Dear Editor,
I note with some alarm Mr Ralph Ramkarran’s reference to race dealing with my letter expressing concerns about the proposed specialist hospital.
Mr Maxwell in a subsequent letter (KN 04-03-2112) makes a parallel reference to race in dealing with Mr Ralph Ramkarran and Hamilton Green. He contends that both were inappropriate or obnoxious (my words).
May I make it crystal clear – there was no such intention on my part when I posited the question, if we are being re-colonized by India – re-colonization has a known concept in modern lingua franca, a sophisticated variety of the old imperial days.
Given the secrecy, inadequate information, large sums to be provided by Guyanese taxpayers, was it aid? Is it a joint venture, if so, who are the partners? What is the quid pro quo?, no clear statement about its services to the ordinary Guyanese, how much of the money earned would be repatriated?
Would it earn foreign exchange or would it be a drain on our foreign exchange. Would any of the local hospitals be involved? Would Guyanese technicians and professionals benefit from training at this facility? These are only some of the things that bother me, and no clear statement from either the Guyana or India bureaucracy.
Not to mention at first we were told money was needed for a study not for land and infrastructure.
Had it been the United States, Nigeria, South Africa, Russia, Trinidad, Jamaica, China, Venezuela or Brazil, I would have made the same observations and asked the same questions.
So who has linked these concerns with race, certainly neither Hamilton Green nor the opposition.
Someone is creating a storm in a teacup to avoid dealing with the real story.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green, JP.
