He who holds the hand that holds the pen of history

Sep 29, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Has the PPP misread the mood of the people? I think not. Those who make this assessment are just as handicapped as I am by the absence of opinion polls to determine the degree of support that the PPP would enjoy should elections be called today.
It is assumed that the PPP has misread the mood of the people in two respects. Firstly it has misread the mood of the public by its indifference towards abuse of political office by a number of PPP functionaries and public officials, as well as the lack of action to quell what is now undisputed corruption within the government. It has also said to have misread the demographics of Guyana.
Today I will address the first charge about the PPP misreading how the people feel about corruption. Tomorrow I will address the changing demographics.
Every PPP administration has been besieged by allegations of official corruption.
A finger cannot be pointed at the PPP for lack of development. And so it was only natural that the critics of the PPP sought refuge by making encomiums about corruption. This is the only thing they could criticize the PPP on.
But make no mistake about it, corruption is a problem. The corruption today however is not an end to itself. We are not simply dealing with the perversion of public institutions. We are not dealing simply with kickbacks and using projects to enrich a few persons.  That sort of corruption is an end to itself.
If corruption was an end to itself, things would not have been that bad. However, the corruption that has now developed under the PPP is a means to an end. This is the difference between corruption in the past and corruption today. Corruption today is the means to allow a small band of individuals to take over the economy of Guyana. They have already taken over the electromagnetic spectrum. They are dominating the pharmaceutical industry. They dominate public works contracts.
The oligarchs are positioning themselves to take over the hospitality sector. They have caused the price of real estate to soar through artificial means and they are reaping a large windfall as a result.
This has made it impossible for poor people to own their own homes. These poor people cannot now even afford a government house lot and so the middle class is moving in.
The oligarchs have established a major foothold in the transportation sector with control over a major piece of infrastructure built primarily at public expense.
The experience with the Big Buses recently will signal to them that there is a role for them to take over the movement of persons within the country.
Expect therefore for major inroads to be made into the country’s transportation sector. This column is predicting that within five years there will only be a handful of mini buses operating in the country. The oligarchy will force the mini buses out of business.
This is my prediction. The oligarchs will corner the transportation market and will take control of all the major passes over our major waterways, including the bridge over the Demerara River. They will build this bridge and reap the financial rewards that flow from it.
The oligarchs have their eyes set on bigger things. They will eventually take over the telecommunication sector and put both DIGICEL and GT@T out of commission. Take my word for it! And from this platform they will move into other sectors of the economy including energy, breweries and shipping.
Their plans for the takeover of the aviation sector have been derailed but only temporarily. They will eventually have their sights on the banking sector. Their appetite knows no limits. By the time they are finished Guyana will be owned by them.
There was one man who could have halted this monster that is on the loose. It was President Ramotar. In the words of Ralph Ramkarran, he holds the pen of history in his hand.
But that is not the problem. Indeed Donald Ramotar holds the pen of history in his hand. The problem is who is holding his hand.
Donald Ramotar is not going to make history because the forces that are dominating the economy have taken over the ruling party. The oligarchic class now controls the PPP and not even the decency of Donald Ramotar can stop them from trampling on the economy, the poor, the rights of citizens and on the independent media.
One man has stood up to corruption and the avarice of the economic oligarchy. That man is Glenn Lall. Today he is being attacked mercilessly. There are forces who wish to silence him and jail him for a long time.
They are setting out to do this while the rest of the population including those who will eventually come under the same hammer, look the other way.
Walter Rodney warned Guyanese years ago about the monsters we create that will eventually devour us all! They devoured him first.

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