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The Story within the Story…We might as well treat our artistes as being nonexistent
By Leonard Gildarie
I have said it before and will say it again. I lose patience when I see it.
We NEED to lift the level of our services if we intend to move into the sphere of first world countries.
I hate to hear arguments where persons, because of poor pay, deliver a level of service that seems commensurate with that pay.
My heart soared when I heard President David Granger, shortly after he took office, telling department heads that the level of public service would be taken up notches.
I started dreaming that there would not be a line at the Passport Office and people would ease carrying or dealing with large sums of cash. I dreamt of smaller crowds at NIS and a boardwalk along the Kitty seawall where police stand guard over the families who are out on a stroll at 10p.m. I dreamt of visiting the zoo and not being robbed.
Alas, I woke up last week to the harsh reality that it will take some doing.
I received a call from Port Kaituma last week. A resident complained that a mini-excavator belonging to the state was parked in the compound of a private individual. He can’t talk to the authorities in Port Kaituma because either they had no authority or the complaint fell on deaf ears.
He called me. I called the Assistant REO in Port Kaituma. She was not authorized to speak to the media. I told her it was not about a story but about a complaint from a resident. I was given a number for the REO of Region One, Nigel Fisher.
He was not in office, but the next person in charge could not talk. He was in a meeting. I told the lady that the matter was urgent and that it is not good enough that one cannot simply even file a complaint or air a grievance with the regional office.
I got angry and loud. I asked for the REO to call me. About an hour later, the REO, Mr Fisher called. He was respectful. I told him about the mini-excavator and berated him about our level of services. I was upset.
I stressed that we need to do better. I made it clear that I could only imagine the treatment meted out to John Public.
I gave him the phone number of resident from Port Kaituma and he promised to sort the matter out. I received a call shortly after from the resident of Port Kaituma thanking me profusely. He was glad.
I hate that I had to do that.
On Friday, I met the well-known actor/director, Mahadeo Shivraj. When it comes to the arts and theatre, we have fallen down badly. I am not talking about the lack of money.
It is more about respect. It is more about loving and protecting what is ours. The National Cultural Centre is an example of how far we have fallen.
Protection of our artistes and the introduction of copyright laws should be of paramount importance for the new Govt.
We buy lots of foreign food but fail to appreciate what we have here.
I love our Banks Beer, although not a big drinker. There are so many things good about Guyana, but quite a few things that are bad as well.
We need to fix our crime problem. People are scared. Citizens have lost hope in the police. Workers are walking in groups in the streets of the city. The problems are many.
I saw Shivraj and was glad I met this man. Like Henry Rodney, Desiree Edghill, Ron Robinson and so many others, he stands tall in my books. But he is frustrated. I can hear how irritated he is from his voice.
Shivraj has made some excellent movies. He has been instrumental in keeping alive our hopes in building a film industry. But it won’t last long.
The lack of copyright laws and wanton copying of Shivraj’s work, like so many other artistes, has driven many of them to despair.
It costs money. Many of our artistes are not rich. Producing music, plays and making movies is by no means a cheap thing. The actor is not getting a dollar from the pirated DVDs selling all over the country, in the stores and on the road, in plain daylight. It is like highway robbery.
I would love to see the development of the arts in this country. I am saying what many others would be ashamed to say…what we have is not enough.
The new Government would do well to start looking at legislation to protect our artistes to ensure their intellectual property is not stolen. Copyright laws should move from lip service to being a reality.
For the sake of our artistes, it needs to be done sooner than later. Doing nothing…we might as well consider them as being nonexistent.
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