We call ourselves a civilized nation yet over the holidays the garbage rotted in the streets because for three weeks and counting the garbage collectors have not been seen in some areas. It is now a regular occurrence that they are not seen in some areas for as long as a month and citizens must resort to paying privately to have their garbage removed or just leaving it to rot until a garbage truck appears. It is telling that in the street where I live there were no white envelopes this year from the garbage collectors, who many would gladly tip at the end of the year because they work hard trying to manage the solid waste from a population of many who seem unconcerned about the cleanliness of our country. Our garbage issues are not just because the garbage is not being regularly picked up. Had we truly cared about keeping our environment clean, our streets, trenches and seawall would not be littered with garbage , and we would invest more in reducing waste by reusing and recycling. Beautiful spaces would not be turned into dumping grounds. Had we truly cared there would be loud ongoing cries because the garbage bags are piling up, the unpleasant smell of decay is permeating the air, worms and rodents are multiplying, and the dogs are having feasts and making messes. It seems simple enough that in a civilised nation, the people would not have to worry about when the garbage collectors would be seen again. Civilised people would have a schedule they can depend on. Civilized people would not dump their garbage in the trenches, on our streets, and litter the seawall thinking it okay because volunteers will clean it up or the ocean will drink it. These behaviours are indications of human beings regressing – of men and women returning to a state of darkness when perhaps we did not walk or talk. But the Earth was of course a much cleaner place then – unpolluted by the greed, fury, and carelessness of mankind.
We call ourselves a civilized nation while we boast about being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, yet it is not only the garbage piling up that we are grappling with at the end of 2022, but the potholes around many parts of the country keep widening. Disturbed and exhausted I was on Boxing Day by the avoidable inconveniences we face daily as I travelled on a street in Friendship on the East Coast of Demerara that has been left to deteriorate. The car ride was uncomfortable as the efforts to avoid some of the potholes were futile. I suppose soon enough the street will be nothing but one large hole. Months ago, I highlighted De Abreu Street, Newtown, Kitty as an example of a street in urgent need of repairs. There are schools in that street but even after the authorities were contacted the street has been left to continue to deteriorate. In this land of oil, luxury apartments and posh restaurants selling expensive steak that is more than some people’s wages, are we not embarrassed that we are encouraging foreigners to come here and invest with the garbage piling up, potholes widening, the crime, corruption, and poverty on the increase? But perhaps they will only see the places where all the streets are paved, and the garbage bins are empty and clean and there is no sign or evidence of our iniquities. Or perhaps they are only coming to take the best of our resources while behind closed doors calling Guyana what Donald Trump called third world countries. Are we that though? We call ourselves a civilized nation, yet just like the stench of the garbage we are filthy in our minds and actions as we treat our fellow citizens with disdain. If it is not the senseless robberies and murders like that of businessman Shimron Adams earlier this week it is the dislocation of vendors just before the holidays. There were the tears of mothers. Special protestors who seemed to care more about what they deemed as offensive statements from the Mayor of Georgetown than the day-to-day suffering of the average Guyanese were seen. It is the private organisations that only make statements when it serves them. If it is not central government disregarding local government, Georgetown starving for funds, it is the less than one percenters who believe that their money makes them better people. Their silence on corrupt practices which many of them benefit from and their beliefs that they can do as they please and never face consequences proves that many of our citizens are everything but decent.
A population of struggling people are blamed for their demise even though the scales are unbalanced. Far removed from the knowledge of self or the power of the mind, what shall we tell a nation of the docile when they seem not to be hungry for betterment but will instead stand silently in their suffering or pretend it does not exist. We did not need the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to tell us that the inflation rate has tripled in Guyana over the last two years despite all the cash grants to the select and adequate raises of salaries for a few. Many of us go to the markets and are flabbergasted and in our hearts we weep. Many Guyanese face malnutrition and diseases because they cannot eat a balanced diet. As we march boldly into 2023, refusing to change and accepting that we are largely an indecent and corrupt people, where criminals and law enforcers sometimes have the same faces, we are in a season of desperation.
In this so-called civilised nation Guyanese are continuously being alienated from their own country. It is not only that there is an increasing population of foreign language speakers, but more and more Guyanese are being threatened with homelessness. Minimum wage is US$300 or US$350, but now what seems to be considered low-cost unfurnished rentals are largely starting at around US$400 in this season of abundance for landlords. It is one Guyana for the rich and a divided Guyana for the rest; we are watching a nation being bought, that has already been largely sold, and we seem not to fear that the disappearance of the descendants of the enslaved and indentured who toiled, bled, and died for this country is possible in a few decades.
In this so-called civilised nation, many are easily distracted and bought. Many will fete to their demise, and never fight for anything. There are the ones who will continue to paint corruption with a golden brush because it benefits them. There are the ones who say that they are fighting for the rights of the people, but they are also indecent human beings drowning in corruption, weak and cannot be trusted.
It has come to the point where many Guyanese determined to live in Guyana because of the love of country must now ask themselves if their dreams stop at our borders.
