Dear Editor,
When the history of this country is written post oil, the name Dr. Clive Thomas will be heralded as the man who broke the back of poverty in Guyana. And whether the politicians like it or not the people of this country will force them to share some of the oil wealth, be it 5% or 10% of the oil revenue, through Direct Cash Transfer. I will say this, if the PPP or the Coalition hope to win the upcoming elections they should spell it out clearly in their manifesto how they will distribute the oil wealth to the poor and needy of this country through Direct Cash Transfer. And do not underestimate the power of the silent majority, the poor and the needy, on elections day, they can hurt both parties badly. According to the Guyana Poverty Reduction Strategy 2011-2015 report, more than 36% of Guyanese are living in poverty, surviving on an income of $1.75 US per day and 19% are living in extreme poverty, surviving on an income of $1.25 US per day. Editor, that’s 55% of Guyanese who are living in poverty or extreme poverty and these are the people who make up the silent majority and who should be targeted for the direct cash transfer, along with the pensioners of this country.
And to the naysayers and elite of this country who are against Direct Cash Transfer, I would like to give them some examples of poverty in this country, real people. Aunty Sona was a pensioner who lived alone in my street. She received a pension of $20,500 per month. Well you can imagine how she survived. People in my street, including yours truly, assisted her with three meals every day and also other expenses. She recently died a broken woman.
Persaud who works at the Albion Estate earns about $12,000 per week. He has a wife and three kids, two of whom are in Primary School and the third is a baby. No matter how hard he tries, the money is insufficient to meet all his needs. Neighbours help out from time to time. Then I have a friend who lives in Cumberland Canje and is a retrenched sugar worker of Rose Hall Estate, he has a wife and four kids and they are all in school. He plants a kitchen garden and throws castnet to catch fish and many days he does not catch anything. He told me some days he and his wife eat two meals and he also grieves for his kids when he cannot meet their basic needs. When you talk about poverty, these are some extreme cases of poverty; real people and there are thousands and thousands of people like them.
This is a wake up call to all the politicians of this country, education yes, infrastructure yes, health care yes, but the people are really suffering and they need help now and therefore I join with true patriots of this country like Dr.Clive Thomas, Dr.David Hinds and Dr.Tulsi Dyal Singh in calling on the political parties who will be asking the poor of this country to vote for them in the upcoming elections to guarantee the people that when they get into government they will roll out the Direct Cash Transfer programme immediately to lift the people out of poverty.
Yours faithfully,
Imtiaz Baccus
