Dear Editor,
Consequent to an alleged statement by a Minister to senior Government security personnel that they should seek to achieve ethnic balance in our security services. In ordinary circumstances, in the multi ethnic-multi-religious, multi-cultural country, this may appear to be a reasonable and certainly harmless pursuit. However, taking into account our Post-Emancipation experiences, this is not an innocent statement. In late July I wrote President Irfaan Ali and Security Advisor Gerry Gouveia seeking their comments whether the request for ethnic balance in our security forces was the idea of the subject Minister only, or did it constitute a policy by his administration. Taking into account how busy a President must be, I allowed a period of five weeks, anticipating a response. There has been none. They say silence means consent. Editor, for our young people who wish to overcome the ugliness of a racially polarized society, this matter must be seen in its wider context. I send this letter because I sincerely believe that the majority of Indo, Afro, Mixed and other Guyanese do wish to overcome the sordid period of the ‘50s and ‘60s and be true to the effort of becoming One People, and in President Ali’s own words, be ‘One Guyana.’
I grew up in the Charlestown, Albouystown, La Penitence area and spent a lot of my time in my father’s drugstore – I experienced neither racial hostility nor distrust. Recently, seeking to fight back the disastrous floods which destroyed our thriving kitchen garden, my wife and I visited plant shops on East Coast Essequibo, West Coast Demerara and recently in Vigilance and Industry on the East Coast Demerara. In the last two places, in particular, we met Indo-Guyanese ladies in charge and they were the essence of courtesy, patience and freely offered advice. In the last two cases, we did not identify ourselves and I have reasons to believe that they did not recognize my wife and me. I rate the ladies a solid hundred percent. At my residence, these past few weeks, I have utilized the service of Indo and Afro contractors. I experienced no difficulties and enjoyed cordial and happy relationship with both. This nonsense about ethnic balance must mean that I must look for a plant shop managed by an Afro Guyanese. Nonsense. Maybe, as with the case of Indo-Guyanese and the security services, maybe it is the case of Afro-Guyanese who are just not interested in the pursuit of that kind of business. Why, therefore after the ICJ Report in the 60s and the PPP 23 years in office (1992-2015), should this apparent position be pursued, but it is obviously been happening.
We learnt it is being pursued with a new dangerous twist – Lyken’s Funeral Parlour this year will mark its centenary and for years worked with the police to provide mortician’s services. Lyken’s has now been unceremoniously replaced. A prominent, private security service did not secure a recent large contract, but it was awarded to another competitor, amongst others. One competitor is best remembered for his call to one section of our society to arm themselves, ignoring the torture of two from another section. What is troubling about this latest assault is that the procedures required by Tender Board Regulations of opening tenders in the presence of all the tenderers were ignored with some excuse given about Covid-19. This is a Government that has held large meetings, at the National Cultural Centre during Covid. The disdain showed to sections of the public service and the massive dismissal of one ethnic group is ominous. I need not burden this letter with other instances, but must conclude that we are on a road of uncertainty.
In my earlier letter, I pointed out that with a few exceptions, Indo-Guyanese showed little interest in the security services. It may have to do with their culture and the design of the family structure. Many female Afro-Guyanese employed as police, soldier, and security personnel, leave their toddlers and young children at home to be cared for by others while they are on duty throughout the night. But if the government’s call for ethnic balance is a policy, it ought not to be restricted to the security services. It must apply across the board to employment on our sugar plantations – it must apply to the granting of fire-arms and other licenses – it must apply to import goods and services – it must be applied to the award of multi-million dollars’ contracts – it must apply to the lease and sale of government lands – it must apply to the granting of permission to mine and harvest our mineral and marine resources – Award of Scholarships etc, etc., etc.. When I was a Boy Scout, a member of the Queens College Cadet Corps and a Soldier in the British Guiana Volunteer Force, as we assembled on Armistice Day around the War Memorial, to honour the war dead (1914-1918/1939-1945), War Veterans who risked their lives to defend the Motherland and were on parade, were over ninety percent Afro-Guyanese. These are verifiable facts of our history.
I say to this government, give every child, in every community, an equal break and those who want to plant, those who want to be professionals and those who want to provide security services, it must be their free choice and no political party should manipulate those choices. We don’t want pious statements about “One Guyana,” unless the President feels that the “one” refers only to his people and his people alone. If this Government is concerned about making a reality of the slogan “One Guyana,” they should re-introduce National Service as an effective tool to produce boys and girls who, as has happened before, would leave National Service with a skill, a knowledge of our history and most importantly, without any of the prejudices handed down from the Elders. Editor and Citizens, what is sad about all of this, is that Guyana is blessed with natural resources, blessed with no serious natural disasters and if we live as One People, if we entreat each other based only, and I repeat only on the content of the other person’s character, Guyana in a short while, will be the most prosperous country in the region. To my Afro-Guyanese Brothers and Sisters, I leave this passage from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar to reflect on as you think and ponder about this administration:
“Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus; and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs, and peep about
To find ourselves dishonorable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates.
The fault Dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
Sincerely,
Hamilton Green
Elder
