COVID-19 volunteers, six feet may not be enough, and AGM

Oct 11, 2020 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

>>Encouraging Events, Disturbing Developments<<<

By GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – Our local news is so weighed down with the troubling and dispiriting that it is, sometimes, difficult to sum up the interest, energy, and courage to browse the daily papers. The rough stuff seems to come from all sides and in torrents. But there are the occasional gems of what is good, which encourage. One such encouraging moment was the word from the Ministry of Health that Guyana’s “COVID-19 hotlines…are operated largely by volunteers” (KN, October 6). That citizens can spare time from their hectic schedules and be motivated by compassionate considerations is very encouraging to me, as it should be for all Guyanese. I long for more of this and at all levels, from any source. This giving of self, this endeavouring to make a difference, in ways that count. I agree that we owe a debt of gratitude to these round-the-clock volunteers drawn from “across different sectors, including the Civil Defence Commission, the Red Cross, and the Health Ministry” among others. I join in sharing a word of thanks to them and the private citizens who also give of their time and heart. May their work be blessed, our fellow citizen comforted, and the volunteer ranks increase. I stay with the COVID-19 pandemic and now the water gets muddy with what disturbs, and extremely so. According to United States media reports, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the COVID-19 virus is, indeed, airborne and can travel beyond six feet. As stated on the CDC’s website, “COVID-19 can sometimes be spread by airborne transmission” AND “there is evidence that under certain conditions, people with COVID-19 seem to have infected others who were more than six feet away.” Though the CDC’s statement did speak of this mainly occurring within “enclosed spaces” that “had inadequate ventilation” such as while singing or exercising, this brings scant comfort. And though, I interpret this to mean in group settings, it still disturbs intensely, since I am asking myself what really is known, what works, and what brings the confidence that this plague can be managed and survived. In the encouraging news from above about volunteers, the KN article provided those timely reminders from the ministry about masks, social distancing, and washing hands. Now the applied and accepted social distancing standard of six feet apart looks very shaky and filled with trouble. Moving forward (or downward) to the more mundane and less life threatening, there was this disturbing piece from KN on October 6th captioned, “AGM replaces local contractor with Chinese company.” First, it was of Guyanese workers being replaced, which was smoothed over with promises at the Labour Ministry to correct through appropriate remedial action. But in less than the blink of an eye AGM, through its new Chinese owners, has walked back on its commitment to the Guyanese government and people. As identified by KN, “Japarts, a local heavy-duty machinery and equipment supplier had been ditched by the new AGM owners for Sinohydro—a Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company.” How long are we going to stand by idly and allow every exploiting and greed-infested foreign investor to lie to us, to humiliate our own people to set their people right, and then hand us the bill as the last insult? The foreign companies will not come if the prospects of rich returns are not present. But it does not have to be so astronomical, so costly for Guyanese trying to get a fingernail in the wealth of this blessed land. This is what disturbs, when every American, Chinese, Russian, and other exploiters (the new colonialists and commercial imperialists) come here, promise the world, and deliver little in return. Why do we keep dealing with these people? This also disturbs with little improvement in the cards from those at the top. (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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COVID-19 volunteers, six feet may not be enough, and AGM

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