Reshaping our future

Feb 27, 2014 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
Throughout the PPP’s reign in government there have been many calls for the prosecution of government officials suspected of corruption.  There have even been comparisons of the stiff charges meted out for petty theft and other small crimes, while these corrupt officials – who receive handsome bribes, kickbacks from government projects and payoffs for other crimes of corruption which cannot be documented here – remain free and continue unrestricted in the misuse and abuse of their offices.
The logical question is: Why has the PPP continued to allow its corrupt, and in some instances, clearly incompetent government officers, to go unprosecuted and remain in office?
The answer is rare and surprising: Corruption is integral to the PPP’s system of government, being part of the mechanism of how this country’s socialist elite are compensated or rewarded for their ‘great service’ to this nation.
The PPP executive recognizes that some of its underlings and servants who engage in underhand dealings, are either incapable of managing on their government salaries, or are plainly intent on getting rich before they leave their offices.  Since these socialist elite are not governed by society’s laws, at least while the PPP remains in government, they are free to reap their bounty by whatever means they find convenient.  The word and meaning of ‘corruption’ is therefore taboo to the PPP, and it is of no effect to hold any discussion on corruption with that party.
With corruption and graft being acceptable, therefore, there will never be an end to instances of these crimes against the state under the PPP. Unless some extra-governmental organ is established with the mandate (for a start) to identify, organize and strengthen the country’s laws on corruption and government graft, and apply the full force of these laws to protect us, by identifying and prosecuting all instances of corruption going back to October 5, 1992.
On another note, Mr. Lincoln Lewis is to be congratulated for his active stance on the rights of Guyana’s workers.  He is however encouraged to exercise prudence in his remarks in whatever matter he has occasion to discuss with the APNU’s Leader, Mr. David Granger.
And while the PPP continues to engorge itself, its hapless intellectuals continue to maintain unfounded illusions and lies in the minds of whoever is gullible enough to believe their propaganda.
Mr. Faruk Mohamed takes it upon himself to raise issue with Dr. Thomas on the details of poverty in his article ‘the right to criticize…’ Feb 22/14).  The larger issue upon which the gentleman should exert himself is the general level of inadequate incomes, even including secondary amounts, a large proportion of Guyanese families have to contend with every day.  This and its retarding impact on the lives of all family members, with children being those most adversely affected, are what would be most productive.
Mr. Mohamed and others of his ilk should seek to shed light on the following questions, which remain unanswered by the PPP: How many employable bright Guyanese continue to leave our shores every year in search of a life that the PPP has been unable to provide for them?  How many jobs has it created during the two decades or so since it has been in power?
After this enormous lapse in time, how many large new companies do we see throughout the length and breadth of our country? How many sugar workers have been displaced through woeful mismanagement and misdirection at GuySuCo? Why has the unemployment issue not been addressed more clinically by first producing statistics on employment in all of our ten regions?
Mr. Mohamed continues to write of ‘the PNC’s 28 years of dictatorship and mismanagement’, even after I explained (KNews, ‘Let us all look forward…’, Feb 18/14) that the hardships endured in the years prior to 1992 were primarily a result of the application of socialist economics, whose contemporary example can be found nowhere closer than the chaos and destruction being visited upon our neighbouring Venezuela under President Maduro’s socialist policies.
I wish to reiterate that the reconstituted PNCR is committed to capitalist economics and is working as a team in APNU to harness Guyana’s potential and create more and higher paying jobs for all Guyanese by working closely with the private sector to increase investment across the country. APNU has a clear picture of the Guyana we all seek, but it can only deliver this when given the mandate by our votes.
While I am not an official member, I am sure the executive of APNU has read of, and was pained by the immense losses suffered by the many farmers and other persons who have had their properties inundated by floods that resulted from the downright incompetence of the PPP government on a matter as simple as the management of our country’s drainage system over the years.  All who read and saw the televised coverage felt sorry for those farmers and other affected persons.
APNU also looked on as the PPP made a mess of GuySuCo, placing the lives of many sugar estate families in jeopardy. The executive of APNU have families also; they also endure the pain and suffering inflicted by the PPP upon these and all those who continue to suffer as a result of the PPP’s incompetent government and mismanagement of their affairs, even at the level of their towns and villages.
APNU is very much aware that many of our children are being short-changed by the PPP because of inadequate diets, poor education and limited job prospects across the country. APNU has asked, and is asking for the mandate to rectify the PPP’s misdeeds and put this country on track to that standard of living for which we all strive. May we all grant it that opportunity to restore our lives in a meaningful way.
Craig Sylvester

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