By Gaulbert Sutherland in Lethem
Lamenting the underdeveloped state of the Rupununi, and saying that education is the way out of poverty, APNU+AFC presidential candidate David Granger last evening pledged to construct technical, agricultural and home economics institutes in Region 9 should the alliance win Monday’s general elections and also pledged to resolve Amerindian land issues.
The alliance’s series of major rallies swung into Lethem, Region 9 last evening and addressing hundreds of Rupununi residents from across the sprawling savannahs, Granger pledged that the land problems that he has heard from across various regions will be resolved under his government.
Granger, who began to speak as a light drizzle sprinkled the crowd of about 2000 persons, joked that he heard of the drought the region was experiencing and brought the rain. He warned the Rupununians gathered who came from as far as Achwib in the Deep South about 140 miles away from Lethem that they had got the government they voted for in the 2011 elections and got PPP underdevelopment, unemployment and poverty.
“After 22 years the PPP cannot solve your problem,” he said even as he highlighted the need to resolve land issues. “We want to settle that land problem once and for all next year,” he asserted. He noted that land is life to the indigenous people. He said that an APNU+AFC government will reestablish the indigenous lands commission and will re-examine all the claims for indigenous lands.
He also highlighted the underdeveloped state of the Rupununi in numerous areas including education. “We have to solve the problem of poverty in Rupununi,” he said adding that this can be solved by education and he is committed to doing this. He said that over 2000 indigenous children live in dorms but many of them have problems that Minister of Education Priya Manickchand does not acknowledge such as shortage of books and shortage of teachers. According to Granger, very year 6000 children drop out of primary and secondary schools. “We are going to give them a second chance,” he said while pledging that an alliance government will construct technical, agriculture and home economics institutes in the Rupununi. He also pledged that his government will give Rupununians the tools and equipment so they can get involved in industries such as agro-processing and become entrepreneurs.
He stressed that the issues with education and employment have to be resolved. “We want you to sit down and tell us what you need,” he said saying that with the alliance, all persons will be able to sit down at the negotiating table. It is about national unity, he said while emphasising that there is a place for the people in the coalition. He said that the PPP is only party that believes in winner-takes-all.
“We must win if we are to move Region 9 forward,” Granger said. He noted that the Rupununi is a poor region and goods here are expensive. He noted the “burden of unemployment” that befalls women and said that too many women are getting pregnant as teenagers with the attendant consequences and said that the education system has to work for those left behind.
“We have to keep our children in school,” he asserted alluding to an “ECIS” – every child in school plan. While relating his observations on what occurs in communities in the hinterland such as children having no footwear, Granger said that the alliance will ensure that transport is provided, there will be updated books, footwear, uniform and a meal for school children. He lamented the high dropout rates and said that every child must complete primary school. “We want young people to complete their education,” he said.
He also told the crowd that President Donald. Ramotar is a dictator and pointed out that he has refused to assent to bills, had suspended parliament and also has not held local government elections. “President Donald Ramotar is a dictator and he has to go,” he emphasised.
“The future of this region is in your hands,” Granger told the audience. He said that he wants to see Lethem as a town and noted that Region 6 has three towns but region 9, the biggest region has none. He said that he also wants to see a sports centre in the region and stressed that every single region must have a proper sports centre. Granger said that he wants to make Region 9 the best in the country and noted that the resources and talent are there.
Meantime, AFC executive Nigel Hughes highlighted the “neglect” of Region 9 and declared that the 2006 Amerindian Act particularly -Section 50 which says that the minister can overrule a community’s wishes on large-scale mining has to go. He urged the people to stand up for themselves.
Hughes also highlighted the poor state of the education system in the region and said that the system under-educates children. It is irrelevant how many schools are built if there are no qualified teachers, he said, while pointing to the dismal pass rates for the Region. According to Hughes, the region’s pass rate for CXC stands at 28 percent and there has not been a single Grade 1 in maths for the last year. Three out of 4 children are failing the CXC exams while calling for qualified teachers even as he questioned what can be done with a laptop if the people don’t have internet. He recalled that Granger had spoken about apartheid in education. “That is in effect what is happening here in Guyana,” he said while noting that with the lack of teachers “you are being permanently kept at the bottom.”
Hughes said that the people must hold the alliance accountable after they win.
Earlier, Leonie Sears, a teacher, also lamented the state of the education system pointing to the lack of teachers and limited access to updated textbooks, among other issues. “The evidence of a broken system is right here in our schools,” she said even as she highlighted the decline in the level of performance at the CXC exams at the St Ignatius Secondary School. She said that there is an urgent need for an institute of higher learning in the Rupununi as well as real computer labs with working computer and internet access. “We are being left behind,” she said.
She said that there should be greater opportunities for youths in various areas such as tourism. She also noted that those with athletic gifts are forgotten and footballers lack opportunities while the job market limits school leavers to employment as domestic workers, drivers and security guards, among others. Sears emphasised that there is need for opportunities for training. She also highlighted social issues saying that too many teenage girls are getting pregnant and juvenile delinquency is on the rise. “Is this the life we want for our young people here,” she asked the crowd which responded with loud “nos”.
With no job opportunities, she said that youths are left with the options of crime, poverty and the drug trade. These issues are crippling young people, Sears said. “Let’s change the lives of our youths in the Rupununi,” she asserted while urging support for the alliance.
Also mounting the platform last evening was former parliamentarian Sydney Allicock and Jerome Khan. Things have gone too wrong in the Rupununi for too long, Allicock said while adding that the alliance is the best combination to give the people a decent life. “We need a better life, we need Lethem to be properly managed,” he declared.
Khan spoke of the woes faced at the Lethem hospital, a topic that Dr Surendra Persaud also raised. Persaud said that it is a tragedy to call it a hospital and recalled in 2009 it was commissioned and it was said that it would be a state of the art hospital but people still have to go to Boa Vista, Brazil for treatment. Dr George Norton recalled that he has been urging government to send doctors for training as specialists but this has not happened. He also referred to cases where pregnant women were transported on ATVs to the hospital and lost their babies. He also spoke on the education system referring to a case where a school had 24 students writing the national Grade Six exam and all passed but the Aishalton Secondary School was unable to take all the students and only five went on to the secondary school. Everybody should have an equal opportunity, he said. “We want you to hold us to our words,” he added.
