Dear Editor,
I too have always held Dr. Randy Persaud in high regards because in my estimation he has in the past demonstrated a sense of what justice is. However, I have little interest in mutual respect when injustices are ignored, especially, by academics who should have a high sense of morals but choose instead political expediency. I refer to Dr. Randy Persaud’s letter titled, `The fact is Guyana has a growing middle class and no letter writer can erase that’, (SN 10.30.09) which is a response to my letter, titled, `It is the poor and downtrodden that must permanently suffer the wrath of the PPP’s mismanagement’ (SN 10.29.09). In my letter I asked Dr. Persaud the question, since the socio-economic ills of which he writes exist in the more developed societies, should we as Guyanese be comforted and thus accept the political malfeasants in Guyana? As expected he chose to ignore this question but insisted on the assumption of the growth of the middle class in Guyana.
Therefore let me engage Dr. Persaud on his analysis of the growth and size of the middle class in Guyana, but first I must ask him what methodology he employed to estimate the growth of the middle class, in terms of income origination and distribution and dispersion of wealth and productivity. Dr. Persaud is a social science-tenured professor and therefore knows the importance of methodology in determining the growth in social class. Also what income threshold did he used to define middle class?
Middle class as a social structure is commonly associated with the availability of a pool of commercial, entrepreneurial, professional, and technical abilities and talent, which generally tend to be drawn from those occupational groups. In Guyana, It has always been known and recently confirmed by the UNDP report that professional and technical abilities and talent is migrating, comparatively, at the highest rate in the hemisphere. Guyana has a migration rate of 33.5 percent and among those are a high percentage of University graduates.
Unemployment and under-employment remain extremely high in Guyana and is the main reason for the high rate of migration. While government figures record unemployment at 9.7 percent, when consideration is taken of those who have stopped looking for work, the unemployment rate is far much higher. Economic growth for the last ten years has fluctuated between -0.5 percent to 1.5 percent, with the government recording (questionably) 4.7 percent growth in real GDP in 2008. The increase in real wages and salary in the Public and the legitimate Private sector as a measurement of GDP continues to contract when compared to the rate of inflation. Teachers and Nurses continue to leave the shores of Guyana in search of employment elsewhere, too often suffering the humiliation of illegal immigrant status.
The government’s own figures show that the only sectors that are performing comparatively well are rice and sugar. Bauxite and other mineral production have declined significantly in the past five years, with major companies like Omai and Alcoa leaving the mining industry because of high cost of production. There have not been any major investments in Guyana that can account for high employment utilization. Among the companies that have shown interest in Guyana’s investment market, Russian Aluminum Company (RUSAL), Aroaima Mining Company (AMC) etc, have not realized expected production capacity and have not increased their employment capacity. Barama continues to reduce production and to lay off workers. And I can go on.
As such what is facilitating the growth in the middle class as Dr. Persaud so expertly judged? Would Dr. Persaud point to the legitimate or illegal commercial sector? And what percentage of Guyana’s work force do they employ. The small business commercial sector is a low wage earner. Overseas remittances still account for a large percentage of Guyanese livelihoods, and drugs and money laundering activities are suspected to account for another large portion of wealth distribution with the ill effects of the high rate of murders.
If there is an increase in the size of the middle class as Dr. Persaud suspects, who should take credit? Is it government due to robust economic growth, hard working overseas Guyanese due to remittance distribution or drugs and other illegal activities in the active underground economy?
Quite honestly I have little interest in the assumed growth of the so called middle class in Guyana when corruption in government is evidently at an alarming rate; Poor Guyanese continue to suffer police brutality and extra-judicial killings; and the judicial system and other institutions are subverted by political bosses and their consigliore.
Further, I refuse to engage Dr. Persaud on the parochial assumption that since Queen’s College produced the region’s top CXC students (congratulations to these students) this is a measurement of how well Guyana is performing in overall educational output. I’m indeed saddened for the large percentage of students who are performing poorly due to inadequate facilities, teachers and money for extra lessons.
Yours faithfully,
Dennis Wiggins