Focusing
Belated New Year’s greetings to all Guyanese and in particular to the readers of the Stabroek News and its Business Section!
As is the case each year, the New Year comes with hopes and expectations in our hearts and in our minds. It comes with offers of goodwill, good health and prosperity to family, friends and neighbours. And, so it is with 2012. The big hearts and positive spirits of Guyanese temporarily set aside the disappointments, the bickering, the conflicts and the sorrows of the old year over things important and trivial and embraced the prospects that the new one holds. Now, the New Year is 13 days old and the path forward might already be clear for some and not so for others. Many persons might simply be trying to catch-up having exerted themselves at the various celebrations and social gatherings to which they were invited over the long festive season.
Resolutions
Irrespective of the condition of the mind, body and soul from the cumulative effect of the festivities, time marches on. It waits for no one, whether one is ready or not, whether one is young or old, and whether one is sad or happy. Life must go on.
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Things must get done. As always, Guyanese appear anxious to convert their resolutions and ambitions into business, education and job opportunities with reasonable returns and long-lasting benefits. The issue then is what should Guyanese do to prepare themselves to achieve the desired results, and to make life better for themselves and those who depend on them? For sure, each Guyanese has got to ask also if he or she is doing enough to accomplish his or her individual dream. If that is already happening and has rolled over into the New Year, those Guyanese should plow ahead. Where that is not happening, Guyanese need to take action and make course corrections. Admittedly, for Guyanese of modest means and ability that task appears easier said than done. Such persons would need the institutions of public service to effectively help them. With a majority of people in that situation, Guyanese also have to think of how to make the institutions of government more responsive to their needs. A new Parliament with new leadership offers some hope.
Partner
Most Guyanese believe that the government should be a partner in their economic efforts. The public stance of the new administration gives one reason for cautious optimism. For Guyanese, the new President offered a modicum of hope with his New Year’s message to the nation, signaling to them that he intended to keep things moving. But, the President also made some comments which, if accompanied by congruent action, can help to bring positive changes to the spirit and soul of the country. It would be difficult to find a Guyanese who could be dissatisfied with a statement such as [“I intend to look at all methods available to ensure value for money resulting from the government investments in development projects and to tackle inefficiencies and waste where they exist”]. Nor would it be easy for Guyanese to feel discouraged with the comment [“We will work to root out corruption in our society and to create more opportunities for our people to realize their fullest potential”]. With words like those coming from the Executive, it is easy for Guyanese to feel, in this New Year, as if they were starting life under this new administration afresh.
Commitment
However, as encouraging as those words are, as long as they remain void of action, they are unlikely to capture the spirit of Guyanese and the expectations that follow the 2011 elections. It is clear from the things that many Guyanese were saying prior to and after the elections that they want to get better control of their lives and are in need of change that they could believe in. The words of the President acknowledge that sentiment, but he would need to fulfill the promise of those words for Guyanese to be convinced. In the 42 days that President Ramotar has been in office, he has not done much that would persuade anyone that he intends to be different from his immediate predecessor. The integrity of the procurement process is a sore point for many Guyanese since they see this process as a fulcrum around which favouritism, corruption and incompetence revolve in Guyana. A nearly 40 percent annual investment of the capital of the country barely returns two and three percent growth. That is not good enough and the new administration needs to change this outcome.
A declared commitment to cooperate with the Opposition to establish the constitutionally mandated independent Procurement Commission would go a long way in convincing Guyanese that a fresh start is on its way. And so it would also be with the appointment to other commissions, a proper endowment of the Small Business Fund, and an investment in young Guyanese in things and matters of their interest.
Pulling Weight
But, these are early days yet and, despite the resolutions, no one knows what the future holds. Despite the significance of the President’s comments, Guyanese can hardly tell from the state of the public infrastructure and public safety if the current administration is fully on board with them. Nor can they tell from the unilateral decisions that the Executive has made already on important issues like the reform of the tax system and the stewardship of the gold industry, an increasingly valuable asset of national importance. Despite 19 years in office, the PPP/C still appears unpracticed in the duties of civil administration as evidenced by the absence of a Christmas message to the Christian community in the country during one of its most important celebrations. It is against this backdrop of uncertain and unclear leadership that Guyanese emerged into the New Year. They are not accustomed to the PPP/C administration pulling its weight sufficiently in this partnership and they must now see if a Ramotar-led administration would be different. Given its influence, the administration has got to step up its game and realize that it has to do much more than spout promises. That in itself would be a major game-changer in the life of Guyanese.
One thing is clear and that is young Guyanese are not satisfied with the status quo and are showing signs of restlessness and impatience. With abundant energy, they seem ready to confront the administration if it does not practice what it has started preaching. The activism of the young is bringing economic discomfort to some who had molded themselves into a zone of complacency on the chariot of government largesse. Instead of condemning the actions of young Guyanese, there should be a readiness to engage them. They need to be heard, understood and assisted as their situation warrants. To turn a blind eye or to dismiss them as “thugs” and “hooligans” is unwise and insensitive to the reality that the country belongs to them too and they must be able to share in its wealth.
With the Opposition sharing power through a parliamentary majority, the stage is set for a new beginning in Guyana in 2012.
