Dear Editor,
I do not recall where I had seen the image. It may have been a picture in a magazine or book. It could have been an artwork or even a scene from a horror movie I saw long ago. I saw the image in my dream last night. My dreams are always fragmented and somewhat confusing. I could be dreaming that I am at a party in London but yet the venue becomes Library 3 at Linden in Guyana, South America. The people there become a mixture of those I know here and back home.
Last evening, in my dream, Mark Wayne Xavier and Ruel Johnson walked me through the halls of what appeared to be the High Court in Georgetown, Guyana. It looked a bit dark and ancient inside and as we walked, we were confronted by the sight of that image. There was half of a clock on the wall and half of a chair and desk in the centre of the room. The chair appeared to be a rocking chair. Everything in that venue appeared broken or halved.
I woke up this morning and did a Google search with the words, “Everything is broken,” performed by R L Burnside. I listened to it and posted it as my song of the day on my Facebook.
I am advising readers to listen to the words of that song. They aptly describes the reality of what obtains in Guyana.
Everything is broken. Broken promises to the people of Linden. Broken dreams of justice for the deaths of the Linden Martyrs. Broken promises by politicians to the people after elections in 2011. Broken drains, streets and roads. Broken buildings. Broken laws and commissions of inquiry that yield no justice or are farcical and incomplete. A broken Parliament. Broken promises of local government elections. Broken ministers of government. Broken trade unions. Broken promises for a better life for public servants. A broken Georgetown Public Hospital where women are dying from complaints relating to childbirth, even as recently as Christmas Day. A broken University of Guyana where a student was recently bitten by a snake on campus. Everything is broken.
2015 appears to be an elections year for Guyana. Elections may be called no later than June. Will 2015 be a defining year in the history of Guyana?
I have hope that all that is broken can be made whole again. That audacity of hope must not be broken. The will to make it happen must remain unbroken. There must be no unbroken commitment in the immediate quest for change. In my dream and in our reality our country and people are broken. The future is not broken and must work as a healing balm. The broken clock on the wall must be restored to its original form.
2015 must restore our broken vision. We must see again the wealth and untold riches of our country. Our gold, diamonds, bauxite, timber, vast agricultural lands and pristine forest must serve to empower our most valuable resource which is our people.
With the vast wealth our nation has, every family and every newborn can be given a grant of ten million dollars. The sad reality is that that wealth is channelled into the pockets of the ruling politicians and their friends, families and the rich businesses that support them.
Many people live below the poverty line, and opposition politicians, some of whom remain silent are also in the know and are recipients of small and not so small shares.
We cannot go into an election with the same old style and mantra we had in the past. There must be a new style and approach. We have to identify, expose and recall the stolen billions that have been laundered in personal and private business ventures in the UK, USA, Canada and the islands of the Caribbean. Elections must no longer be a process that only sees politicians put into power but a greater means to see people empowered. We must fix Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Norman Browne