Mahdia and other Local Tragedies are on all Guyanese

Jun 09, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Nobody wanted the Mahdia or any other tragic deaths to happen, the words of condolences, sympathy, and empathy for the family of the victims have not been said enough likewise, the words calling for accountability, penalties for those responsible, and implementation of safety procedures for prevention of future tragedies.

I will bet the child who caused the fire deeply regrets it. This tragedy, however, happened because of systemic ills in our society since it has happened before like at the prison, but Mahdia’s tragedy is more dramatic since the victims were innocent, mostly girls while the prisoners were alleged criminals.

Tragic deaths have been happening in Guyana for as long as one can recall that could have been prevented with simple safety procedures, since these deaths were not as dramatic as Mahdia, they did not receive this kind of attention. How many people have died on Guyana’s roads and rivers due to poor road and river safety? How many workers have died in this country, particularly in the interior because of unsafe, hazardous working conditions and lack of basic healthcare? how many lives were lost due to exposed electric livewires? Guyanese, these tragedies happen because, you have stayed silent, you have voted and continue to vote for elected officials who are unaccountable, corrupt, and incompetent, and who pay no attention to safety.

Not only do Guyanese vote for them, but they also support and defend them because they look like them and are from the same political party. Now whenever there is a tragedy like Mahdia, Guyanese call for accountability and competence from elected officials, but how can you get this Guyanese, when you voted for unaccountable, corrupt and incompetent officials in the first place?

Guyanese, explain how a government that is appealing a case to protect Guyana from oil disasters will win elections because you will vote for them? and also Guyanese, why do foreign-based concerned citizens have to come and fight on your behalf while you stay silent? Another painful story of loss to fire was on KN’s front page yesterday of two little girls. The Fire Service is now doing fire safety inspections, what good will this do when we have a fire service that is way below basic standards, forget international standards, we don’t have enough fire trucks, trained firemen and the necessary tools to fight fire. Some places don’t have water and some housing schemes are inaccessible to fire trucks and there are no fire suppressants in the arsenal of firemen. These suppressants are for chemical and electrical fires where pouring water will be like adding gasoline, but Guyanese continue to vote for governments that pay no attention to these issues. Guyanese homes became prison-like grill and bars homes because of kick-down door bandits in this rich country that shouldn’t have happened. Many students perished at Mahdia because of the prison-like grilled windows. In my school days, any student that had an issue with the school claimed they would burn down the school as their first impulse, but none ever did until now, why?, because we have followed the world and become attached to cell phones making the cell phones more important than people. The student set the fire at Mahdia because of a seized cell phone, any public gathering of people at weddings, funerals, religious functions, etc. more than half the attendees are constantly on cell phones, the current abject disrespect for schools and teachers and other authority are getting so out of hand, it now escalated to violence we have never seen before, yet little is being done to address this kind of behavior.

Contracts for building and other public infrastructure since the Burnham days was a rigged system where third party friendly to MPs received these contracts. When the PPP won in 1992, the PPP MPs eliminated third party and most of the MP’s direct family members became overnight contractors, and received multi-million dollar contracts for buildings, roads, bridges, etc. although none of them ever built a brick or nailed a plank of wood and there have been deaths that were a result of these sub-standard constructions. My study buddy who was a public works inspector left the job because he was instructed to approve contracts that didn’t meet the required standards. His exact words for leaving were, “I don’t want blood on my hands” .I was working in a sugar factory when a British sugar official visited accompanied by the factory manager, when the Englishman said most of the workers in the factory were working in unsafe conditions, the factory manager replied “This is Guyana, we don’t worry about that”, yes this is Guyana where a factory manager, a political party appointee who knows nothing about management and safety is expected to say, but now a few decades later, when one thought Guyana would have bypassed this mentality, we see the VP and Attorney General appealing a case by a judge for full protection insurance for Guyana with similar dead-duck excuses. So Guyanese, how long will you tolerate the lies, deviousness, and deceitfulness of these leaders before you take to the streets and demand your rights for MPs to do the right things for you and Guyana?

Sincerely,

R. David

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• Guyanese, interior, Mahdia, R. David., systemic

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