Dear Editor,
Sometimes the rush of events makes things and people slip below the radar. When I did catch myself, I had to wonder where some ministerial folks were.
To begin with, I am inclined to believe that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has taken up foreign residence on a full-time basis. I would hope that his new place of abode is neither Coventry nor Newcastle. That would not come across as a posting but as the banishment (of a contender).
Then there is space for the Minister of Education. But that is about all that can be said with a straight face. The register has him marked present. But is he in school and performing? I mean at a classy level? Or is he still catching up on homework one year later? Putting myself in his shoes, I would not rush to collect that third term (annual) report card, all things considered.
Next, there is the still-to-be identified Tourism boss who should be stand alone, in charge, and on the move. I agree. But may I be so obstreperous as to ask: of what?
Further, I want to believe that the Minister of Social Cohesion might have strayed too close to the borders. Has she been intercepted and is a POW? I mean this a clear-cut case of a missing in action party. For the sluggish, she might have been rendered a victim of circumstances, of her portfolio being ahead of the times and, hence, a casualty of internal wars, or at least of attrition. Except that nobody is making an official report. A close uncritical look does not reveal anything remotely social or cohesive a year later. I do appreciate that hers is an endurance race, a gruelling Tour de Guyana marathon; but it has to start somewhere. And on some bright good day, too.
Even further, I would like to be enlightened as to whether the Minister of Citizenship is still on the job and still has this responsibility. If he is, then I respectfully suggest that a contingency plan is direly needed for those citizens huddled in May-June rain, tropical sun, and from as early as the predawn hours at the Passport Office on Camp Road. It is a national disgrace that for something so routine the little people can be subject to this length and degree of torture. That line has to move, and be slimmed down (and I do not mean by mounted police or batons). If this cannot be remedied visibly within the next thirty days, then something has to give, and someone must go. The Minister should have little difficulty understanding my position. To get a passport should not be the Guyanese equivalent of sending people to the moon. Perhaps, that is exactly where they are headed, which explains the interminable, inexcusable daily sight, which now reaches around close to the Red Cross office.
There is time for one more: those presidential advisers, the old officer corps brethren that were recruited. What happened to them? Are they part of a new unannounced secret service team? They disappeared the moment we (yes, we) started paying them and rather handsomely, too.
I would hope that somebody is keeping tabs on all these Phantoms of the Opera. There are more of them MIA, but these are enough to paint a picture. It is hazy, and not in the least attractive.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
