Dear Editor,
The letter by Dr Prem Misir captioned ‘Guyana is consolidating its development’ (SN 27.11.08) in which he uses wonderful statistics to show how great this government is doing for the people of Guyana, only convinces me that here is a prime example of a square peg in a round hole in the government service. Here is a spin doctor of the highest order, spinning tales of growth and development in this country when in fact he conveniently leaves out the everyday harsh and difficult times for the average Guyanese citizen. Dr Misir is a big man at our university (pro-chancellor) but look at UG and see its steady erosion under this government where the teaching staff, the students and the supporting staff all are suffering under ineptitude and poor management. UG opened its doors for classes only a week ago amid total confusion and dysfunction and Dr Misir has the nerve to take on the task of spin-doctor for this administration.
In his letter, Dr Misir talks about the foreign debt coming down from US$2B to US$700M now, without crediting this to the efforts of the late President Cheddi, and ignoring the fact that after that great man passed away, this administration increased the local debt (by printing debentures and treasury bills) from $18.8B to a whopping $69.3B, and increasing every day.
He never mentions the fact that while President Cheddi was alive as leader of Guyana, the growth rate was 7-9% and after his death in 1997, the growth rate plunged to marginal and even negative figures under the successive administrations of Mr Sam Hinds, Mrs Jagan and Mr Jagdeo.
Dr Misir does not mention the fact that this administration sold the bauxite industry for less than 10 cents in the dollar; nor does he mention that all the great numbers he gives that are expended on health, education, etc, are underlaid by funds from HIPC and other donors, not mainly his government; nor does he mention that the investment numbers he gives in his letter (for the last year) are not diversified investments but really a BOSAI one-bloc investment; nor does he recognize that this country needs at least US$450M investments yearly in order to sustain and increase growth rates and provide good-paying jobs for our people; nor does he mention that the private sector is faced with low incentives and a whopping tax base of 45% − the highest in the Caribbean − as he disingenuously states that his government is committed to private sector growth; nor does he mention the crippling effects of poor electricty supply and sub-standard water supply which frustrate investment potential and exhaust the whole population, in particular the poor and marginalized; nor does he mention the spiralling orgy of crime, unemployment and poverty which the average Guyanese has to endure in their daily lives; nor does he mention the corruption, bribery and nepotism in government services which affect Guyanese in their daily lives and which have not being addressed properly; nor does he mention the huge amount of US dollars which our kith and kin send back to help their own and which is buried in his glowing tribute to this administration.
No, Sir! Dr Misir does not even touch on these underlying negatives which I mention because he uses a classical communist approach which is to use statistics upon statistics to storm the reader’s brain into acceptance of his dogma; he is too busy being a spin doctor for this administration − as President Cheddi always said, a square peg in a round hole.
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr)
