Woeful waste of money in circumstances where democratic norms are ignored

Sep 21, 2024 Letters

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Dear Editor,

When will this madness, this wasteful spending spree come to an end? Instead, we have the top brass of the PPP Government talking about democracy in their speeches to the local and international communities, reminding them through their well-oiled and funded propaganda outfit about the coalition’s misdeeds, with respect to the conduct of regional and general elections.

Whatever may or may not be the justification for this constant and unrelenting assault against the coalition government, what is perhaps of equal importance, is the conduct by an administration between elections.

Briefly, the Government had embarked upon the spending spree that constitutes a woeful waste of money in circumstances where democratic norms are ignored. You boast of building roads, schools, hospitals, bridges, dams etc. knowing fully well you lack the capacity to monitor these works – the results, poor quality work. And there is not a single instance of any construction undertaken since August 2020, that has been satisfactorily completed on time. I challenge the appropriate Ministries and Ministers to give one, only one example that satisfied this criterion of satisfactory work, being completed on time within the tendered price awarded. Note for example, the Bamia School Contract is yet to be completed, in spite of earlier completion dates announced earlier.

I had at one time, the Ministerial responsibility for Agriculture, but I listened with amazement to the statement made by the Minister of Agriculture as reported in the media which stated that at a recent Meeting hosted by him, and I quote a senior GuySuCo official met with some five interested bidders. They had a discussion which lasted for about fifteen minutes.

The Report noted that “they had started to mechanise 5,000 hectares of land at the Skeldon Estate with replanting of canes already started. “We are hoping that by the end of this year, we can plant a substantial amount of canes in that 5,000 hectares and also the intention is to complete an additional 5,000 hectares from Skeldon that we will crush at Albion and Rose Hall factories that have a capacity to crush more canes.”

Interestingly, several of his sentences began with the words ‘it is hoped.’ I am not an expert, and I know that those with knowledge of the sugar industry and GuySuCo will comment on the further mis-steps by this Government and the woeful waste of billions every month to keep the sugar industry, a failed enterprise limping along.

The Minister’s statement talks about mechanisation of the industry. It is no secret that some of their friends are getting concessions to import equipment for the industry, but instead much of the machinery is better suited to road construction. The irony for all of this is that when the PPP took office three decades ago, they had been talking about mechanisation and modernization of the sugar industry.  An industry where many of our ancestors, before and after 1838 gave their sweat, blood and tears. The time has come when the Government should stop making sugar a political football.

Looking at this absurdity, the Minister postulated the moving of canes from Skeldon (the showpiece, now white elephant of the PPP Administration) to Albion for crushing.  Those of us who know the Corentyne would realise we are talking of moving cane from one location to a next over a distance of thirty-six (36) miles on the public road, and you have to pass through markets and busy communities between Skeldon and Albion. Only someone who is idiotic, these days will embark on such steps of sheer stupidity.

In all this, we hear our top brass talk about transparency, using gleefully that chameleon word, democracy, even as the Government continues to miniaturise those local government’s organs – Georgetown, Linden and New Amsterdam, where they do not command a political majority. So using massive funds available, to set out to emasculate those local authorities by using state funds and state power to do things, which are the responsibility of the local authorities. Three cheers for democracy.

Facing us today is a replay with the Minister of Local Government controlling who is employed in the absence of the Local Government Commission.  The Commission expired this year, and it seems there is no anxiety by the Government to have it reconstituted which ought to be a standard operational procedure.

It would be unnecessary to burden this letter of the rape of our democracy taking place before our very eyes on a daily basis. You have the gas-shore project, everything clouded in secrecy. You have a tender for additional electricity for the Grid, forgetting that earlier this year, the powers that be boasted that with the Turkish Ship and acquisition of several generators, cost not known to the public, black-outs would end. Today while preparing this letter, there was a black-out at about 2:45 pm in my area followed by two outages yesterday. Speaking to a friend on the East Bank of Demerara, he said that this has been a pattern, since this Turkish Ship et al is in operation. Yet another secret transaction.

We pleaded before, that our democracy as defined by the Government has massive monies available to it but for reasons which are not obscured, they fail with a few exceptions to put in place, persons who are patriots and competent to manage the various sectors and therefore would continue this spending spree and the ordinary people, regardless of political affiliation or belief, except for the few who are getting the big bucks, the people are the victims.  One man said to me, two weeks ago, a failed State, all because our Government failed to understand the unhappy consequences of Peter principle.

So you take people who may be excellent canecutters or excellent policemen and because of their loyalty, you put them in higher positions where they become a dismal failure. With this fastest growing economy in the world, Editor, I ask you and all Believers to pray and pray unceasingly, so that the benefit from the billions and billions we now harvest in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, will benefit this and succeeding generations.

Hamilton Green

Elder

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• Elder, Government, Guyana, Hamilton Green, PPP

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