Dear Editor,
It is the time of the year when we hold steadfast to the beliefs of giving and sharing gifts, as well as offering good wishes.
It is heartrending when we look around and see the high level of greed and inequality. We all hope for a better tomorrow, however in order for our economy to grow, social services to improve and security to be enhanced, we must unite and work towards one common goal to achieve one destiny.
As we reflect on past accomplishments as well as disappointments we must always be thankful for life in itself; because it is the most precious gem. If only we could forget our race, colour and creed and unite together and build this great nation we could secure a brighter and more prosperous Guyana for the generations to come. However, if we continue to fight each other and race-bait we will never get anywhere and the future of our youths will be doomed.
Not too long ago I was on my way to work, and I saw two little children with bags and a cast net. Their father was there too and out of curiosity I went over to speak to him.
I said good morning and remarked that he was rather early and the kids were helping out; his words to me then were: “Wah meh gon do, meh get lil rice but nothing to go with it; life hard. Look me get five pickney and no wok; job real hard to get ‒ bare suffering for awe poor people”.
There are many children who go to bed with sugar water and bread because we live in a society of inequalities, and for the general population incomes are small. Many public servants live from one pay cheque to another. This is the reality of this country and it is time for the government of the day to work very hard to fix these ills and create a better life for all Guyanese.
This is just one out of thousands of untold stories of hardship our people go through in Guyana, and it seems as if there is no end to this nightmare. Our people cannot survive on a system of wealth creation for a few friends and family of any administration, and whilst we give the coalition time to fix the inequalities in Guyana we must not forget the many sacrifices our foreparents who were slaves and indentured labourers made so that today we can enjoy a freer and better Guyana.
Even the smallest child knows that we have a promising future, with all the natural resources and excellent human resources to complement our drive for growth and national development, but we have to stop the greed and have an equitable distribution of all our resources for the benefit of all our people.
The recent find of oil is welcome news and if we diversify our economy we can be the next Singapore.
It is my sincere hope that every Guyanese ‒ PPP/C, APNU+AFC supporters ‒ will come together and unite to build this great country called Guyana; the task ahead may be difficult but if we believe we can achieve. So at this time of the year we must not only give for giving’s sake but give our very best to make the world a better place. Then, when we have completed our earthly journey we would have fulfilled our destiny.
Yours faithfully,
Andre Fortune
