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Work around the politics!

Apr 09, 2019 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

If there is anyone who knows to throw a party it is Dr. Glenn Lall. Last Thursday, was one of the better parties which he has ever thrown – and for the simple reason that he did not invite a single politician to the event.

Politicians are spoil sports. They come and make fine political speeches, woo the audience, and then disappoint them.

The absence of the politicians did not spoil what was a wonderful evening celebrating the Silver Jubilee of Kaieteur News. And their absence must have weighed on the mind of one of the main invitees at the event, Dr. Yesu Persaud.  He posed a most interesting question to the audience

Dr. Persaud after making an impassioned plea for Guyanese to ditch tribalism and to act in the interest of unity, asked “What are [politicians] really doing for you, the people?” He went to ask, “Do we need politicians?”

His comments have been widely misinterpreted as suggesting that there may be no need for politicians. This is not what Dr. Yesu Persaud meant or intended to convey.

What he was saying was that instead of people placing their hopes in politicians, they must become more resourceful and shoulder the burden of ensuring a better country.  He noted that this is a responsibility which is owed to our children and those to come.

And then he made an appeal to those within the audience – and by extension in society – whose pockets are deep. He asked them to open their hearts and their pockets.

What Dr. Persaud was saying is that despite the reservations about what the politicians are doing or can do, people can make a difference. And he called on those with the resources in society to step forward and to do something. This was the essence of his message. He was not suggesting that politicians were not needed.

Dr. Yesu Persaud should know. He is not a businessman. He was a former business executive who ran a successful conglomerate. The companies with which he was associated did well both when there was competition and wasn’t. And he has learnt from those experiences.

He worked under all political systems – authoritarian, dictatorship and democratic. He worked under different economic systems – closed and open economies, socialist and neoliberal. He has seen it all. And he was able to maneuver his companies into successful positions.

In other words, he has managed to work around the strictures which were erected by the politicians. He and the companies with which he was associated has succeeded despite the politicians and Guyana’s tribal politics.

There are many persons like Dr. Yesu Persaud in our business community who have not allowed politics to become the excuse for failure. His message, therefore, is not to ignore political responsibility but to do what needs to be done to secure a better future for our children and those to come.

The business community in Guyana has a terminal flaw. It looks at all times to the government to solve the ills of society. But these businessmen and businesswomen are not always willing to step forward to lend a hand to be part of the solution.

Guyana has many problems which the coming of oil is not going to solve. Trinidad and Tobago was awash with oil revenue. Yet it could never have solved its unemployment, poverty and crime problems.

Eric Williams used to boast that oil don’t spoil. Burnham used to taunt him with “you cannot eat oil.”

Oil don’t spoil, but oil also does not solve all problems. And Dr. Yesu Persaud was saying that despite the challenges of our tribal politics we can do better, especially those with money.

They can lend a helping hand. Not just to the political parties which will soon come knocking on their doors for campaign financing but also to the poor.

If every businessman in Guyana sponsors one of the children of the dismissed sugar workers by simply providing a small sum to cover the child’s transportation to attend school and something for lunch, it will make a world of difference within the sugar belt.  And it will not cost these businessmen a fortune.

Work around our tribal politics! You don’t need politicians to make a difference. Lend a helping hand to those who need help!

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