Dear Editor,
The level of lawlessness which is invading the national psyche is dangerous to the welfare of our citizens, and those who hold the reins of power will have to answer to the citizens at some time in the future; there is always an end to the longest rope. Killings, robberies, rapes, child molestation, murders, acid attacks and mayhem on our roads are increasing and the authorities seem to have no real answer, except to constantly make excuses and produce statistics which mean nothing really to us, the citizens who crave peace, tranquility and a decent and good society.
More and more citizens are opting to leave our dear country, most times never to return, even for a visit, and the whole economy is in a state of flux with the government claiming success while the rest of us know better. They claim there will be an end to our electrical woes in 2014, but we know better; they claim there will be an end to our water and flood problems, but we know better; they claim that education levels are improving, but we know better; they claim that labour relations are improving, but we know better. As a matter of fact, we, the citizens, do know better than most of the politicians who have their ears and eyes facing the clouds instead of hugging the ground where the ‘nuts and bolts’ of life and living are found. Most communities readily know what their most pressing problems are, and more than that, they know the answers to their problems and how to approach a particular solution. But the politicians act like gods with wings who fly in with their ‘fix-it’ attitude, spending the citizens’ money as if they earned it themselves, sometimes wastefully and irresponsibly.
Editor, disunity, a lack of togetherness and of working together can be traced to the slow and inexorable decay of our village system, which should be like the cement for the building blocks of growth. Our villages from one end of Guyana to the other, are facing increasing problems and are simply dying. There are two main reasons why the villages are dying and those are migration and bureaucratic centralization, where all matters, even at the local levels, are superseded by the central government in Georgetown. Migration is a serious problem afflicting many countries, but with an economy which could provide a lot more foreign investment and trade, and therefore providing good paying jobs and a better standard of living, migration could be stymied. However, that is not happening with enough energy to provide a momentum for rapid development because this government keeps state intervention in the economy as its main thrust. How can migration be stymied when the private sector is really not the engine of growth and good-paying jobs are not an enticement to stay in Guyana?
But more important in the disintegration of village life is the centralization of authority in Georgetown, where the whole electoral system is skewed, not to a constituency system as in the other Caribbean countries, but to a party list system where representatives to Parliament have no recall from the people directly. They are subject to party influences while representing no particular area of our country. Add in the huge powers of the presidency, and we can see the disposition of power in a highly centralized system, leaving the regions, much less the villages, at the very periphery of the power structure, when in fact it should be the other way around, where the villages and towns should be the focus of planning and development. Take the East Coast corridor, where there are no real investments to create well-paying jobs with security, and the citizens are all at the mercy of the central authorities because all the money available is in their hands and the people have no say; the so-called local government authorities are all subservient to their party bosses and often make decisions contrary to the citizens’ interests, indulging in ‘squandermania’ and corrupt practices.
Editor, the people have to understand that serious issues face us, and the spectre of the continued domination of our communities by the central government is not working and never will. What is the purpose of a Local Government Minister when he doesn’t even begin to understand that the true essence of development is the survival and growth of the small unit (village and town) which will coalesce into success at the central level? We do not need such a ministry using up valuable resources, because local government prerogatives should come from the local on-the-spot elected officials who should control the financial and other aspects of improving their respective communities. Central government should only be the watchdog, making sure that irregularities and transgressions of good local governance do not occur. Monies collected by the central government should, after state expenses, be disbursed immediately to local communities based on carefully delineated guidelines which are accepted by national agreement and inserted into a new constitution. This would give the citizens of each village and town the encouragement to take part in building their respective communities the way they want, and to use the resources available by making their own choices, not waiting on central government to give them a hand-out after begging and pleading for the longest while.
Editor, the citizens of Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Belize and Suriname have all voted for change; there have been no demonstrations, riots or political violence, just quiet determination to replace the old and tired with something new – new hope for change and progress. We in Guyana deserve better dispensations from our politicians because we are a decent, kind and hard-working people. But just as we do not want outsiders to tell us how to run our homes then we don’t want central government running our communities, and the way things are going, we need urgent change. As Matahma Gandhi said: “The best, quickest and most efficient way [to development] is to build up from the bottom… Every village has to become a self-sufficient republic. This does not require brave resolutions. It requires brave, corporate, intelligent work… life should not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. It should be an oceanic circle whose centre is the individuals in their villages.”
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr)
