Dear Editor,
With the very strong possibility of a national election looming quite possibly within the next few months, permit me to reiterate what I wrote in a letter under the caption ‘The Amerindian vote is critical’ dated March 14, 2011. I posited then that the Amerindian population was approximately 80,000, and I venture to say that number should be larger, not smaller, considering the extremely low emigration factor, cross-border scenarios notwithstanding. But do their leaders in the various regions recognize their voting strength as a single group?
After the 2011 general election, what has become obvious to all and sundry is the indecent haste by politicians to win this critical ethnic component, more especially since the decline in the support base of this government in the Berbice region. I had earlier advocated for a comprehensive hinterland development strategy to be formulated for security and economic reasons. For me personally I would love to witness a government of national unity for at least five years; maybe, just maybe, we can begin to trust each other politically, and avoid the greed and avarice that is present in this country. We can then seriously concentrate on two-thirds of the National Assembly adopting a new constitution.
I have seen countries with ten times our population with far fewer ministers of government; only then can we realise what the late Dr Cheddi Jagan meant when he proposed a lean, clean and transparent government.
Happy New Year!
Yours faithfully,
Lloyd W Davidson