Dear Editor,
On Friday last the people of Guyana lost yet another historical and important building. This time, it was the building housing the Ministry of Health. On behalf of the executive and members of the of the Alliance For Change I condemn this latest act of destruction. Equally of importance, was the fact that a government ministry, together with all the important records it stored, and the functions it performed, were consumed by the fire. Looking at the remains I could not help but wonder – what a loss or precious resources. The state of Guyana has been weakened further by this dastardly act. During the last budget debate, I publicly praised Dr Ramsammy and his ministry officials, because I believe that notwithstanding recent allegations of ‘phantom’ involvement and corruption in his sector, his ministry is one of the better functioning ones.
Already, there is widespread speculation that the motive was political. The photographs of Molotov cocktails reinforce this.
The ‘who’ is what is beyond us now and in the absence of an independent and professional investigation all should refrain from the usual blame throwing. Depending on who you speak to, one person will say it was the “opposition” forces, and another will say it was the government looking for sympathy. People have already begun to link the unlawful arrest of Benschop, Lewis and Witter to this act whilst others suggest that ongoing tension between the Minister of Health and the Office of the President and the Minister’s own woes relating to the infamous laptop computer, are the real reasons behind the fire. There must be an urgent investigation, but concurrently, we need to look beyond the immediacy of this latest inferno and into aetiological causes of these events.
In the Caribbean, no other country has lost so many government buildings to arson and this is the real point that I wish to emphasise. The fact that this saga continues, including the blame throwing, just serves to confirm that Guyana’s politics is highly unorthodox, and on many occasions, dangerous. Those of us who dress up and attend parliament every week are not necessarily helping to solve our problems by debating and passing bills and motions, but are exacerbating them by pretending that everything is normal. Guyana is disintegrating and becoming a failed state. A schoolchild can tell you that the system of governance we practise in Guyana is not working in the people’s best interest because it continues to place us on the “razor’s edge” to use the words of VV Puran. That someone could conceive and carry through with such a destructive plan, whether or not he or she is a supporter of the government, tells us that things are not regular in Guyana and will continue to be so year after year unless we find the courage to confront the issue of the inclusive governance of our country. President Barack Obama frontally addressed the twin issues of governance and democracy in the developing world in his recent address to the Ghanaian Parliament when he said: “This is about more than holding elections – it’s also about what happens between them… each nation gives life to democracy in its own way, and in line with its own traditions. But history offers a clear verdict: governments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable, and more successful than governments that do not.”
The AFC once again implores the political leaders to heed the voices of the people of Guyana, both at home and in the Diaspora, and agree to commence a dialogue on governance so that we can put our problems to rest once and for all. There is no outside help coming from overseas. We have to solve this problem ourselves if not we will wake up one day and find that everything has been consumed by fire in the unending action/reaction cycle of tit for tat politics. It is the type of politics that will eventually leave only ashes to oversee.
Yours faithfully,
Raphael Trotman
