Dear Editor,
In the aftermath of the mayhem on Middle Street, there has been the usual finger-pointing, handwringing, and second guessing. Amidst all the noise everyone has stepped gingerly around what stares right in the face. Well, somebody has to say it, so here goes.
First a recitation of the facts and the obvious: the man was unhinged, should not have been near weaponry of any kind, but was, and now four citizens are gone. It is more than a man falling to pieces, police failure or licensing lapses.
It is about the lawlessness which has become the order of the day in this land. It is there in plain sight; look high, look low and it is the same terrible story of national madness. Ours is fast becoming a gun culture; perhaps, it already is. Now here is the key: this chronic lawlessness has been foisted upon this land by a venal government. It is one that speaks unashamedly of progress and development in its galvanic rush to coddle men with ‘big connections’ and all manner of perversities. Listen to this.
Men are loud and proud to shout: ‘I am friend of this or that minister,’ or ‘I reach all the way to the top,’ or ‘I know the commissioner.’ Who are these men and what is their claim to fame? They are the advance guard and burgeoning core of the progress and development architecture, which is both literal and figurative, and national in presence. The dead man had a history; part of his history was to boast of his “contacts.” Of course, it follows that “nobaady can duh meeee anyting.” And this takes us further afield.
By now it is widely accepted that the Guyana Police Force is in serious trouble, but who made it into this lapdog? Who protects it and covers for it? And who benefits from that protection? The PPP government. It is similarly acknowledged that there are many licensed guns in this land, way too many in the wrong hands; the wrong hands do not include the weak, the shortsighted, the doddering, and those who might have difficulty identifying the business end of such guns. The question is this: who facilitated such a reality, this arming of Guyana? Please let us not hear of the GPF. We know the answer, don’t we? It is because of the countless poisons sown in the fabric of this society by a determined, unthinking government that it becomes so easy for this man to obtain licensed firearms and mow four individuals down. Yes, it is as easy as a name and a number; the former could be a politician or policeman, and the latter is a stack of dollars. Next customer, step right up. As stated before, the ultimate responsibility for this piercing continuum of abhorrence points in one direction and stops in one place – at the doorstep of the PPP government. When it should be clean and stern, it is secretive and enmeshed in an intricate web of deception.
Editor, it all simmers down to this: dirty money, dirty people, dirty friendships, dirty standards, dirty tricks, and dirty practices culminated in the horror of Middle Street, and the numerous other miniature Middle Streets, unheralded and unremarked, that bludgeon and bloody this place almost daily. Men shoot their wives and nothing happens; men shoot up a bar or a street and it fades into desultory oblivion; men shoot, saunter casually away, and continue life uninterrupted, mostly unchallenged. Firecrackers in the dark. It is no exaggeration to say that Guyana is far gone, maybe irretrievably so.
Now, there will be endless talk about licensing procedures and gun control, and unleashing the usual dirigible of overheated air. But this goes beyond the responsible minister, and goes beyond the GPF. No, this goes to the top, to the heart, and across the length and breadth of what passes for governance in this country. Clearly, the mayhem in Middle Street is the most recent and glaring example of official excesses run amok; sanctioned official excesses. The problem is that there are many Middle Streets lurking in far corners and concealed crevices. The tools and resources are there; they have been paid for and approved. Remember: “Ah gat contacts, ah kno big peeple; an if dah doan wuk, money duz always taak. Always.”
In the meantime, the crocodiles will bring their tears, as the dead are buried. May they find peace. Can the same be said for us?
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
