Dear Editor,
I, like most Guyanese am deeply concerned at what appears to be the laid-back attitude of the APNU+AFC coalition government as our economic woes deepen. This government took office promising to do much better than its predecessors, but it has done no better and many believe it has in fact done worse in just the two short years it has been in office.
It is understandable if not accepted that the rhetoric of most political campaigns goes beyond reality, but even with that taken into consideration this coalition has taken that expectation to a whole new level. Sugar, a backbone to our economy is crumbling without a plan in place to take care of the human and economic fallout; rice, another important industry is in further trouble as giant miller and marketer Alesie has taken a decision to walk away; forestry is underperforming and is burdened by poor investment policies; gold, another key industry is taking the strain in more ways than one, and the people are taking more blows that they ever did before, while government spending is hampered.
Does our government really care, are they paying attention to the cries of the people or are they stuck in a cocoon playing and fiddling while they wait for the expected oil revenues to roll in and provide the campaign promise of a good life for all?
It is hard to believe that supporters of this coalition would want to give it another term after getting a taste of its current poor performance. The PPP under Jagdeo would be hard pressed to benefit from the fallout support of the coalition but if reconstituted with a more progressive leader it could be a force to reckoned with under the present circumstances.
I am so disappointed, as are many who supported the coalition, by its current dismal performance and outlook for the future. Amidst all this we have a parking meter situation which is locked into a deadly contract which no one seems to have an answer to. Are we, as a nation, supposed to endure all these hardships and band our bellies while we wait out the next general elections, or is this government going to step back, take corrective measures and figure a way back. The Finance Minister does not seem to think that there is a problem and is telling us to hold strain while his economic garden starts to flourish. The trouble with that is we do not even know what he has planted and how long it will take to bear fruit.
One would think that by now we would have a National Development Plan which takes into consideration the key areas of national development, such as security, agriculture, business and industrial investment and development, education, culture and sport. Such a master-plan would have the inputs of all political parties and civil society and would be used to guide our development, instead of reinventing the wheel with every new government which takes office.
I fear that that may be too simplistic an idea for our complex and complicated political culture to wrap their heads around. Until then, we wait, stressed out, for better to come.
Yours faithfully,
Bernard Ramsay
