once it was made public that the PPP lost a majority in Parliament, the feeling in and outside of Guyana is that there will be constant and bruising negotiations between the Government and the opposition. That it turned out the other way has to be a disappointment to all Guyanese and those countries that have good intentions about Guyana.
The graphic fact is that the 2011 election results have not produced any form of working relation between the two pillars of power – executive branch and the legislature. It is this lacuna that private sector leaders like Mr. Urling fail to provide leadership for Guyana. The opposition denunciation of stakeholders like the Private Sector Commission (PSC), though the opposition may not admit it, has a Freudian underpinning.
The opposition leaders must be wondering to themselves how the PSC can be both silly and self-destructive. Here you have a situation where the PPP controls the Executive, APNU and AFC won the legislature. Any stakeholder as important as the PSC ought to act as a sincere mediator. This is not only the PSC’s nationalist duty, but their self-interest is so obvious that their inaction borders on self-destruction.
Why would the PSC ignore the fact that the opposition has the authority to pass legislation and the presidency does not? We return to commonsense. It would be in the interest of the business community in Guyana to act as an honest broker. But the business people would be doing themselves great harm if they choose the side of the Executive. And that is what they have been doing.
It is an unconscionable act because it degrades the opposition. It washes away the solid gains the opposition made in the 2011 elections. You cannot go to the opposition and say, look, pass the Government Bills, they are good for the country. It may be fine to say so, but what about the opposition’s opinions and disagreements with what is inside these Bills?
Mr. Urling objected to Mr. Greenidge’s description of him as a PPP supporter. If Mr. Urling understood the Freudian thing I mentioned above then he may understand why Mr. Greenidge took that interpretation. I don’t think the PSC will accept an honest broker role in our current political impasse. If Mr. Urling wants to play that role, then he has to recognize that the PPP has to meet the opposition halfway.

Latest News

Expectations after 2011

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 15th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Brewley’s ‘glut’ inspires Hard Knocks to ExxonMobil Futsal...

Final T20 between England and West Indies washed...

Zion Gray propels Eagles to GBF Elite 16...

Looknauth stars as Anacondas lift inaugural GCB...

Gold is Money wins inaugural Chung Global...

Afraz Budhoo – A promising cricketing star...

Features/Columnists

Traditional media is still king

Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all

The Bully Pulpit

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Expectations after 2011

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 15th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]