Dear Editor,
When one looks at Guyana and looks also at Mauritius, one truly understands how the PNC and the PPP failed us. That is why is it so important that more of our people discontinue thinking race and vote for change.
We encourage the people to ask themselves that hard question – what have these two parties done to preserve their long term well-being? If the answer is not much, then a vote for the change from the PNC and PPP is the only option. As we in the Alliance for Change (AFC) continue to ground with the people countrywide, with the latest meeting in Rosignol drawing some 500 people, we have begun incorporating the view of the people at these grounding sessions into our Action Plan (AP).
Our AP is clearly designed to transform our economy from the subsistence level that the PPP and PNC lorded over to a more value added structure. Our AP is clearly planned to drive the building of a more diverse economy especially with a focus on bio-fuels, jewellery manufacturing, alumina production, and IT services. Our AP call for a more democratic political system and in the new AP it will provide for even stronger social safety net, with clarity on our commitment to increasing the Old Age Pension to $11,000 per month in our first year in office after weeding out the 10,000 phantoms on the pension list. I wonder into whose pocket this $900 million of lost pension payments is currently leaking every month?
Isn’t it a marvel that Mauritius, a country which had a per capita income of $400 in 1968 (the same as Guyana), now boasts of a per capita income of $6,700 vs Guyana’s $2,800, almost 2½ times richer? In Mauritius, 87% of the people own their own homes, whereas only about 58% of our people own homes. The PPP must be credited for distributing some 80,000 house lots over the last 19 years and the AFC acknowledges this fact and commends them for it. But we will do even better; our vision is not to distribute house lots only but to create communities with playgrounds and community centres for people to grow as one people, one community with one destiny.
The real question in Guyana is not whether we can afford to provide a better life for our people but rather how can we better organize our society? An AFC government will create constitutional institutions, which are beyond the controls of the Office of the President. These constitutional institutions will lead the way in motivating our people to have higher levels of trust among themselves and facilitate higher levels of social cohesion. We know the greatest impediment to cooperation between workers, government and employees is poor respect for each other and lack of trust.
These impediments must be fixed and our leaders will not be allowed to shout at the top of their voices that the opposition “has blood on their hands” without empirical evidence, contributing to the mistrust and lack of respect in our society. Even a President Ramjattan can be sanctioned in the new AFC constitution if he undermines religious, racial and ethnic tolerance and respect. That is why I feel so strongly that I am serving with an angel because in our last conversation Mr Ramjattan re-emphasized his total commitment to the rule of law, respect for all races, all religions and genders.
The AFC government shall be committed at the highest levels of the executive, to a better welfare system, to motivating our people to greater productivity and to reducing the gap between the rich and the poor. Unfortunately, this regime pays our elders starvation pensions; those at the bottom of the economic ladder starvation wages; all leading to more people engaging in a ‘survival of the fittest,’ selfish lifestyle. This has only one conclusion – lower productivity and higher criminal activity. Nations are never moulded this way and it is clear that the PPP has lost the plot.
In the new PPP, it is all about the business buddies and the close friends of the ruling cabal. Well everybody cannot be a PPP business buddy so an increasing silent majority continues to punish under the PPP as the business buddies, many of whom are nothing else but economic predators, continue to flourish at the workers’ expense.
The AFC recognizes that our people are our greatest assets, notwithstanding the fact we have land and abundant natural resources. Given Guyana’s religious, ethnic and racial uniqueness, proper education for all is crucial for social unity. That is why in an AFC government we will target every single student, regardless of which school they attend (vocational, secondary, primary, etc), to help them unleash their potential. In an AFC government there will be no promotion to the next class up if you fail your school year, similar to what Minister Baksh and the PPP has instituted. This is the Jagdeo legacy to the future generation.
If a student fails his school year, under an AFC government, he/she will be going to special remedial schools that will work closely with the Ministry of Human Services to professionally assess his/her home situation, social issues, and the system will hold that child’s hands as a valued individual to help them climb the educational ladder. Not everyone can be a doctor, but instead of being a school drop-out, that child will pass and graduate from their school and move on to being a trained welder or mechanic or even a doctor or anything he/she dreams of becoming, with adequate employable skills that empower him/her economically. Yes, it can be done.
We in the AFC continue to recognize that the annual budget is skewed toward the friends of the PPP fostering the untenable situation of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. We recognize that Guyana is still struggling with the inequality of land distribution with the poor saddled with high taxation and hefty house lot fees, while the business buddies acquire hundreds of acres of state land at peppercorn prices. This practice of ignoring the plight of the poor will stop in an AFC government. Fairness in actions shall return to the land under the AFC.
As our Party Leader Raphael Trotman said, “It must be a moment of great change so that Guyana can emerge from underdevelopment, nepotism and pettiness of past governments. For 45 years Guyana has had the same parties making turns in the wrong directions, disappointing and betraying its citizens and allowing for an unfair distribution of the country’s wealth as the rich get richer while most Guyanese continue to remain poor.”
Many have told us they wish they could come to our public meetings; it reminds them of 1979 and Walter Rodney, but according to them “we ’fraid of victimization.” We say to the people, if you are afraid, you do not have to come to our public meetings; we are OK with that, once you continue to read our Key newspaper in print or on the website www.voteafc.com, and on elections day you make the right turn and vote for the Key.
Change is on its way and we encourage all to sit, think and decide – it is either more of the same or a new life.
Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh