Dear Editor,
I am heartened by the government’s move to swiftly clear the East Coast Backlands to enhance the security of the area by removing hiding places for criminals who have been using the backlands as a safe haven.
In times of change, there will be winners and there will be losers. Of course, genuine farmers must be compensated for any losses that they incur and it would have been ideal if the government had surveyed the area to determine what vegetation was there. However, it is a security hazardous zone and such a move may have posed a serious security challenge. The swift action in the wake of the Lusignan massacre should be commended and one would have expected that the PNC would have commended the government for at least acting in the interest of the entire nation by clearing the backlands.
Trying to score political mileage out of this situation in this manner is the worst thing the PNC can do right now. The PNC needs to support every step the government takes to make Guyana and Guyanese safe. Buxton can only be transformed if there is opportunity and its image is changed. Buxton in not an island and cannot prosper unless the entire country begins to prosper. In the current situation where Guyanese are unsafe and have no faith and confidence in their own country, how can economic prosperity dawn in the country much less in Buxton?
Mr Corbin, take a leaf out of Raphael Trotman’s book. Take responsibility for the change you want to see in Guyana for all Guyanese, not just Buxtonians. Stop seeking political mileage and instead seek a better future for all Guyanese. The same goes for every politician in Guyana. The divisive politics has destroyed Guyana. There is no faith, there is no confidence. There is nothing left to fight over. No one wants to stay, no one wants to return. When will the politicians wake up to this reality. Guyanese are suffering, dying, living in fear and are being slaughtered. I lived this fear, behind the grilled doors of my home when at home, constantly alert. I lived this fear driving home, winding up the windows and engaging doors and windows safety and pressing the accelerator once at Annandale.
I could not drive along the railway embankment road behind Buxton. I could not let my children roam about our yard freely without my supervision. I had swing, slides and play zones which remained mostly unused. I could not even leave my children with a nanny at home for fear of an explosion at Buxton and I could not get home to them. I could not wear jewellery because of the crime situation and having been robbed at knife point. Mr Corbin, I lived like a prisoner in my own home, in my own country, without freedom to do as I would really have liked. It is time that we can live in Guyana as free citizens. That is our birthright, isn’t it?
Congratulations to the government for waking up and clearing the backlands. But this is not sufficient to arrest the crime situation and is only a positive start. Of course, there also needs to be a plan to keep the backlands safe and for its proper use, but also a plan to restore confidence in Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Gitanjali Singh
