Trinidadian humiliation of Guyanese doesn’t stop

Sep 07, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
On a recent travel to North America something happened that caused me to reflect deeply on the Guyana we are leaving for the next generation. I was on a Caribbean Airlines flight bound for North America. The route was Guyana to Trinidad and Tobago and then to North America. While we were on the flight in Trinidad, something very normal happened; the security came on board and conducted checks. There were layers of security; the first came and checked our travel documents (passports), the second layer came and did another check but it was the third layer of security checks that really registered and made me emotional. The third layer of security was required to check the physical seats; and by the way, there was also a fourth layer. A few of us jokingly remarked; is this going to end at some point.
I also asked one of the security personnel if this was done for persons travelling from all other Caribbean countries or only for the flights leaving Guyana. I cannot recall whether there was a response. Editor, the role of the third layer of security touched me. It required that the security person conducted checks on the physical seats. As I watched the personnel lifting the seats and pulling out the backs while conducting the checks, my pride as a Guyanese was hurt. I remarked to the security personnel, that we still have decent and honest Guyanese living in Guyana. I was just venting my frustration, had little to do with the security personnel who was just doing their job.
A few of us, who were in the vicinity where I was seated, started talking about how we got to this reduced state as a people. One person commented that ‘we can’t do anything about it, so we just have to live with it’. I then asked two questions – ‘is this the Guyana that we want to leave for the next generation? And what can we do to rebuild trust and confidence in us as a people? Ever since that incident, I have been laboring over those questions.
I spent the past few weeks pondering on how did we get here? How did we get to a stage as a people where the seats that we sit in on an aircraft have to be checked? You see life is about stimulus and response, so the question is, what have we done to stimulate this response from other countries? Since behaviour is also linked to results, what kind of behaviour have we displayed which is producing these results? Should we just accept this response or these results or should we do something about them? What can we do about this situation?
It is my view that we can do something about it; we can rebuild trust and confidence in our people and country. However, for this to happen, we have to focus on three levels, the individual, the institution and the society. At the individual level, one of the areas we have to focus on; is our desire. Becoming involved in illegal activities, such as drugs, money laundering, etc., one’s desire for something must be so great that they are willing to do anything to get it. This could be a desire for power, wealth, status or other.
Hence at the individual level, as we seek to redirect the course of our country, we need to examine our desire. We need to reflect on at what point did we became a people who are willing to do anything to achieve the things we desire. Another key aspect to be examined in the drive to improve the image of our country, are our institutions. The recent incident involving billions of dollars in relation to one individual and seemingly condoned by the banking institutions; does not help our image. As a matter of fact any country where the banking system accepts billions from an individual under these circumstances would definitely come under scrutiny and it affects all of us negatively.
Recently, I was at a certain place where a national from another country was going to apply for visa with a Guyanese passport and the person could not even speak or understand English. Almost every day the press reports on corruption some at ridiculous levels in our society; it is almost as if criminal behaviour has become the norm at all levels. However, at some point we have to say enough is enough.
We have to seriously start thinking about how we will change the course of our nation. How can we rebuild trust and confidence in our people? How can we leave a Guyana for future generations where they will be treated with the respect that they deserve? Our fore parents fought for our freedom; our role is to fight to keep that freedom but instead, we are surrendering it with our corrupt and criminal behaviour. What’s the point in having all of the money in the world and we are not free to go anywhere and enjoy it. Money is very important but quality of life is even more important. We must once again put a higher value on freedom and dignity and integrity at the individual, institutional and societal levels.
This characterization of us as a highly corrupt and prone to criminality has to change. Actually, there are four dimensions to our existence as human beings: The physical, intellectual/mental, social/emotional and spiritual. Drug dealing, money laundering and other criminal and corrupt practices are mainly for the fulfillment of desires at a very physical level. Generally, the focus is on achieving power, wealth and or status at fundamentally a physical level. Hence, changing the course of our country would require that we become a people with more balance – that we develop our physical, intellectual/mental, social/emotional and spiritual sides. It is almost as though we have lost the soul of the nation and our history should have taught us that we cannot build or sustain a nation, without a soul.
Our leaders have a solemn responsibility to redesign and lead a Guyana that promotes honesty, integrity and dignity, at the individual, institutional and societal levels. To reconstruct and nurture a Guyana where its people will be respected and treated with that respect. Must we achieve wealth, power or status or must we build at all cost? To the general Guyanese population, it is obvious from my experience on the Caribbean Airlines flight that some countries have put systems in place to protect their countries. We can decide to continue to be a country that nurtures criminal activities and we will be treated accordingly or we can decide to leave a better country for our future generations.
I have started talking to a few friends and colleagues about running a public campaign called ‘Leave A Better Guyana’, the theme will be ‘I am taking responsibility for the future of Guyana’. More on this campaign will be published shortly. The overall focus will be to rebuild trust and confidence in our people and country, at the individual, institutional and societal levels. For further information please contact email address iam_guyana@yahoo.com .
It is not intended for this letter to provoke discussions on the Caribbean Airlines security or the North American country but rather for us to do some serious introspection about changing our individual, institutional and societal behaviour as it relates to crime and criminality.
Further, I wish to open a public discussion on the topic ‘How can we restore trust and confidence in our people and country?
Citizen Audreyanna Thomas

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One thought on “Trinidadian humiliation of Guyanese doesn’t stop”

Arthur Young September 7, 2016 at 6:21 am

There is need for extra security checks.. It is better to err on the side of caution as the consequences can be extremely grave.

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