Dear Editor,
From all indications there is no single, unified national position on the parking meter issue. The positions are diverse and reflect the class nature of those affected and not affected. And there is bound to be an extremist view in our midst in this matter, not to mention a modicum of indifference on the part of some.
For poor people who live on the coastland as well as the poor ones who live in Regions Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten, the parking meter issue is meaningless unless it is situated in the context of other burdensome and unnecessary taxes (VAT, etc) which the Granger coalition administration has foisted on the backs of the poor and working class people. Added to this unconscionable mixture must be the nosedive the national economy continues to take ever since the assumption to office by the APNU+AFC.
There are a number of burning economic and social issues that affect poor people in those regions that are of a higher priority to them than the parking meter issue. And understandably so! Granted, that the privileged few who own vehicles and who live in those regions may be affected when they are in town to do business, but in the final analysis, the parking meter is an urban, city-based issue that, from an economic and financial point of view, directly and indirectly affects primarily the middle class.
It has also assumed a political dimension not unusual for Guyanese politics. And the flavours of the day such as transparency and accountability have again surfaced bringing the project into question.
Poor people who don’t have and will probably never own a house or a house lot, a car or a motorbike, or a bicycle for that matter, will not be affected. The poor and powerless who constitute the majority of our population use minibuses and find their way around town either walking or on an ‘ole bike.’ Others in the not so poor category may from time to time borrow a ‘bus passage’ or taxi fare to get to their destination. To them, the parking meter issue is the remotest thing on their minds. What matters to them is having more money in their pockets to take care of house rent, the snack in their children’s lunch kit and food on the table. They need more disposable income, the ability to deposit more in their personal savings account or to throw a bigger box hand. The poor and powerless want less or no burdensome taxes, a cheaper light bill, the restoration of the $10,000 and the other forms of social assistance they received in the past.
Will they shout passionately and energetically and say, ‘No to parking meters’? in the same way they would clamour for the small but important mercies they beg for? Hardly likely! And then again, after the protests, what next? What about sustainability? Maybe those affected will continue being meter dodgers by parking in unmetered areas while others may resort to the use of bicycles, or a family with two or three cars who would normally use their individual vehicles to go to work will now use one.
But is this the answer? What about the big picture?
I return to the host of economic and social issues currently affecting both small and large influential sections of Guyanese society. The miners (never mind the divisive efforts of the ministry to pitch the small miners against the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), the business community, the farmers, the sugar workers the nurses, the Amerindians, the disillusioned in the APNU+AFC, workers in general and above all, the poor and powerless like the small wash bay man who is now being targeted, all have concerns, they all want solutions.
What is needed and what is lacking in this situation is an alliance between the haves and have-nots, viz, those of the middle class and the working class and farmers in town and country.
Generally speaking, while they may have different class interests, in the context of the extant economic and social conditions obtaining in our country, there are more areas of convergence than divergence in so far as their immediate interests are concerned.
It is now for the trade unions, the NGOs, the faith-based organizations and the political opposition who represent and lead their respective constituents to decide whether or not we swim together.
Yours faithfully,
Clement J Rohee
