DIASPORA IS NECESSARY FOR GUYANA’S DEVELOPMENT

Sep 15, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Amidst growing concerns, at home and abroad, about the involvement of qualified persons from the Diaspora being recruited for jobs in Guyana and, the apparent lack by some Guyanese workers at home, of expertise, skills, ability or just plain common sense to manage and administrate, Guyana’s President David Arthur Granger (Brigadier ret’d) has predicted that 2017 will be a better year for Guyanese. He says “things moving slowly forward, but getting better”.
But this prediction is being questioned, especially in light of the fact that up to September this year, just about 50% of the more than G$220 billion – 2016 budget have been disbursed…while the 2017 budget is due in December 2016. The problem is that it seems there is no proper planning at the micro or even the macro level and even President Granger himself has admitted that work on a National Development Plan is still ongoing.
Another one of the problems of the Granger-led Coalition administration comprising the APNU and the AFC is that of “broken promises”. It was indicated during the 2015 elections campaign trail and after the Coalition victory at the polls on May 11, 2015 that much more attention would be paid to “Region 11” – the Diaspora, and persons with relevant skills, talent, expertise, experience and qualifications would be recruited or made use of.
All that is evident is that the PNC “old boys’ club” has been resuscitated with many “losers” from the “28 years of PNC mismanagement” being placed in key positions that they can’t cope with – a case of “round pegs in square holes” as many of them are now growing fat in their offices and cubicles! Addressing those gathered at the launch of the recent PNC Congress at Sophia, President Granger (the leader of the PNC) indicated that his party would be re-visiting founder/leader Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham’s socialist policies and unrealized development vision. In Guyana, the reaction to that initiative was muted, varied, cautious and skeptical.
Be so, as it may, President Granger is on a learning curve to being an astute and “Machiavellian” politician and is at present being seen as “too soft” on issues that need an “iron hand in a glove”. Concerns are being raised over his resorting to placing many “army buddies” in key government positions and several PNC operatives who are past their shelf life in prominent and sensitive positions. It’s also being said that Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency – Joe “Bumpy” Harmon is too powerful and is really “the power behind the throne”.
The word on the street, also, is that there needs to be an agency or even a ministry set up to deal with Diaspora matters, including recruitment and placement of needed qualified and experienced personnel. As Guyana is poised for an economic takeoff, spearheaded by Exxon Mobil’s recent oil finds off the shore of Guyana, it’s being realized that the brain drain has left Guyana bereft of certain quality of cerebral operatives, as many who have remained home could do with upgrades, training, exposure and nurturing by those who would have acquired a world vision, metropolitan life style and superior work experience and qualifications…and want to return home to serve.
Instead, even local persons with skills, qualifications, expertise and experience are being overlooked in Guyana for key jobs…as the ubiquitous “party card” is being seen as the passport to lucrative placements in the public service, on corporate boards and in key sectors of governance. President Granger has to be careful over not being seen as practicing “partisan party politics” style (PPP) in the recruitment of suitable people for work in Guyana.
Moreso, the excuse being touted is that persons are “too old or too gray”. Well, well, well what do you know? President Granger is 70 years old and many of his coalition colleagues are nearing the proverbial “three score and ten”…with some of them already soaring past set ages of retirement.
There was one good indicator that Guyana is willing to clean up the corrupt mess the country had become, with the recent announcement that a Canadian company has been hired to restructure the Guyana Power & Light (GPL) corporation. Cabinet, during its meeting last Tuesday, September 6, approved a G$1.6B contract for the provision of consultancy services for the implementation of a Management Strengthening programme for Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL).
The contract was awarded to Manitoba Hydro International Limited. This was made known by Minister of State Harmon at the weekly Post-Cabinet Press Briefing held at the Ministry of the Presidency. Harmon explained that the project is part of a European Union (EU) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Power Utility Upgrade Programme (PUUP) which will be rolled out in phases. Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, further explained that the first component of the project involves the improvement of capacity building for the executive management of the power company.
Ras Leon Saul

Editor’s note: Because of the length, this letter will conclude in tomorrow’s edition

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