Dear Editor,
The Walter Rodney Youth Movement is appalled by the level of indifference and the callous treatment of first the faculty and staff of the University of Guyana and now the nursing students. We are of the belief that, if nothing else, it has helped us to ascertain how much education is valued by those who have been placed in authority in these institutions. What is happening at the Nursing School should not be isolated from what is happening at the University of Guyana. While the demands may be different, the fact that both institutions have had to resort to protest action to register their unhappiness with the current conditions in which they find themselves is indeed noteworthy. We believe that this is indicative of a broader issue that has led to the protest action by the Guyana Geology and Mines Staff, the rice farmers, the sugar workers and community residents. It would suggest that most Guyanese are unhappy with the inability of the current regime to look after the needs of the citizens who placed them there.
It is clear that those in authority do not see it as necessary to ensure that whatever decisions are made should ensure that all benefit. How can a government see the University of Guyana at a standstill and not think it important to step in and find a solution as soon as possible. How can a government boast about the amount of gold that is being declared and not think that the workers deserve an increase in salary. How could a government boast about an increase in rice production and the markets that they have secured and not ensure the millers pay rice farmers? How does a government receive billions of dollars from the European Union for sugar, and the sugar industry remains in the condition that it is? How could a government sign an agreement that would see the Nursing School being relocated to a place that does not have the capability or facilities needed to accommodate the students and think that this is a satisfactory agreement?
How does a government boast about annual growth and can’t seem to fix the roads in our communities? I hope we have finally as a nation come to the realization that we deserve better leaders. We deserve leaders that think nation before self. We deserve leaders that believe education is the key to development and act on those beliefs.
Yours faithfully,
Tabitha Sarabo-Halley
Walter Rodney Youth Movement
