Clifford Reis of Banks DIH and how dictatorship is born

Jan 29, 2019 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

During the 2019 annual general meeting of Banks DIH, its CEO, Mr. Clifford Reis told the attendees a sad story. It is sad because it graphically demonstrates how dictatorship is born. From every corner of the globe over centuries, dictatorship consolidated itself because citizens were afraid to speak on the wrong and terribly unjust things the government did to them, their families, their fellow citizens, national institutions and the country as a whole.
As I write, there is one country on Planet Earth whose citizens aren’t going to let dictatorship blossom. It is France. Already weeks of huge demonstrations have resulted in the French president reversing many unpopular policies. The United States isn’t going to become a dictatorship even if Trump wins a second term. The people of the US are not going to let Trump do whatever he wants and whatever his administrators want to do.
Tyranny grows and becomes a monster that devours you if you do not speak up. This is the lesson of history that humans just do not want to learn.
Reis told his audience that his company’s profits take a dent whenever the National Assembly is in session because the Banks DIH outlets in the vicinity of parliament suffer. He went on to add that the Christmas season is the best time of the year for those outlets but last month it was badly hit by the parliamentary sessions.
Why is that so? Because when Parliament meets, six streets are condoned off. The restrictions overflow way into Sussex Street in Albouystown and the Bourda Market area. This is not what I have been told. This is what I have been caught in. This is what is obvious to anyone going downtown when parliament is meeting.
What Reis went on to add is going to shock you if you are a stranger to Guyana and you come from a democratic country. He said repeated attempts to the relevant authorities to have the situation eased were without success. Now here is the part you need to reflect on.
Banks DIH is one of the Caribbean’s enduring private companies. In Guyana its managers are well known to the corridors of power. Historically, the company has always been close to the PNC. In fact, this columnist knows that historically, too, the company has always been generous to the PNC during election campaigns. Now if they can ignore a powerful entity like Banks DIH, imagine how contemptuous they are of small business people.
This columnist makes no apologies and will make no apologies for his support of the no-confidence motion (NCM). This columnist makes no apologies for accepting that the NCM was validly tabled and is a legal process. This columnist makes no apologies for wanting to have the power of the PNC and APNU+AFC reduced by a configuration in parliament that prevents majority rule by PPP or APNU+AFC. This columnist makes no apologies in his use of the terminology of clowns and jokers in reference to many of those who rule Guyana.
All of the above is premised on my belief that the previous set and now this present group are not fit to govern this nation. I watched on television where the media was camped out for the vote on Brexit in the British Parliament and traffic flowed as normal.
Why was that so? Because the Parliament cannot restrict the vehicular movement of millions of British citizens because parliament is in session. There are ways to provide security yet allow for the flow of traffic.
During the reign of the PPP these extensive street cordons did not exist. But the Guyanese people have allowed this government to do what it wants, a government which has many leaders, just as in the previous one that have foreign citizenship.
I am typing this article at 3.55 PM, Monday. I live on the Railway Embankment. It is a cemetery at the moment. This is because the CRIC 17 conference is on at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre and all traffic is banned on the Railway Embankment from UG Road to Conversation Tree Road from 7AM to 5PM.
This is unprecedented asininity. During the morning hours, you can restrict the traffic but allow free flow until an hour before the conference ends where the traffic ranks can perform their operations.
The conference will last for three days. For three days Guyanese drivers cannot use the Railway Embankment from morning to near sundown. And some of the foreign citizens who run our country are allowed to institute this tyranny because we are a nation of sheep. Guyana is a nation of sheep run by a cabal of clowns.

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