Granger and Nagamootoo have failed the poorer classes

Feb 25, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
What sets great leaders apart from poor ones? The literature is rife with provocative writing about this subject matter that establishes that great leaders possess an open and transparent set of attitudes.  They can cut through differences be it race, gender, age, religion and personality and tap into those very few needs we humans all share, in their bid to rally the people to a mission.
There are a couple of aspects to the David Granger Presidency that clearly establishes that he is not even a mediocre leader and is in an active competition with Donald Ramotar for the bottom of the barrel.  First of all, great leaders do not hide from the wider press on a “mushy” program in fantasy land called the “Public Interest”.  It has been almost 2 years now that President Granger has been hiding from the press in a stage-managed environment called the “Public Interest” Program.  True leaders do not act like this.  True leaders straighten their back and consistently account to the people through the fourth estate; unless of course, they have something to hide.
Then there is the tax and spend show that is now alive and kicking under David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo. This show clearly is set to oppress the poor and the working class, in a theater of deception and dishonesty. But you have to be totally “dotish” to think that the people have not logged on to these blatant acts of public oppression.
And if we thought incompetence was their only political sin, we are involuntarily led to observe their blatant acts of vindictive politics that seem to be designed to punish anything that is remotely associated with an independent thought set.  One has to only reflect on the condition that advanced the career of a former Jamaican CARICOM staffer who worked closely with a certain politically well-connected personality.  Does this remind you of the friends and family syndrome?
In the process, one of Guyana’s outstanding sons in the field of good governance and public procurement reforms was made into collateral damage while the so-called revolutionaries like Nagamootoos and Ramjattans sit idly by like obedient poodles only focused on their personal agenda.
The same thing happened on the sugar and rice belt and the reactions from the political poodles were predictable – “the silence of the Balgobins”. How dare the “shallot” planters in villages like Bath Settlement and Whim support the PPP in the local government elections in 2016?  They must be punished and I as the king of kings (and might I say lord of lords), shall borrow a US$10 million agriculture loan in the name of all of the people of Guyana but only distribute it to people who voted for me in certain places in Guyana.  And I can do this because the political poodles will again act predictably and meekly rubberstamp my decision like voiceless “political opportunists”.
This is the show that failed Guyana in the 1970’s when in 1974 another political master declared that; ”the Party shall assume unapologetically its paramountcy over the Government” when he made the Sophia Declaration.  In those days the “silence of the balgobins” like the Kassims and the Cammies were again predictable,   It is déjà vu, as today the actions of the Granger government clearly exposes that it is nothing but a mere executive arm of the powers that be, in Plantation Sophia.
Let me be very clear, oil or no oil, if this politically bankrupt attitude continues at the highest levels in the Ministry of the Presidency, Guyana will fail developmentally today, as it did in the 1970’s and 1980’s and since then.
Where is the reform agenda from the David Granger administration?  Where are the tax reforms to bring the good life to the doors of the poor and the working class?  Where are the infrastructure reforms that will move Guyana closer to a lower cost and more reliable electricity supply?  Where are the production reforms that will leverage the core competencies of Guyana to catapult the nation up the value-chain to be able to better compete internationally?  Where are the financial reforms to bring back private sector confidence in the economy?
This David Granger administration is nothing but a bad dream for the majority of poor families of Guyana and race, gender, age, and religion do not matter.  The pain for the poor families is universal across the length and breadth of the land.  Unfortunately, many Guyanese families have just received their first GPL bill after the newly imposed VAT was applied and they are now realizing “how poorer they really are” now in 2017 compared to 2016.
It is clear that this Granger administration is all about command and control rather than empowerment and release of the people from mental slavery.  Because of this hostile developmental environment, the creative energies of the people cannot multiply so that they can make a unique value-added contribution to their homeland.  Transformation for Guyana will never come when we have a bunch of geriatrics making all the decision for the brilliant young minds of the land.  It is time to combat this backwardness in the streets.  Better must come!
Ryan Basdeo

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