Dear Editor,
Someone has said that talk is cheap. I want to say that writing brings out the truth and in the process complicates other issues. Reading Reggie Bhagwandin’s letter, heaping praise on President Ramotar for stepping down as General Secretary for the PPP is commendable (‘Rohee should follow President’s example,’ SN, August 22). He says that the President has displayed “a great deal of mature leadership.”
What Mr Bhagwandin is telling the nation is that Dr Cheddi Jagan was not a mature leader. Although the founder of the PPP he did not see it as wise to relinquish the post of GS when he became President, knowing that the country was in need of such leadership.
I want to believe that Mr Bhagwandin is correct, simply because if Dr Jagan had been a mature leader he would have groomed a set of honest, genuine, patriotic, loving, sincere, trustworthy and dedicated sons and daughters of all ethnic groups in Guyana to take over from him.
Notice that I did not mention academics, because commonsense often outperforms academic brilliance. The people Dr Jagan left to run the party and the affairs of state have been disastrous for our country.
Look at all the major projects the government has launched over the years. Which one of them has brought economic benefits to the people of Guyana? We can look at the Skeldon factory – with over US$200 million of taxpayers’ money ‒ still not functioning; the Amaila Falls project was a fiasco; the Marriott’s funding is still a secret even though millions of US$ of taxpayers’ money is being spent; the packaging plant at Enmore is a PPP white elephant; schools, bridges, roads are being built and within a very short time they disintegrate. I can go on and on, but if we should learn anything from both the PPP and the PNC, it is that loyalty to the party trumps everything.
If we do not put a stop to this runaway train, Guyana is doomed to fail and we cannot blame anyone for this, except ourselves. We sat back and allowed the country to be plundered, yet we did not say anything. Our children and grandchildren will not forgive us for our ineptitude.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Sugrim
