Dear Editor,
The absence of GAWU and Naacie from the TUC jamboree shows the continued divisions among the trade unions in Guyana, driven by deep political interference by the Jagdeo-PPP and foolishly supported by the leaders of the largely sugar workers union, GAWU.
The President is correct in stating that the trade unions are not meeting the expectations of the modern workers of Guyana. We are hindered by a leadership that is largely bankrupt and oppressive, defeating the whole purpose of trade unionism and the cumulative struggles of the working people of Guyana.
President Granger must review also his own concept of the role of his administration, which has put together a coalition that was supposed to deal with the anti-trade union policies of the past PPP regimes. The appointment of Keith Scott, a junior Minister in the Ministry of Social Protection, responsible for Labour and Trade Union matters, is a slap in the face of all trade unions and revolutionary activists in Guyana. Minister Scott has no experience in the labour and trade union movement and has done very little to resolve the problems that face the unemployed and under-employed in the country. As a former associate of trade union and revolutionary activists, Scott has joined the new elite class that now runs things.
Workers have no place to take their problems ‒ collective or individual. There is no industrial tribunal structure and that seem to be far from the mind of Mr Scott. The Junior Minister has no time for his erstwhile friends after together with Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo he took over the leadership of the last united trade union May Day rally. This very act shows his immaturity and the opportunism of Mr Nagamootoo.
The TUC and the PPP-affiliated trade unions have no clear policies and programme of passing the baton to the younger generation of workers. The current trade union leaders have severely criticised the President of Guyana for not allowing youngsters in his cabinet and other important places, but they are no better.
Karen Vansluytman, a veteran trade leader, lambasted the trade union leaders at the last May Day rally for bringing shame and disgrace on the founding leaders of the trade union movement in Guyana. She described the chauvinist behaviour of her male counterparts as bullish and sexist, in total contradiction to the ethics of trade unionism. Her contribution was received with thunderous applause from all sections of the trade union movement and workers present at the rally.
The culture of total control in all sectors of our society needs to be changed rapidly, if the country is going to take its rightful place in the 21st century. The mindset must be changed to accommodate the technological minds that are necessary to move Guyana forward.
The country is in a crisis which can only get worse, if the administration does not take seriously the threat of criminal gangs roaming the streets of the city and the countryside. The fear of crime is the biggest factor affecting the entire nation. The ordinary citizens have no guaranteed protection against the bandits, who are armed with guns. No one is safe in their homes, on the street, in their cars, in their business premises and in places of entertainment. Everyone is crying out for help, and the President is saying that we can’t change things overnight. People are saying that he should do what President Hoyte did and be tough on the criminals and tough on the causes of crime.
Khemraj Ramjattan, the Public Security Minister, must get out of his office and speak to the citizens on a daily basis, giving them the reassurance that something tangible is being done, and they will in turn give information that is vital to hunting down the authors of crime and their henchmen and women.
We cannot progress and achieve our manifesto commitment if we do not take the cries of the people seriously. We must do the extraordinary. We must actively re-construct the community policing groups and arm and train them to effectively patrol their communities. We must make the police accountable to the citizens of this country and let them understand that they are servants of the people, working under the motto ‘Service and Protection.’
The younger policemen and women need to know who is paying their salaries at the end of the month, and if they are to get higher salaries the economy needs to function in an atmosphere of peace and harmony where businesses can operate without fear.
The police force has failed the people of Guyana ‒ in a big way. There are lots of problems in the police force. It suffered from corrupt leadership, allowing itself to be manipulated by politicians in the last PPP government. Freedom House was the police headquarters, not Eve Leary. There must not be any further political interference in an essential service that requires a very high level of professionalism and non-political interference.
The police force must be regarded as the guardian of the ordinary people, the workers of this country, the class that is the producers of wealth for the nation to survive. The business class is relatively protected, but their businesses are at risk.
The rich and powerful are well-guarded. They live in gated-communities where they erect well-placed CCTV cameras, have high-powered security fences and well-armed security guards. The poor and the oppressed have no one to protect them. When the thieves and bandits attack the police do not and cannot answer the calls for help. In one case which I am well aware of, the policewoman on duty did not record the call by a woman who was being attacked by 3 armed bandits.
The policewoman denied that she even received the calls in the face of phone records. No one knows if the said policewoman has been disciplined. There has been no follow up. No one visited the victim of the criminal attack; the vulnerable are left to die without the aid of the security forces. The police complain bitterly about being ill-equipped and underpaid. But the police must fight for their rights; they must be allowed to establish a trade union to represent them. They need their own voices and they need to be heard and action needs to be taken in their interest.
People want change and they will catch onto straws to save their lives. Mr Jagdeo left the country in a total mess. Every sector of society has been messed up. The stench in the City of Georgetown was created by the PPP under Mr Jagdeo’s leadership. The President of Guyana has cleaned up that mess, but that work needs further attention to maintain the momentum. The next step is to clean up the human mess; to change the mentality of people. Guyana must progress.
Yours faithfully,
M Jinnah Rahman
