The idyllic land of many waters

Jul 25, 2018 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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When your own dog bites you, it hurts to the bone. When your own dog bites you, you experience a feeling of being betrayed by an ingrate.
Guyanese are feeling hurt. They have been bitten. Not by their own dog, but by a foreign dog. A reporter from the New York Times ran an article about Guyana’s preparedness for oil, and in that article he made some unflattering comments about Guyana.
The criticisms have upset persons at home. They are annoyed, deeply annoyed. So much so that some of them are calling for the author of that article to become persona non grata in Guyana, as if the poor fellow has any intention to return to this God-forsaken country. Others have called for an apology, having rejected what they perceive as a depiction of Guyana as a ‘shithole’ country.
The reaction to the article is part of the local pappyshow. People feel hurt when they are criticized by outsiders. They feel disrespected. They become nationalists overnight, refusing to brook any criticisms of their country. How dare, they arrogantly pontificate, a foreigner criticize our country?
It is strange that Guyanese should have reacted so harshly to criticism of Guyana’s preparedness for oil. Those who feel hurt and upset by the New York Times article should consider that the writer may have been judging Guyana from his own first world standards and, in this regard, he has found Guyana seriously wanting in terms of standards.
Guyanese should not be surprised that persons accustomed to first world standards would be highly critical of conditions here. Guyana is still a politically, economically and socially backward country. It has a long way to go before it can be considered a first world country.
What the New York Times feature writer was urging is that unless there is change, we are going to squander our oil wealth. We are prepared for the riches which are coming our way – this is the message that the writer is communicating. There is too much corruption and ineptitude.
We should not be too harsh on the author. Anyone who has stepped off a plane at our national airport and had to walk the long distance to the terminal building while the rain beats down on you would appreciate how far Guyana lags behind the rest of the world. Anyone who has do deal with the stern-faced immigration officers would appreciate the need for a more welcoming environment for visitors. Anyone who has had to shout at the touts in the parking lot at the airport to leave their baggage alone would appreciate the perceptions which foreigners will have of this country.
Guyanese like to boast about how hospitable we are, but the reality is that foreigners are subject to all manner of schemes and scams aimed at defrauding them when they arrive here.
A Caribbean Airlines aircraft ran off the airstrip a few years ago. Passengers were injured and traumatized. A taxi which rushed to the site where the aircraft ended up was charging the injured passengers as much as US$20 to transport them to the terminal building. In the midst of tragedy, one taxi driver was on a hustle. Do you therefore blame foreigners for having a negative perception of Guyana?
The short journey from the airport to the city provides visitors of a snapshot of the lack of standards in the country. There are many sections of the East Bank Public Road where there are no street lights. There are sectors which are dark, desolate and unsafe, including on the approach to the airport at Timehri.
Traffic congestion is a problem on that roadway, particularly as you approach the McDoom-Agricola-Eccles, Grove-Diamond and Providence sections. Minibus drivers use that roadway as if it was racing track.
Litter can be seen strewn all over the place at places along the route. And the police are waiting to pounce on you for the slightest mistake.
Guyana is the land of many waters where you are afraid to drink the tap water and where untreated sewage is dumped into the ocean where people fish and bathe.
Who can therefore blame foreigners for having a bad impression of Guyana?
It hurts because a foreigner has depicted Guyana as a ‘shithole ‘country. But it is not the first time that Guyana has been so depicted. Another reporter who came here to cover Cricket World Cup 2007 had some negative statements to make about Guyana. And the reaction to his column was the same as it is now with the New York Times article. It is all case of false pride? Why?
Guyanese have been lamenting poor local standards. Guyanese have been far more critical of low standards in Guyana than foreigners. Guyanese have described their own country as a ‘shithole’ country. So why be so upset about the comments of the feature writer from the New York Times when Guyanese themselves have painted a more negative picture of their own country and have experienced worse than what that reporter experienced.
At least he was not mugged or robbed while in Guyana? Hundreds of Guyanese are victims to crime each year in our idyllic country.

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