Dear Editor,
I read his letter in SN Mon, December 15, ‘Impressed with Lethem’s development.’ Well, I like hundreds of Lethemites are not impressed. It therefore suggests that Mr Ally has a mind which is impressed by mediocrity. Let me state some irrefutable facts for Mr Ally since he only visited Lethem; we live there, so we know.
- Lethem is one big washing machine. If one checks one will find a lot of dirty currency – oopps! I mean linen.
- Development is not only physical; it also encompasses the human element as well. Had he done his research, Mr Ally would have discovered that less than 5% of the workers on those structures he referred to come from the region. The implication here is capital flight. Very few proceeds remain in the region.
- A lot of the money garnered from these business is repatriated to Georgetown or Brazil. Nothing remains to develop the region.
- There is a lot of under-employment in these entities. There are young people working in these stores as counter clerks/sales persons with 4 or more CXCs.
- If the place was so developed maybe he can explain why the original business owners have rented out their businesses to the Chinese and Brazilians. Maybe they do not share his views about the progress made.
- Had Mr Ally stayed long enough in Lethem he would have observed that 98%% of the shoppers are Brazilian and the 2% Guyanese shoppers account for less than 1% of the population of Lethem and its environs.
So the next time Mr Ally wants to talk about development he must do the hard work and not just foist his myopic views on us.
Yours faithfully,
Carl Parker Sr
Regional Councillor