In support of the Clifford Krauss’s article

Jul 27, 2018 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I read with amusement the outcry over the Clifford Krauss article in the New York Times called ‘The $20 Billion Question for Guyana’. From reading the article I deduced that it was an opinion piece and the reporter was not on assignment from an encyclopaedic outlet to gather facts about Guyana such as: population, number of regions, ethnic make-up, exports and imports etc. Opinions are not facts and are based on such things as perceptions, values, lifestyle and the environment in which someone lives or is exposed to.
I found the pronouncements which garnered much criticism such as, “Guyana is a vast watery wilderness with only three paved highways” to be decorative in nature and the opinion (which can be good or bad) of a person based on perception.
Maybe, Mr Krauss lives in an urban environment/concrete jungle. The definition of ‘Highway’ varies depending on the source material and locality from all roads including bridges to a main road, especially one connecting major towns or cities. At the end of the day visitors can judge for themselves how many highways we have or better yet the relevant authority can make this information known.
Guyana is known as the land of many waters and some lakes and bodies of water in other countries are like big drains for us. The country is also carpeted by large swathes of rainforest. According to The National Development Strategy for Guyana document (online) about 90 percent of the country’s population lives in the coastal zone which comprises only about 7.5 percent of its total land area.
I have read reviews of visitors who described the landscape of Guyana as being like a giant broccoli when viewed from above and thought they were landing in the jungle when arriving at the Cheddi Jagan International airport.
Even some of the most visited countries and cities in the world such as Egypt, London, Paris and New York receive the worst criticisms from visitors, well-known bloggers and reporters with daily online comments ranging from ‘terrorist infested’, ‘crime-ridden’, ‘dirty and polluted’ and ‘do not go there!’.
A poor person from Guyana who lives in the countryside and never stayed at a hotel may find a three-star one in New York to be fancy and grand whereas a New Yorker from Manhattan may complain about the temperature of the water, insects in the room and peeling paint.
Most visitors to Guyana from North America and Europe would head straight to our interior without spending much time in Georgetown because they want something different such as bird watching, visiting Amerindian villages and trekking through the jungle.
From reading Krauss article, I can assume that he visited our interior region. There may be children travelling via canoes to school and running around barefoot. I did not find the description offensive, there are rural parts of Guyana where children play like that. Did the reporter visit the entire country and how long was his stay in Guyana? He most likely wrote about the places he visited, things he saw and made conclusions based on interviews with the locals.
As a Guyanese living in this country my entire life I can honestly say that experiencing daily blackouts has become normal for me. I do know that there are parts of Guyana particularly in the interior region where people do not receive electricity because I experienced this myself on visits to these areas.
Not so long ago I read in the local newspapers that our suicide rate is among the highest in the world. Then I read that one of the measures to be implemented so as to not ‘inspire’ others to commit suicide would be the non-reporting of cases in the media.
I believe this is happening because I cannot recall any recent case in the newspapers but I am aware of people who have committed suicide through the local grapevine. What is our present rating?
The newspapers inform the nation about many happenings. I gathered through the media that Guyana has one of the highest rates of ‘brain drain’ in the world and that over 80% of University graduates leave the country for greener pastures. Are we no longer experiencing a ‘brain-drain’?
Also, not so long ago I was again informed through the media that the HIV infection rate in Guyana was one of the highest in the western hemisphere and that we were just behind Haiti.
Every day, we read reports of robberies and the victims lamenting the poor response of the police. I believe many persons would recall these things when asked and maybe ‘add in a bit’. From seeing documentaries online and reading news articles with western reporters I noticed that much time is spent interviewing locals and getting their take on things rather than pouring over official documents in government offices.
Mr. Krauss’s entire article is an opinion piece based on his perceptions of what he saw and interviews with locals and the few officials.
The most important aspect of his article though has to do with corruption and what can happen with our new-found oil wealth. Every Guyanese is aware of corrupt practices and the media report on it daily. While people were criticising Krauss’s article well known columnists were highlighting ‘shithole’ (exact word used in one case) practices occurring daily. How many corrupt politicians have we jailed? Neighbouring countries and the wider world hold their public officials, including very popular ones, to a higher standard and apply the full force of the law when they step out of line yet in Guyana there are two sets of rules.
The politicians are allowed to behave like dictators who are above the law due to their ‘importance’ and status of being better than the regular Guyanese while the ordinary people have to toe the line.
At this moment we hardly get tourists who do not have Guyanese roots. As the country becomes wealthier people will come and write about it with both positive and negative articles. It is all window-dressing and has no real impact on those who live here. What does matter and what will determine whether the ordinary Guyanese will be able to enjoy the good life like the politicians is whether we allow corruption to fester and rob us of a bright future without doing anything about it.
Yours faithfully,
Name Withheld

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