Dear Editor,
I left Guyana, the country of my birth, in January 1982, during the dictatorship of Burnham. Rigged elections kept the P.N.C. in office from 1964 to 1992, and for 28 long years, Indians suffered racial discrimination and all kinds of hardships under Burnham and the PNC. The good book says: “God does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear” (Quran 02:286). Democracy was eventually restored, and the P.P.P. governed the country from 1992 to 2015. Power corrupts, and there were several alleged reports of bribery, corruption, and lack of transparency and accountability by the PPP government. After 23 years of PPP rule, the P.N.C. coalition regained power and ruled the country from 2015 to 2019. Again there were many alleged reports of bribery and corruption by the coalition government. In 2020, the P.P.P. regained power and now is in office. Many P.P.P. cabinet ministers and parliamentarians have said that the P.N.C. will never win another election and will remain in opposition indefinitely. For the P.P.P. to keep the PNC in opposition indefinitely, its political leaders must first fear God. Ministers and parliamentarians should know and always act as servants of the people. There must be zero tolerance for bribery and corruption. They must be humble, polite and respectful. They are not above the people and when reaching out to those that put them in office, their attire should be modest and not be princely. They must be quick to leave the comforts of their air-conditioned office and vehicles, and like Mahatma Gandhi, walk and visit the countryside. They must see what poverty really is and see firsthand the living conditions of the people that feed the country. Highways and massive road projects may bring relief to a section of the traveling public, open up lands for new housing and farming. As it is now, thousands of farmers all over the country with an abundance of produce are desperately in need of markets for their crops and all-weather roads to get their crops to market.
Guyana has had three governments since Independence – PNC (1964-1992), PPP (1992-2015), and APNU (2015-2019). There were two presidencies under the PNC government, five under the PPP, and one under the Coalition. It has been 55 years since Guyana attained Indepen-dence, and though the lives of many people have been improved, thousands continue to live in deep poverty. They live in shacks, without potable water, without electricity, without internet, telephone, without health centers, medications, without roads, schools, etc. Recently, an enormous shipload of essential supplies was sent to St. Vincent, which is most commendable. But what about the thousands of indigenous people that have very little or nothing to eat? They need continuous help with food, fuel, mosquito nets electricity, potable water, schools, internet, telephone, health centers, medications, etc. Living conditions have worsened in several rural areas including the Islands of Wakenaam and Leguan. There was once a thriving rice mill with silos at Wakenaam. Farmers from these two large islands are now required to transport their paddy all the way to the West Coast of Demerara. No one and nothing lasts forever, Power corrupts, and if God is not in your heart then the devil is. It is God that gives power to whom He wills. If the P.P.P. wants to remain in power indefinitely then it must serve the people with clean hearts and with clean hands. It must be God-fearing. It must win the hearts of the thousands that continue to live in poverty, including the indigenous people. These are the challenge it faces. I am 80 now and may not live to see it, but, I think that the PPP will again fail to improve the living conditions of the many thousands of poor people and eventually lose power to the PNC. Time will tell.
Sincerely,
Mohamed Majeed
