Dear Editor,
Your article captioned ‘Jagdeo, Corbin meet on local government poll,’ of May 26, tells us nothing new about where we are going with much talked about local government reform and movement on legislation currently before Parliament. The propaganda arm of the Jagdeo government has merely stated “that both Jagdeo and Corbin had agreed that the issue would be resolved at the parliamentary select committee level and that the committee should resume meeting.”
The Office of the President further stated that other matters were raised, but the release did not state what other business was discussed. Mr Corbin is the official opposition leader – as stipulated in our constitution following the amount of seats his party won at the last election – and he is obligated to meet with the President, Mr Jagdeo, to discuss public matters and any matters affecting our country.
My serious concern is that we do not know of all the things they reportedly talked about, including deals which might have been made in our name. So we, the voters of this country, need to know what the agenda is. They should ensure that the talks are videoed and posted on the internet and shown at peak hours on television for all to see. There can be no trust if they do not do things in a transparent and honest manner. We need to set out strict mechanisms of democratic accountability. Only then we can begin to build trust and faith in those who hold high office in our coumtry.
The local government election, which has been the main responsibility of the President and the ruling party, the PPP, is crucial for the democratisation of our society and the empowerment of our people. Those of us who live in Guyana and bear the brunt of a highly incompetent and inefficient public service, know where it hurts. The Jagdeo administration has caused great harm to our country and the time has come to put an end to this masquerade of ‘Champion of the Earth’ and the nonsense of displaying his photos all around the country. He should be more modest.
We need to take our country forward in a united manner. The ‘Champion’ has not solved the basic problems of electricity, crime, housing and employment at home, although he tries to deal with international matters beyond our reach. We need to build a united front for a common economic programme that is grounded in a non-discriminatory, fair and just policy that satisfies the needs and aspirations of all our people. Everyone must feel safe, secure and comfortable in our country. Guyanese here are too complacent. They rely too much on hand-outs and make little effort to become self-sufficient and self-reliant We have become too dependent on hand-outs sent from abroad via funding agencies or from relatives living abroad. We must fight for Guyana to be a better place and stop this dependency culture that developed under the PNC and continues under the PPP.
Yours faithfully,
M. Jinnah Rahman