No one in Guyana seems safe from criminals

Nov 21, 2015 Letters

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Dear Editor,
In January 2013, the PNCR General Secretary was shot during a home invasion and robbery. Last July, a judge and her husband were viciously beaten in a home invasion and robbery. In October, criminals attacked a church and robbed a pastor and members on West Demerara. Then last Sunday, the former police crime chief’s home was invaded and his family members robbed. I mentioned these cases to highlight that, regardless of social status or recognition, no one seems safe or off-limits from criminals who belong to a generation of Guyanese that grew up without a sense of hope, identity and purpose, and have resorted to a jungle mentality of living dangerously to survive.
Unlike those youths who have done well academically and have gone on to obtain jobs in and out of Guyana, these young criminals fell through the cracks of the socioeconomic system, in some cases not of their own choosing, and are fueling the crime crisis in Guyana. To put this emerging crisis in proper perspective, however, I must quickly allude to a CDB  report earlier this year that stated Guyana’s youth unemployment rate hovers around 40%, making it the highest in the Caribbean.
To say that the PPP regime failed the generation of youths that grew up under its 22.7-year rule is to merely state the obvious, but for the coalition regime to be fully cognizant of this problem while in opposition and yet not have a comprehensive, concretized game plan after six months in power either exposes its inability to resolve the crisis or indicates the magnitude and nature of this crisis as being akin to a volcano sputtering in anticipation of an eventual eruption with catastrophic social consequences. These youths literally grew up seeing a government system that was mired in carefully orchestrated corruption that benefited political leaders and their cronies, while the rest of society played along to get along in a pay-to-play game. Corruption was talked about in the media and in social settings, but treated as a mere perception by government and its law enforcement arm, even as the corrupt flourished.
To really enjoy the Guyana Dream or so-called good life, therefore, some youths had to choose between the green land of Guyana and the greener pastures elsewhere, or between the gold mines in the hinterland and the gold mine called the government (posh government contracts and contract jobs). But as the chasm between the haves and have-nots widened, for many youths, hope gave way to despair; despair gave way to frustration; frustration gave way to anger; anger gave way to depression; depression gave way to isolation; isolation gave way to desperation. And while desperation often becomes the last stage before destruction, the destroyer is often operating without a sense of identity and in a vacuum or vortex of insecurity.
Based on the brazenness associated with some of the gun robberies and other execution style shootings, government and law enforcement have to recognize the plight of today’s youths and that those who turn to a life of crime appear to have no fear of death or jail, because they don’t value their own lives, let alone that of others. And while the last gun amnesty was a bust despite good intentions, the harsh reality is that for many a youth, a gun is not a weapon but a tool of his trade. It is all he has to help him ‘earn a living’, even if he dies trying to live by the gun by turning it on a society that he feels failed him.
To stop these youths from continuing to turn against society that is ’not being there for them’, a collective effort between government and civil society is needed to help them regain their identity and feel secure and hopeful. It is a collective effort that requires leadership initiative from the government, because if the government fails to address this crisis then its hold on power could be threatened by the very crisis of a 40% youth unemployment rate that can easily become 45% and then 50% by the next election cycle, if we believe 15 is the age at which youth begins.
I have always been a harsh critic of Forbes Burnham for elections rigging and autocratic leadership, but I cannot deny he was a visionary. When he launched the 1970-1976 Feed, Clothe and House Ourselves programme, it had an inherent jobs creation goal under each heading. National Service, though far from perfect and often pilloried, allowed many who served to emerge with a trade skill now being utilized either in Guyana or abroad.
I have not seen an actual blueprint of what President Granger has in mind for youths, but I believe the current youth crisis, manifesting itself in daily criminal routines, demands a vision that would allow youths to channel their energies in areas that could benefit both them and society. If Bharrat Jagdeo, his minions and can cronies remain free after an era of pervasive corruption, then most youths behind bars deserve a second chance, providing they are rehabilitated and offered second opportunities to serve Guyana.
Instead of ‘siccing’ the army on the recalcitrant youths, maybe the army can once again become a source of employment for youths via a revived and expanded Engineering Corps where skills can be learned and utilized, discipline can be inculcated, a future can be seen and sought after, and society can feel safer or breathe easily again. Hopefully, as time progresses, government agencies and private sector companies seeking new hires will be encouraged to give preference to those who served in the army, where scholarships can also be awarded to those seeking higher learning.  For Guyana’s youths, the army could well be the place where they can be all they want to be for a better Guyana.
 Emile Mervin

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