Dear Editor,
The passengers who were travelling during the Christmas holiday season from Kumaka Region 1 to Georgetown with the MV Kimbia experienced the time of their lives, when heavy seas caught up with them. It was a terrible experience, most of them shed tears while collecting their life jackets. The sea was so rough that they started to assemble the two life boats just waiting for the moment.
Since the 1992 election the PPP/C promised us a better vessel for the North West District route. They told us during the 2006 general election that they have already gotten two boats in Georgetown for the North West District and the other is for the Parika Adventure run.
The Kimbia has been plying this route for the past twenty-five years. On one occasion it had to be moored alongside the KMC wharf for two weeks because of parts.
The entire world is experiencing global warming and the seas are becoming rougher. The MV Kimbia is not a deep sea vessel it is a coastal vessel, it was not designed to take heavy Atlantic seas. I am appealing to the government to secure a new vessel before 2011. Please do not wait for a calamity.
At Mabaruma this Christmas a gallon of rice costs $360, one pound of milk $640, and a pint of cooking oil $240. Many said the previous Christmas was much less expensive.
A lot of people here will not be registered in this house to house registration exercise because of not having their birth certificates. There is no one here to verify if a birth certificate was issued or not.
How is it that GECOM is treating the opposition parties in this manner with the exception of the PNCR. The way GECOM is behaving shows that they do not appreciate the other parties. One man told me that Guyana only has two political parties, the others are not properly recognised. But having 21% of the parliamentary opposition they should be entitled to share the scrutineers funds. Every party has a right to observe and scrutinise the registration exercise.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Hope
Regional Councillor
Region One