Dear Editor,
I respond to Minister Charles Ramson Jr. who was on 94.1 Boom FM radio, arguably the country’s most popular radio station, of which I’m told is owned by two dynamic young African-Guyanese entrepreneurs. The minister’s views of the African-Guyanese community and its leadership were not even recognized, sadly, by one of those said young men, hosting the programme/free talk. The minister’s attempt to lecture the black community was ill informed and very disrespectful. Anyone listening to the minister without having background knowledge of the PPP’S 23 years of discriminatory and intentional economic marginalization of the black community, would have a difficult time trying to make sense of his views. The Minister posited several points of view that are not only confusing, but what many of his colleagues and supporters of the PPP would strongly disagree with.
Firstly “politics don’t create wealth for people”, secondly, being a leader in the political sphere you “encourage people to create wealth for themselves”, and thirdly, “there is a difference between land that is land and land that is an asset” Absolutely utter rubbish! Clearly, the minister is not only confused, but is far from reality, and doesn’t know what he is talking about. The minister, being the son of a former minister and Attorney General, is unlike the many underprivileged, hardworking Guyanese public servants, who toil to make ends meet while paying their taxes. Many of us are still trying to grapple with his government’s imposed 7% wage increase, after not receiving anything in the last two budgets, and still have to deal with this ridiculously high cost of living. The minister’s failure to realize that many of the political doings and wealth garnered, were on the backs of many taxpayers. Some of those actions done by the PPP for wealth creation were not garnered from encouraging words, rather, it was from politics and the political decisions, be it good and bad, and policies/attitudes of the ruling government that created such an environment.
An environment of the haves and the have nots, the poor and the super-rich, the get rich or die trying attitude, tax evasion, drugs trafficking, money laundering, guns , crime, etc. This was, and now is, Guyana’s reality under the PPP. Encouraging people to acquire wealth by mere rhetoric has never worked and it never will. One has to create the positive environment for that to happen, and make the playing field of opportunities level for all the people as a government, not only for a section of the population. The justified criticisms I have made, and will continue to make of the PPP, will not stop until there is fairness and equal benefits for all Guyanese. The PPP’s blatant tokenism of offering contracts to a handful of selective black contractors will not deter me from the much needed criticisms, premised on a matter of principle for the respect of law, the rules of good governance, and the need for transparency and accountability of taxpayers’ monies. That will continuously be done, irrespective of race or ethnicity. The calling out of contractor, Courtney Benn, reaffirms my point that Minister Ramson speaks from a place of ignorance. He needs to ask the PPP, what really happened to that said contractor? He was their poster boy, the only one who was their talking point for black empowerment.
Tokenism! That will not work, silence one and a thousand more will speak until you do what is right. We, in the black community, have many honest and prominent black role models that we look up to and will continue to look up to; persons of unblemished character, integrity, good morals and respect for self; people who are brave and have contributed to this nation and the world. That is part of our wealth and legacy as a society of teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, policemen and women, single mothers who struggle to send their children to schools, colleges and universities, hardworking, honest public servants, too numerous to mention, that keeps the engine of governments running. These are our role models who we look up to, and who we are proud of. Minister Ramson, you have not walked in our shoes, you do not know of our struggles and our history.
Sincerely,
Jermaine Figueira MP