Dear Editor,
We are now approaching one year since the shooting in my home. I have undergone five operations on the hand that remains paralysed. But perhaps the series of scars that run from my elbow to the thumb may heal more quickly than the scars on others. The police are surely scarred. They seemingly have apprehended no one and have shared nothing with us. Similarly, the politicians, of all ilks, share the scars. As they prepare for elections and give gallous speeches, they appear not to appreciate the damage done on the international scene to the investment climate in this country as the concluding question to the 30 media interviews I have had in the UK, USA and the Caribbean has invariably been ’is Guyana a safe country?’
The American Embassy, the international guardians of freedom and justice, who have been given clear information of the boy in Florida that fueled the whole process, apparently remain unconcerned. The ‘defence’ of the Florida boy concerning the detailed and graphic threats on social media to blow up schools that led to the temporary closure of several city schools was ‘just a joke.’ It beggars belief that the FBI could possibly be so easily satisfied when the boy’s pernicious actions led to such chaos in this city.
As we approach Christmas, there may well be parents shielding the evil murderous deeds of their sons as they go to midnight mass, and may even ‘lead’ the congregation as they ‘pray for peace’. Allegations, from a number of sources, of dangerous drug dealings centered on the lucrative and deadly trade of selling ecstasy in several schools and concerning at least one boy, have been shared with the police and CANU. These have apparently gone unheeded. Are we waiting on the loss of life before we take action? In the meantime, lives are being crippled and the drug barons look on and feel they have won the day.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Brian O’Toole, MBE, AA
Director of Nations
