Compel your political leaders to overcome this apparent arrogance and sit and talk

Mar 18, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – At the risk of being tedious and repetitive, I hope nevertheless to persuade all Guyanese to avoid the many distractions and rocks thrown on our roads to prosperity and peace through unity, tolerance and understanding.

There are many distractions, but I have faith in humanity. That if we look at the templates of the past, try to analyze the present, that even though only the divine can fashion the future, that this generation can help create conditions for our future of hope and happiness.

For example, one distraction we saw in Parliament recently, is the rejection by Speaker Manzoor Nadir of a motion seeking to have full coverage insurance in the event of an oil spill.

The Hon. Speaker left room for neither discussion nor debate and posing absurd questions reminds me that if Nadir’s interpretation of the law governing the conduct of Parliament, then I remember Mr. Bumble’s outburst in Charles Dickens’ Play, Oliver Twist, when he said that “the law is an ass.”

In this case, I pose the rhetorical question: is it the law or those who speak (an unintended pun) is the ass?

Today, I urge Guyanese to compel their political leaders to overcome this apparent arrogance and sit and talk.

Another distraction: On the programme Public Platform, on Channel 9 last Wednesday, the issue of this conflict in Ukraine surfaced and here I again urge that we the descendants of the earliest inhabitants, the Amerindians, the Manumitted African slaves and the Indentured labourers from India, China and Madiera must not ignore their sufferings and sit down and talk, talk about how we can share the bounty of our natural resources and stop behaving as though the wealth of our minerals, marine and oil belong to a chosen few.

Too much time, I believe, is being spent on this contentious issue in Ukraine, where the Guyanese public including our publishers have over many decades been conditioned to respond based on the news coming mainly from one side.

In life, every story has three sides, your side, my side and the third side, which is often the whole story; seldom told.

Our Leaders, particularly, those in charge of Government must buckle down to ease the heavy burden of the heads of our women, in particular, who must get their children a healthy meal before sending them off to school, must find the money for the passage to get them to school and to purchase uniforms and other essentials.

The above, where without exception, the cost has risen.

The announcement by the Government to ease electricity and water rates is far too little. What was not said, was if their wealthy friends in the business community would benefit from these proposals and here lies a concern we have that this PPP Administration has moved far, far away of the ideals of their founders and that what is apparent today is action by the Government intended to benefit their friends who are the big merchants and the favoured Contractors, and that we see nothing, absolutely nothing that will make the small man a real man by easing price increases and just about everything.

This means unless we hear otherwise that the big ones, who consume large amounts of electricity and water will derive the same level of reduction for the small man who has a few lights, a radio and television in his house and utilizes a few gallons of water as announced by the President. We did not hear of a cut-off point.

I listened to the words of President Ali as he commissioned the Well at Lusignan. There was no indication that there would be a cut-off point based on consumption pattern.

If applied, as we heard from the President, it is a guarantee that the gap with the Upper Class and the Lower Class will widen and is no more in the present circumstances than sop to Cerberus. The tragedy unfolding before our eyes supported by a well-oiled and heavily funded propaganda machine, and here I bet my bottom dollar that this letter will not find favour for publication in known Government propaganda radio, television and newspapers. When will we be led by another Burnham and another Cheddi Jagan?

Regards

Hamilton Green
Elder

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