Madness all over Guyana, not just in parliament

May 19, 2022 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Three captions in KN’s May 18th edition caught my attention that I actually stopped and scanned the underlying stories. They were about a brawl over not parking appropriately, another about wounding for not buying rum, and the third about why not engage international people to assist with oil management. The first two are of the madness in this country that is not just prevalent in parliament, but seeps into the public sphere, while the third is this oil that driven political leadership to completely irreversible madness.
Three men were wounded in Kitty over parking and blocking, which ended up in the sharing of the sickening. It was road rage Guyana style, not even one unleashed by a moving violation, but triggered by the unmoving, the unhearing, and the uncaring that are all now embedded in Guyana’s way of life from the highest office to the lowest denominator, which is the street. The gutter is the street, so that should clear the air; it includes Carmichael and Main Streets, and we know who inhabits that still pristine space. It is not the sick people at the institution. I see this parking obscenity all over the town. By hospitals (East, and Carmichael Street again); in front residences with neon-like ‘No Parking’ signs. I know Guyanese don’t read and can’t read, but they can’t be this dumb, this ignorant, this drunk and disorderly.
But they are. Parking is not a problem, it is a pandemic, and most Guyanese infected with its dangerous, destructive sickness. Thus, we have D’Andrade Street among all the gritty streets that overwhelm this town and country. It is not only parking and blocking, but of irate men cursing women drivers for going too carefully, or pedestrians for navigating too slowly, or others for wisely observing traffic rules, such as traffic lights and major roads. Incidentally, right of way is a new constitutional right arrogated and monopolised by most Guyanese for themselves only. Everybody has this supreme right, which transforms our roads into veritable butcher’s blocks. Road users could get tailgated, T-boned, totalled, or taken away in a body bag. The lawless and arrogance of political and so-called commercial leaders now stretches into this new Guyana. If we are this poor and cavorting like Crown Princes, what happens when some real (clean) money come down the pike and our way?
In the second instance, a man nurses a broken leg for refusing to buy rum. Apparently, ‘just say “NO!” is the latest right removed arbitrarily. It is a conflict between coworkers and countrymen that deteriorated to the dogs. Just like how the clashes between political believers degrade to the broken Guyana that the Prime Minister has been given the responsibility to put together again under his ‘One Guyana’ umbrella. To naysayers, I recommend a check of social media (or parliament). As I see it, there is only room under the ‘One Guyana’ umbrella, and it is for PPP people. I pity the man, the PM not the one with the broken leg for he will mend; but regrettably I don’t think that anybody (with due respect for the PM) could put this Humpy Dumpty country together again. Like the man now living with two pieces of bone where he had one before, that is the story of fractured Guyana. Oil only made the split quicker and surer.
Last, there was Dr. Vincent Adams speaking boldly like Peter and Paul before the infidels about partnering with internationals for oil management wisdoms. He could get stoned for his troubles. Notwithstanding my rare regard for a Guyanese, I think he is not reading the tea leaves right. To partner with internationals who know, can help, add value is a no brainer for PPP leadership. But not in the way that he or other Guyanese may imagine. Because importing of expert foreigners runs counter to PPP leadership visions. First, they will displace PPP flunkies; second, they will be too near to the tricks and brigandage; and third, they will speak of a regulatory oversight regime which is sure to cause the President fits. If ‘fits’ assaults the dignity of his office, I substitute constipation; the man goes into seizures when standards are tabled. It is simply because the blueprint the PPP Government has crafted for Guyana parallels that of Saddam, Hugo, Abacha, and that evergreen favourite of mine, Muammar. I think our guys are slicker and smoother: they extract the most self-enriching from the records of those fine fellows, and they then sell to a dumb society how pure their intentions are. It is the depth of the total madness that has taken hold here. Rum didn’t do it to us, but the oil did

Sincerely,
GHK Lall

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