Dear Editor,
The PPP has shown that it has little interest in our democratic rights, or our general welfare, for that matter. It has trampled underfoot public servants’ rights by callously disregarding their opinions and unilaterally issuing the wholly inadequate 5% increase in public sector wages.
The PPP honks its horn and declares that Guyana has enjoyed 5% growth and pats itself on the back. We, the people, are supposed to jump and dance and celebrate this wonderful achievement. I would like to ask the PPP how many employable bright young Guyanese continue to leave our shores every year in search of a life that it has been unable to provide for them?
How many jobs has it created during the two decades it has been in power? How many large new companies do we see on our shoreline? Why has the PPP administration not sought to address the unemployment issue more clinically by first producing statistics on employment in all of our ten regions? The answer to the last question is that it would tell the plain, painful truth, that a large percentage of our employable Guyanese men and women are either unemployed or under-employed. Secondly, such an exercise would inevitably highlight the painful levels of poverty many Guyanese have to endure.
The PPP has done absolutely nothing to radically address these issues, which are a major cause of crime ‒ from robbery, to the nasty spates of domestic violence the permeate our society.
Make no mistake about it, large sections of Guyanese society live under intense stress caused by an inability to provide enough for their homes.
Also, the PPP regime has blatantly ignored the opposition, which constitutes the majority representation of the people in the preparation of the 2014 budget.
Of course, this will probably be cast as another record-breaking (back-breaking for the man in the street) budget designed to bring prosperity to all and sundry.
The PPP is a most anti-democratic organization, the object of whose political machinery is not to govern for the benefit of Guyanese, but to maintain power by brainwashing its supporters and whoever else would listen to their propaganda.
All of us, regardless of which party we support, want the same things. These are the ability to provide for ourselves and our families comfortably, and also see that our neighbours and friends can provide for themselves. We all want a government that is not intent on enriching itself through wasteful, corrupt projects; a government that recognizes our needs and mobilizes resources to address those needs. We want a government that is democratic, one that recognizes that there is strength in diversity, one which allows freedom of the press, and one that is not intent on brainwashing us with foolishness that ultimately reduces our capacity to earn and achieve more.
I urge us all to get a grip on ourselves and speak up for our welfare and that of our children.
Yours faithfully,
Craig Sylvester