Dear Editor,
Guyana is the richest country in CARICOM and with massive oil resources, we can all live ever happily after, if we unite as a nation, and realize our motto of “One People, One Nation, One Destiny.” Regrettably, we are a nation perpetually divided and we live in never-ending persistent poverty. Every race suffers. The poorer class suffers the most. The so-called leaders look out for their own aggrandisement, and use us as political fodder. Our politics, which seeps into everything, has been a poisoned chalice. Instead of fighting together for a bigger pie, we fight about which group seems to be getting most of the crumbs that fall from the oil masters’ tables. Invoking race and racism is self-destructive and hurts us all. Getting millions of dollars from the Government for your cause and turning around and cussing them out is ungrateful and not very smart.
The recent letter by Attorney-General Nandlall, “Forum on ‘emerging apartheid’ is a travesty, breach of the constitution,” (SN, August 20, 2022) has roundly crticised the Cuffy 250 group, a member organization of the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana (IDPADA-G). The AG said the conference framed as “Resisting the Emerging Apartheid State,’’ is unfounded “racist brew,” which may be encouraging racial hostility and violating the Constitution and other laws. Until the VP mentioned that race-based groups were getting hundreds of millions in special grants, we did not know such grants were available to all Guyanese race-focused groups. Truth be told, the PPP Government makes a valiant effort to ensure its programs serve diverse populations. They have visited communities across the political spectrum. GOAL scholarships, house lots and homes, the various cash grants to all, hampers, etc. are fairly distributed across all communities. This victimhood approach by Cuffy 250 does not serve their communities well.
When new Election Commissioner Mr. Rohee said he wants GECOM to look like the rest of Guyana in diversity, he was pounced upon by Tacuma Ogunseye who seems to think that’s a bad thing. Do we not want to heal Guyana? Remember GECOM had bypassed the most qualified candidate for CEO which was given to Lowenfield. Would you say the civil service/state agencies/commissions, security forces lack diversity – a problem the PPP never fixed although being in Government for 25 of the past 30 years? The existence of the Ethnic Relations Commission cited by the AG has been a total waste of time, and the $210 million they gobble up annually could be better spent paving our streets at Whim that have been neglected by this Government. Perhaps Mr. Floyd Haynes, who was slated to be a speaker at the Conference, should attend and explain that he got a huge oil auditing contract (US$751,000) and a license to set up a Merchant Bank in Guyana. He could have shaped the discussion in positive ways, and move the mentality from one of perpetual victimhood to one of strategizing to take advantage of emerging opportunities.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall
