Rise Up!

Aug 16, 2020 Features / Columnists, News, The Story within the Story

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The Story Within The Story…

By Leonard Gildarie

A nation suffers when our good people do nothing in the face of evil, mismanagement and greed. A nation suffers when our neighbours starve at our gates while we sup and watch from our windows.
The past 20 months have been hell for our people. There are the cynics who believe that Guyana benefitted from the COVID-19 pandemic and the political situation because of the strength our people gained.
There are some harsh lessons to be learnt. We have come to a point where people have been reduced to begging for a few hampers here and there. Pride has been shoved aside because of necessity. People are starving and the cupboard is bare. Simple facts.
The elections period has made one thing clear…the people are in tune with the politics of this country and want better.
However, I yearn for the day when race will no longer play a role in our voting and we actually do have representatives from our district who will take our geographic concerns to the National Assembly.
For too long, we remain shackled because our family voted for a party because of race.
The tide is changing. We see more persons across the ethnic divide openly supporting another party without fear.
We should be at a place where a family can stand in a line and feel comfortable and free to choose the party or coalition of their choice.
This week, aside from oil and gas, which will continue to dominate the news, the deaths on the roadways and COVID-19 seized the headlines. We continue to see wanton madness of speed on the roadways. I travelled the East Coast roadway recently and loved the expansion. To my unpolluted mind, it was done well and hints of promises of where we could go. Of course, there are many things that the contractor and supervisors should have paid more attention to.
What struck me was the speed on the roadway. The minibuses continue to express disrespect to other drivers. They remain above the law.
The undertaking and overtaking and changing lanes at their whim and fancy seem to be the order of the day.
On Wednesday, the wanton madness continued. A car lost control and slammed into the median before it ended up in the opposite carriageway and slammed head-on into a Canter truck.
When the smoke cleared, four people were dead…three of them from the Transport and Harbours Department.
What kind of speed was involved here? For the vehicle to end up on the other side of the roadway, tells a stark tale.
My children and wife, when we are going out, would not allow me to drive. They believe I am reckless and impatient. I see madness on the road, and I sometimes want to pull drivers over.
I said it before and will do so again…we can ill-afford to lose our most important resource… our people…to deaths that can be avoided. Families are torn apart. The reason for this is simple. We have little or no regards for the law. If we get into problems, it is the comfort that a police rank would be paid off. It is the harsh reality.
The shocking revelations coming out of waste and mismanagement and how a parallel public service has been created to hand jobs to supporters is beyond shocking. It is all part of the lawlessness that pervades our society.
Time and again, it seems as if our administrations fail to understand what it means to allow systems to work and transparency and accountability to be our watchwords.
We anger people who watch helplessly when others are promoted or hired on the basis of being a party supporter and paid more.
This has nothing to do with race or ethnicity. That is a narrative, which is being pushed.
It demotivates the public service, hard-working men and women, who just want a level playing field.
The respect for laws and systems should be paramount.
A new government is in place. It will be two weeks today that Mohamed Irfaan Ali has been sworn in.
On Wednesday, Guyana learnt that one of his ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd, was tested positive for COVID-19. There would have been a mad scramble and lessons learnt as the entire Cabinet was tested. The ministers were ordered to operate remotely. Another minister has tested positive.
The reality, which we have been talking about, is here. Our numbers have gone past 600 and climbing. I expect us to reach 1,000 in about two months. The reasons are simple. There are more tests being conducted. The number of COVID-19 tests have been ramped up.
So buckle up and get ready. Venezuelans and Brazilians are pouring in at our borders unchecked.
School, as we know it, cannot be opened in September. In fact, we have been told that results of the Grade Six exams will not be out until the end of September.
Where does that leave us?
People will not like what I am about to say. Bars are reopening. Restaurants are reopening. It is business as usual. The seawalls are filled.
The enforcers…the police…are more concerned with the vehicles’ fitness than enforcing the COVID-19 regulations.
Berbice seemed to have a handle. Three lawyers, businessmen, and others appeared in court last week, for breaching the COVID-19 restrictions. They are handling the situation well there. We are the ones to blame and the longer we continue in a cavalier attitude; we will be paying the price.
I am worried about the vulnerable. President Ali has some tough decisions to make. There is not a lot of money in the Treasury.
As a people, we have to rise up and be watchful. We have to cast our eyes to our neighbours and help in our own little ways.
The real litmus test is here and our true mettle will be on display.
Can we rise above it? Of course, we can. We are a strong people. We have been battered.
We have only us to look out for.
We fight among ourselves and the world laughs…all the way to the bank.
Rise up. Speak up. Our future is at stake.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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