Dear Editor,
Firstly, let me note with some appreciation that my resignation from the NICIL Board improved GHK Lall’s grading of me, by several notches; as he agreed with my condemnation of the inhumane treatment of the untitled residents of Success as stated in Stabroek News dated October 10, 2020.
We all want to get on the gravy trains, some for different reasons. However, there is a breaking point to such intentions; this ought to happen when principle and conscience must supersede personal benefits in the pursuance of building a nation and with social justice. We must not foist acts of cruelty and callousness upon our people for commercial purposes. Be it for supposedly planting cane varieties for research, which is quite an unrealistic stretch or for real estate development.
At a personal level, I express-ed interest in the positions of: Chairman and CEO of NICIL, Finance Secretary, Commission-er of the Guyana Revenue Authority or Senior Advisor to the President. I also lobbied for others to be considered for appointment by the new administration; so far without success.
It has become obvious to me over time that it is vitally important for persons who are viewed as traditional PNC supporters, to be placed in positions of leadership to allow real and not illusionary inclusivity towards nation building. This gives the appointee the respect due, the respect of the PNC traditional supporters and the ability to hire staff, allocate funds and influence materially the social and economic development of all Guyanese.
It is not okay to speak out against Joseph Harmon, David Granger, Henry Jeffrey, Eusi Kwayana, David Hinds, Lincoln Lewis, Karen Abrams, Melissa Ifill, Tacuma Ogunseye, Claudette Singh and Vincent Alexander, among others during the rigging season from March 3 – August 1, 2020, then go quiet, when Guyanese in Success are being shot, teargassed, have their structures demolished and homes flooded where they reside with their children; all this in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every election has anomalies, some significant, some insignificant. It is my belief that the irregularities claimed by APNU+AFC Coalition were insignificant, thus my active support for an unconditional democratic transition to a new PPP-led administration.
There were others like me: Freddie Kissoon, who I thought did the most damage to the vacuous claims of the APNU+AFC Coalition in pursuing their claims to victory, along with Christopher Ram; the latter now sits unconscionably adrift and publicly quiet on the Board of NICIL, these two gentlemen were generally perceived as unbiased, their non-action now belies such a perception. There are others in Guyana and the diaspora who rightfully lambasted the attempted rigging; but now have been accommodating and silent as residents of Success are flooded out of their homes.
Their astounding and shocking silence on what happened and continues to occur to the folks on the Success lands is fraught with double standards, to put it mildly. Interestingly, this area of ancestral land is the same land that over 250 enslaved “residents” were lynched on following the Quamina rebellion in 1823. Most of them were lynched at Parade Ground, with their decapitated heads left hanging for many days, as shared with me by the Marcus Garvey scholar and Historian, Dr. Tony Martin. I can still picture sitting with Dr. Martin as he shared the most brutal known atrocities against the underprivileged that our ancestors suffered in Guyana. “Quamina’s dead body was hung up in chains by the side of a public road in front of Success.”
Now we have GuySuCo in 2020, without any legal agreement with NICIL, flooding the lands in Success, lands owned by NICIL, thereby, illegally trespassing and damaging NICIL property. No one from GuySuCo was shot at or teargassed. The excavators that were illegally on NICIL land were not seized or destroyed nor were GuySuCo personnel arrested.
Then you have the public silence… of some columnists, commentators and analysts, reflecting their complicity or agreement with the atrocities against the underprivileged Guyanese residing on “Quamina” land.
The coalition did not teargas or shoot at the folks in Ashmin’s Building or at Gecom Headquarters or those individuals surrounding the buildings.
What is so different now? We are dealing with disenfranchised Guyanese! Justice is not partisan.
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Hinds