‘Guyana is badly run’ – Stabroek News

May 30, 2023 News

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…says subject ministers responsible for Mahdia dorm should resign

Kaieteur News – The privately-owned Stabroek News said that Guyana is being badly run with little regard for its citizens’ safety and that no amount of oil money in the world will change that.

The newspaper also called out government ministers for parading survivors of the Mahdia tragedy at a candle-light vigil last week, saying that in other countries, the subject ministers would be expected to immediately offer their resignations out of principle.

In a scathing editorial, which appeared in its Saturday edition, Stabroek News also took aim at the one-man-show stewardship of the oil and gas sector, while bemoaning the lack of a petroleum commission to help regulate the industry.

Under the caption ‘collective incompetence and slackness’, Stabroek News wailed into the Government for the series of “calamitous events” which occurred this month. Those events include the ruling over insurance for Liza 1 that has thrown the government into a tizzy.

“Even Exxon seems stumped, and one wonders if they have been duped into thinking that the government could be relied upon for a “predictable decision”. But this is the type of thing that happens when we don’t have the Petroleum Commission and new legislation that the party promised three years ago. Instead, it’s a one-man cake shop with shortcuts that backfire to the country’s detriment.”

The editorial also referenced the Home Affairs permanent secretary’s detention in Miami and the annulment of her US visa. “The timidity with which the PPP addressed this strange event indicated they were, and still are, hiding something,” the editorial said and the escape of Royden Williams, possibly the most dangerous criminal in the history of this country through a plan that points to him being the leader of a well-armed gang.

“More slackness under Minister Benn’s portfolio. Let us hope we do not return to the `Troubles’ and again need the help of a convicted drug trafficker,” the opinion piece stated.

Referencing the Mahdia tragedy which claimed the lives of 19 children, the Stabroek News described the disaster as “the single biggest loss of life since Jonestown and a body blow for any ruling party anywhere.”

“How to strike the balance between being seen to mourn while refusing to accept responsibility for the deaths of the 19? How to massage the narrative to avoid blame?

1) Start with highlighting the heroism of the pilots, 2) Emphasise that it was allegedly a deviant student who started the fire, 3) Make sure to mention how hard the President is working. (What he fails to understand is that real leadership ensures such tragedies don’t or rarely ever happen) 4) Organise a carefully calibrated outpouring of compassion and care for the students. (What a pity there was not the same concern and attention when they were alive.)”

The opinion piece noted that the female students who occupied the school’s dormitory “points to the educational discrimination against indigenous people.”

The Stabroek News editorial noted that in Region Nine, the failure rate at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) has been over 70 per cent and pointed to a 2017 UNICEF report which states that out of 100 indigenous boys and girls, only 53 would reach the final years of secondary education.

According to the editorial, the main factors that influenced school attendance and students’ permanence in school were lack of schools, particularly secondary schools in the hinterlands and access to those that exist. Further the lack of qualified teachers and resources such as books and learning materials, among others; poor infrastructure at the schools, including buildings that are old; lack of computers, and access to the internet and lack of science labs in general are other factors.

“In most of the visited schools, the washrooms were in dilapidated conditions; many did not have doors or running water and were dirty. In some schools, students preferred to use the bushes rather than the sanitary blocks,” Stabroek News quoted the report as saying.

Additionally, the editorial stated that there is a “lack of regard for Amerindian parents who in wanting a better education for their daughters are forced to trust in the state to protect their safety and virtue.”

“Mahdia was an accident just waiting to happen. The deficit of fire prevention equipment in the building, and the inadequate systems to unlock the dorm in case of a fire; then there was the absence of an adequate fire tender in the town.  Just another example, of the lack of importance successive governments have placed on the residents of Mahdia’s safety.”

The Stabroek News editorial noted too that the situation is not limited the hinterland regions but across the country. “Your house catches fire, it’s you and the bucket brigade. And let us stop blaming the fire service which has been underfunded for decades by governments who have simply chosen not to prioritise the safety of its citizens and their homes.”

“Finally in the 21st century there is no DNA laboratory to identify the remains of the children? It would be farcical if it were not so sad,” the editorial questioned.

The opinion piece posited that in other countries the subject ministers would be expected to immediately offer their resignations out of principle, something which the Head of State may “politely decline”.

“Instead in a shocking and heartless decision, the party paraded some of the survivors at a cande-lit vigil – one even wearing a cast – comforted by the very minister entrusted with their dead classmates’ safety. At some point the PPP/C political drama we all live in, becomes a dark absurdist pantomime.

This has been a damaging week, a hard week. Not only the loss of human life but a stark, grey reminder that we live in a country that continues to be very badly run with little regard for its citizens’ safety. No amount of oil money in the world will change that,” the editorial said scathingly.

The Stabroek News editorial outlined other instances that indicate high levels of incompetence and slackness by the authorities and called on the Government “to get it together”.

“It’s tedious to read (and write) of the other avoidable deaths we have seen in the past few days that drive home what a dangerous place this country is to live and work in. A young lady killed by an alleged drunken driver at Camp and Church Sts, a construction worker crushed to death on Sheriff St, an 84-year-old lady from Buxton crushed by a garbage truck, and a senior prison officer killed driving into a pile of sand on the parapet. The promise to clear such hazards from our roads made by Minister Edghill is empty posturing.”

 

 

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