Dear Editor,
Residents living on the Upper Corentyne are suffering more under the PPP/C than under the 28 years of PNC rule. Currently, we are in the midst of a severe blackout crisis with no end in sight. Instead of urgently seeking to remedy this situation, which has caused huge losses, as well as severe frustration and anger for residents, the PPP/C and its mouthpiece, the Guyana Chronicle, have made a mockery of the situation by focusing on whether the GuySuCo co-generating plant has been down for maintenance.
They focused on this secondary matter, without even mentioning the tragic impact of blackouts on this area and its citizens, or offering any assurances that they are taking this matter seriously.
The only time the Guyana Chronicle touched on the blackout situation on the Upper Corentyne was in its inaccurate headline that a Kaieteur News article on the blackout situation on the Upper Corentyne was wrong. I am referring to the Guyana Chronicle’s November 12, 2012 edition which stated: ‘Kaieteur News article on Skeldon Co-Gen plant “plainly wrong“ -Guysuco.’
Editor, which world does the Guyana Chronicle and its reporters live in? Are they seriously telling us, the people living on the Upper Corentyne, that we do not face a severe, unacceptable, horrible blackout crisis, which even GPL and its senior management have acknowledged exists? The facts are clear and obvious to every resident of the Upper Corentyne, who has had to deal with over twenty hours of blackouts the past two weeks.
We don’t want people from Georgetown living in fancy mansions with backup generators telling us that we are not suffering from a blackout crisis on the Upper Corentyne, when they do not even visit this area to understand how badly our residents and businesses are suffering. Besides this blackout crisis, our area suffers tremendously from a crime problem. Every week people are being murdered and robbed on the Corentyne. Only last week a man had his throat slit in Whim. On Saturday night a young man was stabbed and beaten to death in Rose Hall and when his father desperately sought help at the Port Mourant Hospital, guess what, the hospital was closed and no guard was there! On Sunday night a taxi was hijacked in Skeldon, traumatizing residents of the area who are scared to go out at nights. The housing scheme in No. 75 Village has been taken over by drug peddlers.
Moleson Creek is known as a haven for drug dealers. Only a few weeks ago a cop was gunned down in this area and the murder remains unsolved. Fishermen throughout Berbice are being hijacked and murdered and nothing is done.
Editor, many families in Berbice can tell you of a personal tragedy that befell them because of the incompetence of this current PPP/C government, which has resulted in developments being stymied, and no proper security measures in place. We honestly felt safer under Burnham and Hoyte than under the current Ramotar administration. Our police are incompetent, cannot solve crimes and cannot protect us.
When we call to make complaints about crimes, or about extremely high volumes of music played all night by neighbours, we are constantly told that there is no patrol available.
Editor, citizens living on the Upper Corentyne do not feel safe and cannot enjoy their homes in peace and quiet under this current government. When the power goes off, we are left even more vulnerable to thieves who prey on the weak and defenceless among us.
We know the government has misplaced its priorities because it has money to build new hotels, and to invite foreign entertainers etc, yet it cannot ensure we have a proper police force in this area, or ensure that our electricity supply is reliable. Indians will remember the sufferings under this government and will take action at the next election. Twenty-eight years under Burnhan and Hoyte cannot scare us any more. We lived through it and can say those days were better than under Ramotar’s government where we live in a constant state of terror of being robbed, or being killed, or that our children will fall prey to drug dealers allowed by this government to wield significant influence over large parts of our communities.
Burnham, Hoyte and Jagan are dead. Our young people only know about the crime and corruption and drugs and murder that have proliferated for the past twenty years under this PPP/C government. And guess what, they want no more of it. We are sick and tired of this government and its incompetence. They should come to the Upper Corentyne and live with us without backup generators, without personal bodyguards, without fancy vehicles and gigantic homes. Yes, they should come and live among us, the ordinary people of the Upper Corentyne and see how we are suffering terribly. Let them come and show us they care, instead of being obsessed with demonizing the opposition and Kaieteur and Stabroek News. Let them come and live here and they will realize they are on the wrong side of history, and that they will definitely be voted out of power at the next elections.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)