Contenders to be the PNCR presidential candidate yesterday promised Buxton that it will have answers on what happened to its sons and daughters who died during the crime spree.
During a meeting at the Buxton Community High School yesterday, questions on education, illegal guns, drugs, trade unions, the ethnic divide, crime, divisive policies and the road to prosperity were asked and the candidates wasted no time in answering, sometimes going over the time allotted, and ripping into the PPP/C administration’s record on several of the issues. Facing an audience of about 160 persons and amidst occasional bursts of drumming and cheers, the candidates laid out their vision for the party and their intentions should it win the upcoming general elections.
“This is our election to lose”, said attorney James Bond, the youngest of the five presidential aspirants. “It is impossible for the PNCR not to win this election”. He said that the party must be seen as the guiding light and it has a vision while, according to him, the other opposition parties do not.
“This thing (victory) calls for a military operation”, said Brigadier (ret’d) David Granger, to loud cheers as he laid out a four-phase plan to get people to go to the polls and ensure a PNCR victory. The other candidates, former minister Dr. Faith Harding and former Finance Minister and economist, Dr. Carl Greenidge also engaged the audience and laid out their positions on the issues raised. The fifth candidate, Basil Williams is still overseas.
An issue that resonated at the meeting was the “neglect” of East Coast communities, particularly Buxton and the “discrimination” it has faced under the current administration. The killings of youths and the unsolved crimes was also an issue that engaged.
The incumbent government practices divisive policies and under her administration, this will change, Harding said, declaring that the sitting PPP/C administration must go. “Oh Yeah”, shouted an attendee. The candidates repeated several positions laid out at previous meetings while arguing that Buxton has suffered at the hands of the government. Greenidge noted that Buxton is one of the most important villages but it has suffered at the hands of the government.
“No other corridor has suffered more under that hands of the PPP than this corridor” said Bond. He accused the government of failing to invest in the people saying that the system was designed to keep residents as “sweetie vendors and small scale-farmers”. He said that the burden now falls on the PNC to empower the people. “This community prospered at its own hands and that is the way it must go”, he said.
Granger took on security saying that no community has suffered more but said “now that they have pacified Buxton” ask who is committing the crimes.
He said that the people want safety with justice and pledged that under a Granger administration, he was going to find out who killed among others, Donna Herod and about the torture of residents. “Nothing is settled until it’s settled right” said Granger who appeared to have the most support from the audience. He also told the audience that “I wanna make you rich”, saying that education was important. “This used to be an education nation”, he said accusing the PPP during the last 18 years of bringing education in the county “to its knees”.
Varying answers were given to the question of how the candidates would get the party into power. Harding said that she carries a message of change and said that Guyana is fed up with the PPP/C. “Let’s take back our country, let’s take back our resources and let the people know it’s in their hands”, she said. Greenidge responded that the party has to come back to its membership and has to show it is militant in protecting its members whether it’s in or out of power. Bond cited the youth vote and also reaching out to the religious community to put “a God-fearing party” in office while Granger laid out his plans saying that attention must be paid to the recent exchange between President Bharrat Jagdeo and PPP executive, Navin Chanderpal and the question asked as to whether these are the people voters want to give another term in office.
On education and investment in young people, the curriculum has to be reviewed with a view to widening it said Greenidge while Bond, in the midst of his answer, was interrupted by a four-minute power failure.
What would the candidates do to get voters to “come over” given that over the years, the PNC was labeled with “all kinds of names”? Granger, referring to protest marches, said that “evil elements” had planted agents to create mischief, adding that the party was given a bad name by some members of the media. He said that people are not aware of the positive things that the PNC has done but, referring to the current administration, he noted that the ones who stigmatized the party are now imitating it. He had referred to the Grow More Food campaign.
“We must show our models, we must tell our stories”, said Harding.
Greenidge added that it was a question of balance with the party having a right to take militant action. Further, he pointed to a minister in the PPP who was prosecuted in Canada for visa fraud, another charged with stealing the GDF payroll and in the administration there is a “hit and run minister”. He said that it was a failure of the party that they did not assert more strongly positive things they have done.
Meantime, the question of accounting for crimes was raised. The questioner said that it pained him every time he passed the cemetery and there are people he knew, youths and those his age who were dead all, according to him, victims of a “corrupt system engineered by the government”. He noted that in Haiti, former dictator, Jean-Claude ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier is, after 20 years, facing charges and asked what can be expected from the candidates to bring the “culprits” here to justice.
Harding said that under her administration, there would be an inquiry into the unsolved murders and serious crimes in the country. She noted her experience and knowledge of the United Nations human rights system. “I will shake up this country, I will shake up the people of this country and it must be done to ensure that justice must prevail”, she said. Greenidge noted that the trauma suffered needs to be brought to a close and said it is necessary to establish a legal framework to look into the crimes. Bond said that those guilty, including “former minister… former police”, will be held for the death they have caused in this country. “I’ve had to represent some of your sons and I know what is there against them, absolutely nothing”, he said. He said that the question is how to prevent the cycle of violence from happening again. The police force must be reformed and human rights adhered to, he said.
Granger said that a commission of inquiry into the “troubles” of 2002 to 2009 is necessary. He recalled that he was struck when he attended a party for “orphans of the war” who had been left fatherless. Even now, he said, there are fatherless children living in the backlands of the village. He urged the residents to keep records saying that the people who committed the acts are going to be punished.
The issue of illegal guns and drugs were raised with the candidates agreeing that the police force and military need to be better equipped and trained. Harding spoke of a moratorium for guns to be peacefully brought in to the relevant agency during a specified period and then a special force to seek them out. The ethnic divide was raised with education, institutional reform and constitutional enforcement key, according to Granger. Greenidge said that he did not believe that Guyanese are much different from others in interacting on a day to day basis but the issue persists primarily because of governance.
“It was great. They explained everything”, said one attendee after the meeting.
