Dear Editor,
The Private Sector Commission (PSC) and in particular, Mr Kit Nascimento, said recently, it was reported, that politics should be kept apart from the Amaila Falls project, and they condemned the vote in the National Assembly to block that project at this time. I am surprised at Mr Nascimento’s position, especially when he was such a stalwart for political propaganda when the PNC was in office, and he played such a big part in shoving political dogma and political influence into all matters concerning state policy.
The PSC is living in a dream world if it can’t recognize that politics dramatically affects the economics of any country, and Guyana is no exception to that general truth, with subjective and objective factors bringing variations to it and thus rendering a unique situation in each country. Is Mr Nascimento saying to us that the hydropower is more important than local elections? I think he is, and we can see his penchant for political propaganda, his old game, hiding behind the veneer of the PSC and the talk of “politics has no place…”
Local elections are much more important than hydropower because people’s power comes first in any equation for better economic growth. Just check President Cheddi’s positions on these issues and if still confused, just check history itself and all will see for themselves, that political power down to the grassroots (local elections) is worth much more to invest in, than hydropower. Therefore, Mr Nascimento and his loyalists in the PSC should re-think their positions and call for local elections, which are long overdue, before they attempt to confuse our citizens as to what comes first and as to what is more important to us.
We want our neighbourhoods fixed; we want our communities to have a real say; we want new local young leaders committed to their communities; we want decentralized governance and a strong local government system in place to enhance economic, political and social advancement; we want local elections and those who are trying to bypass or delay them should recant and place them at the top of all requirements for Guyana’s future; we want a real democracy which can only come with free and fair local elections; we want a new dispensation of freedom to choose new leaders without governmental fiat.
Let freedom and democracy ring their bells at local levels and then, and only then, let us consider hydropower and other great projects which will further our economic well-being.
Mr Nascimento and the PSC are playing games, and very dangerous games at that, when they suggest that hydropower is more important than people’s power when, in fact, the opposite is true ‒ just check history. The primary and most important criterion for our development, the most urgent agenda, is local elections; without these elections and a real grassroots democracy, hydropower and other big projects will be meaningless.
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr)
