Dear Editor,
Dr Prem Misir’s continued theorization denying marginalisation in the African community remains nothing more than theory- pure speculation. Here are some concrete issues he should deal with.
* Proposals to extend the public service retirement age are ignored by the government. A largely African workforce in the public sector is forced to retire at age 55. In this competitive era where people live longer, no developing or developed society is retiring their workforce at 55 years. Those countries view this age as a prime employment asset due to experience, institutional memory, skills and commitment acquired from many years of active service. In Guyana, public servants at 55 are retired and denied opportunities to continue serving their country, thereby destroying their financial independence and dignity, and forcing them to exist at the mercy of a measly state pension, dig into small savings, depend on kindness, and wait another five long years for a NIS pension, which like the state pension, is eroded with increased inflation.
* Destroying the economic sustenance and financial independence of Buxton farmers. Farmers are now forced to receive handouts, skills and tools are lying idle, self-esteem diminished and families torn asunder.
* Termination of the bauxite workers’ pension plan and increased investment in the sugar industry.
* Doing nothing to give our youths a productive chance much less a second chance.
* Inequitable budgetary allocation, eg the populated Region Four, a PNC stronghold, gets significantly less than the lesser populated Region Six, the PPP stronghold.
* The denial of taxpayers’ dollars to the Trades Union Congress and the Critchlow Labour College, thus refusing them the opportunity to collectively represent and improve their conditions and education advancement.
* Denying Africans true authority in the state sector where they dominate — the ministers and senior public service positions held by Africans are either supervised by Indians or have no real authority.
Yours faithfully,
Walter Samuels
