Latest update September 20th, 2026 10:40 AM
This is Guyana!
Dear Editor,
Kaieteur News – In reference to Mr. Freddie Kissoon’s article on July 16, 2021, I had a similar experience to Mr. Sheikh Deen’s where he finds it almost impossible to get a replacement ID card.
I am an overseas based Guyanese and I came to Guyana in November 2020. A few days after landing, I went to the local GECOM office and told them that I needed an ID card. After checking, the clerk told me that I was not in the system and to call Georgetown.
I called GECOM in Georgetown and told them that I wanted an ID card. The lady whom I spoke to told me that they were not issuing ID cards presently but “very soon” they will.
I am still in Guyana today, July 16, 2021, and since November of last year, I have called GECOM about five to six times and, magically, the answer is always the same – they are not giving out ID cards now but they will very soon.
Two days ago was my last call and I got the same answer. I then told the lady that this is the same answer I’ve been getting since last year. She appeared taken aback because there was a few seconds of silence. I told her that in other countries, one could go and apply at any time of year for an ID card. What is going on here, I said? She then told me, “Well you know, this is Guyana.” And Editor, truer words were never spoken.
For the past 27 years I have visited Guyana for about seven times. A week here, two weeks there. I felt rejuvenated when I left. But now that I have spent about eight months here, I can attest that if a person does not have fortitude, Guyana can suck the life out of you and leave you mentally unstable and physically broken. I feel drained. Everywhere is a bottleneck and issues are passed back to you unresolved with euphemisms of, “That’s the way it is, take it or leave it.”
Yours sincerely,
Brian Samaroo
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