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UGGI Survey: Pt. IV
(Kaieteur News) – This is the last commentary on the University of Guyana Green Institute (UGGI) Independence 60 Survey titled: Guyana at 60: Trust, Oil, and the Society being Built.
Today’s focus goes beyond the two bottom performing areas of “national government” and “foreign oil companies.” Five other areas were covered in the UGGI Survey. This is how they fared re trust:
| Area/Institution | 1 = no trust, 10 = full trust |
| Own ethnic/community group | 4.98 |
| The judiciary and courts | 4.62 |
| The Guyana Revenue Authority | 4.57 |
| The press and news media | 4.38 |
| Other ethnic/community groups | 4.38 |
Those numbers stagger. Not one of the five areas reached the midpoint of 5.00 out of 10. Scores over four and less than five indicated that trust is shaky and paltry. When the crucial halfway point/score of five can’t be surpassed, then trust starts low, inspires negligible confidence. It hits hard. The five areas are now reviewed.
First, “Own ethnic/community group” scored 4.98 out of 10. The best doesn’t say much. When Guyanese trust is so iffy for their own tribe, their own neighborhood/village, who will they trust? Those are the first families. Next door. Next of kin. Next in the fabric of daily existence. Next contacted in emergencies. Hence, what 4.98 of 10 reveals? Guyanese live in silos. Suspicious. Embattled. Paranoid. The unreliable is imagined, that they are on their own. Adrift. Citizens hear speeches and they detect there’re taken for suckers. By their own.
Second, the judiciary and courts scored 4.62 out of 10 on trust. This area embodies the last chambers, tribunals, of judgment, and 4.62 results. When trust in justice is so low, a ramshackle society is being built. With pervasive perception of troubled courts, distrust rage. What prospects? National governments can be booted. Foreign oil companies leave when oil’s gone. The judiciary outlasts them. Decades hence, it’s the same jurists around; more seniority, more power. Maybe the magistracy improves, or Guyanese trust more. We all should remember that once, jurists, the last champions of the oppressed, were held in the highest esteem. A fountain of divine wisdom, rich in those who possessed impeccable, infallible judgment. Peer into its realms now -4.62 from 10. From such depths, what society built?
Third, the Guyana Revenue Authority’s score of 4.57 was dismal, unexpected. The GRA is the nation’s premier tax adjudication, collection, agency. A score of 4.57 hangs it aloft. Distrusted. Why, too much political interference, manipulation? What else, corruption? Or handcuffed by foreign oil companies, empowered by national government? In the U.S. the IRS is feared, hated. But not heavily distrusted. The GRA has much to worry about. Building a better society becomes an uphill challenge in such conditions.
Fourth, the press and news media recorded 4.38 in the UGGI survey. Which entities are responsible for the failure? Govt. media, inclusive of friendly private entities? Independent media? Social media? For the fourth estate, however composed, to rate so low on trust, confirms that Guyanese believe they are being fed a load of slop daily. Independent media is represented by two to three houses, while official media has multiple outlets. When one respected independent entity is strangled to death (SN), what chance trust in national government and for media to rise from the muck? Foreign observers reported about “incumbent advantage” re: state media. Did this feed lack of trust? Are Guyanese seeing big brother’s head as too big (calculating) and his hand too heavy (overbearing), to their disadvantage? How to build a better society in an environment with democracy squeezed, and independent reporting attacked?
Last, trust for other ethnic/community groups registered 4.38. Frankly, in a society so bitterly polarised, 4.38 encourages. Not good, but not unhealthy. With 4.38 trust for other ethnic/community groups, there’s hope. Maybe this society could grow, there’s ground to build trust. Considerable effort is required from all Guyanese. Honest leadership compulsory. Principled citizens in demand. The three together would be priceless, help this country exceed its potential. Here I stand with trust. There I plant my stake.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)
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