It is time for the decent people in this country to step forward

Sep 12, 2013 Letters

Dear Editor,
If one is to listen to the overwhelming majority of the well-connected materially wealthy in Guyana, one will find that they are against the position taken by those who opposed the flawed Amalia Falls Hydro project. The PPP-controlled media houses continue to spread propaganda in favour of the flawed, corrupt deal with no respect for the taxpayers.
The haughty so-called intellectuals who feed from the PPP, continue to support Amaila despite the overwhelming evidence of the prohibitive cost to the nation. If one is to listen to the cocktail circuit at the embassies and at the social clubs in Georgetown, it seems like most of the elites are against the sober, well-informed financial analysts, experts and economists. The majority of us are the opposite. We know that their revelations are spot-on.
The latest polls at the end of August 2013 revealed that the PPP is not in any favourable position to call elections. If they were, we are certain that Ramotar would have done so. In fact, the PPP knows that it has lost the support of the majority and would get a sound thrashing from the voters if they decide to call local government elections.
The masses, including several staunch PPP supporters, have had enough of this greedy, crooked and corrupt regime. Even some of their leaders have secretly called on Ramotar to take decisive action to end the corrupt practices. It seems as though that may never happen. The people are fully aware that the cabal’s support for Amaila and Sithe Global to earn over US$500 million on its investment of just over US$100 million is because of the hundreds of millions in kickbacks to them.
Those benefiting are more interested in filling their pockets than in protecting the interests of Guyanese in these huge contracts. If their intent is to protect the people’s interests, then why have they allowed a foreign contractor to build the Marriott Hotel without Guyanese workers? It is one thing to say that there is a language barrier, but it is a colossal insult to say that Guyanese workers do not have the skills required to work on the hotel.
The window of opportunity to stop the kleptocrats from retarding the nation’s development is swiftly closing, as the PPP has now indicated that it is prepared to ignore Parliament and continue with the Airport Expansion Project and the Specialty Hospital, when they cannot even provide adequate care to the patients at the Georgetown Hospital. As one singer rightly said “If you go to the hospital with a gum boil, you will end up six feet in the soil.”
It is “penny wise and pound foolish” for this reckless administration to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new airport that caters to about four to six flights daily, while allowing the nation’s public schools and its only university to collapse. We are convinced that these projects are money laundering schemes to enrich the politically connected. If they really want to develop Guyana then they should stop shedding false tears over Amalia which is already dead and turn to other forms of low cost energy such as gas, wind and a reformulated hydro plan. They must also stop taking kickbacks from contractors when awarding contracts and end all corrupt practices.
This nonsense has to stop and the sooner the decent people in this country step forward and put an end to it, the better, even if it means massive, peaceful street protests. It is time for the people to stop living on their knees and stand firmly on their feet.
Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh

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