Mixed feelings about Independence

May 29, 2018 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
Happy Independence to our leaders, our Government, the Opposition and all my fellow Guyanese! This is an appropriate time to remember all the people who have sacrificed for our Independence and who have since passed on.
I still have fond memories of the royal visit by the Duke and Duchess of Kent, who came to Guyana as part of our first Independence celebrations. I was a boy then, but I remember the glorious moments of our achievement of Independence and the tremendous outpouring of goodwill by the British Monarch and Government that wanted to help our country to prosper as well as all Guyanese without regard for colour, class, creed, or any of our differences.
However, as we celebrate Independence, there are many things I am depressed about. For the 52 years we have been free, we have always heard from the early political leaders, those who took the country into Independence and others today, about the great gains we have made. But where are those gains? I can’t see them. What I can see is a lot of talk. And I can see that we are stuck in a time-warp.
I believe that the socialist experiment by former President Forbes Burnham that was behind the thrust to nationalize industries was a terrible mistake. This experiment fit the ideology of former President Dr. Cheddi Jagan, and he and Burnham thought if they nationalized the industries, then all the money that the expatriates were sending abroad would have remained here and made us rich.
That was a big mistake. What they did not realize was that Guyana did not have the administrative capacity and the experience for world trade or marketing for that magnitude of industry and commerce. Our country became stuck in time and marginalized by the more developed countries, which shunned any thought of investing here.
I believe that by now we should have diversified and upgraded our economy and established major new projects like a coconut-products industry and other spinoff industries. We should have had factories converting rice husk or straw into cement and other building materials.
We should have had fish and meat processing plants producing fish and meat for export. We should have also been canning our own fish, meat, fruit and vegetable products. Our country should have had skyscrapers that were not built with drug money, and people should have been enjoying a much higher standard of living, which socialism does not accommodate.
The late President Hugh Desmond Hoyte tried to move us into the 21st century, but lost the election in 1992. Cheddi Jagan, as President, tried to follow the Economic Recovery Programme established by President Hoyte.
It was clear that we were already too stuck in the grain with our mould formed, set and solidified in the 1960s. We could not move forward dynamically to grow like other countries that had achieved Independence at the same time as we did. Take Singapore and Malaysia for instance. These countries gained independence at about the same time as us. Look at them and what they have achieved and then take a look at us. This makes me sad.
I see now we have the opportunity to exploit our oil resources, albeit it appears that we have gotten the short end of the stick in our negotiations with ExxonMobil, due to our immaturity and inexperience in proper negotiating techniques. Our negotiations should never have never been left in the hands of a few individuals. The result is fewer benefits to our country than we deserve.
There will be a circulation of cash and wealth in the land, but the country itself will gain very little for our future generations, it appears. I am all for development with ExxonMobil and any other company, but we need to have a fair deal that will be good for the investor company, their countries, and also for our people.
Unfortunately, the Government of the day has not taken my recommendation for a multi-stakeholder management committee to manage oil, rather than just one political party in power. Without this, there will always be a penchant for corruption by individuals within the governmental bureaucracy. Having persons from the private sector, the Opposition and the religious organisations on board would have prevented that.
I see spinoff industries coming on board, maybe an aluminum smelter and factories for the creation of aluminum products. This is my hope, my wish, my dream.
We must break out of the grain of the socialist mentality, which has kept us in the dirt. We have seen that all the countries that have experimented with socialism have suffered and it is difficult for them to get out of that mould and mindset.
Our mindset, in fact, seems to be deteriorating. When there are national events, too many of us go out on the road nearly naked, to get drunk on alcohol and dance lewdly in public, on the roadways and even on truck tops. The concept of Mashramani is fine, but it has evolved into something most vulgar.
Mash is an integral part of our culture and our Republic Day celebrations, but now, despite the fact that Mash is a carnival-type celebration, this year, we had a carnival to coincide with our Independence celebrations. So are we going to have Mash in February and carnival in May every year?
I see the banks offering loans to Mash and Carnival revelers to buy clothes and costumes, to make it easy for persons to entertain themselves lavishly and irresponsibly. Many of these misguided revelers will then be imprisoned with unnecessary loans for three years.
In my opinion, these types of celebrations with their vulgar gyrations and increased consumption of alcohol and all sorts of crude behaviour are like satanic rituals. It makes me sad that this is how some of us choose to observe our Independence.
I know some people will attack me for this, but I will continue to strive to be a positive patriot of this nation. I am prepared to bear that criticism and I will continue to condemn publicly the promotion of events being marketed as “Stink and Dutty” (J’Ouvert) and other such depravities that soil the name of Independence celebrations.
The Government has a role to play in the growing level of vulgarity in society, because it tolerates such behaviour at national events. It is time for Government to turn the nation back to morality and strong family values or else Independence will be nothing but a wasted opportunity.
I suggest that Government should set some guidelines to protect our people at such events.
Roshan Khan Snr.

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