It seems like the lady and lord of death are dancing on Guyana’s soil. Like the trumpet is sounding ominously, offerings have been made to nefarious entities in the fight for what Guyana will become and blood sacrifices in the form of our people’s mangled, maimed, and murdered bodies is the reward.
Aren’t we tired of writing “Rest in Peace” (RIP) or “Sincere Condolences” because of tragic events? Grief hovers over us – constant, expected and still surprising. Every day there is something to concern us but as the movie of oil, gold, corrupt practices, get rich goals and schemes continues to unravel there are those who seem to have accepted the possibility of a dark fate and there is little fight in them. Here on the rich man’s playground and the poor man’s plantation the dance of death continues but still there is division, contempt, jealousy, imprudence, deception, and stupidity clouding every sign of progress. Here is a majority religious flock seemingly not openly attempting to reconcile or secure the destination of their souls.
Here too there are those on the playground who believe that they can ignore those on the plantation and live comfortably without guilt or fear. Afterall we are all given the same 24 hours a day and 365 days a year to make or break life. Whether it is intellectual disability, opportunities missed or not sought, those on the plantation are on their own with few who may make it to the playground one day. And there are those who have given up. Those who are waiting on something great beyond the RIPs or condolences. But what is the point of life if we do not seek to make the best of it?
Still, every day bodies are on the streets, trapped in vehicles, in the waters waiting to be found, decomposing in bushy and sandy places, stabbed and bleeding; many cry, plead and seek help before they collapse into the hands of the lord and lady. Like Aneeza Ishmael who was a 26-year-old housewife who was murdered by her husband on May 7th, the day before International Women’s Day is celebrated.
Annually women are celebrated on May 8th, but still annually thousands of women around the world are murdered. According to a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) more than five women and girls were killed every hour by someone in their own family in 2021. 56 percent were killed by intimate partners or family members (45000 out of 81000) according to the report.
Many women are not respected by the men they encounter. We are constantly harassed in what should be safe spaces and the good men sometimes seem to be outnumbered by the failures. But perhaps that is only because people often pay more attention to the negative rather than celebrate the positive. Still in Guyana, abusive men smile in our faces, some stand on the playground and some on the plantation, angry, hurt, misguided, uncontrollable, hands ready to strangle, chop and stab – hands that have already strangled, stabbed, and chopped while the lord and lady continue to dance. There are many women with these issues too.
Last week I wrote about the many accidents that have occurred this year and since, bodies have been added to the list. But it was not only the road accidents that made the lady and lord dance within the last week, but unfortunate events like contractor Fawazz McRae allegedly attempting to murder policeman Jermaine Semple. Two cousins in a quarrel led to the accused shooting the other in the head. Semple is in a critical condition on life support. There is an urgent need for anger management interventions for our people at all levels of society.
The lord and lady danced in Linden this weekend not only because of the attempted murder and the accident that claimed the life of a taxi driver Darren Henry, but we also read, and many prayed when the bauxite miner was lost for three days underground after quicksand swallowed him and the bulldozer he was operating. Neptrid Hercules’ cause of death has been revealed as suffocation. A man who worked for forty-two years in that industry and was looking forward to his retirement in October, sucked underground and it was over just like that. We can imagine the horror of his final moments in the dark sandy grave while the lord and lady danced. May his relatives find comfort in the memories they shared and may his spirit soar.
What lessons can we learn from those who have already perished under Guyana’s blight? Shouldn’t we adjust our behaviours, ask for mercy, or engage in widespread introspection from everything we have seen? How do we comfortably breathe the same air with the degenerates of this country? How are we not outraged enough to stand united when there are environmental threats that can change the course of our country? Like the ones that cause the fish to swim to quieter places or to suffocate in polluted waters. And those polluted waters in mining communities for example affecting the people’s way of life. Deforestation and mercury pollution, sickness, and diseases are a constant threat. Do we not fear that the gases will burn excessively in the air? Perhaps our forests and mangroves are enough to mitigate, but how many Guyanese dreams will 50 and 2 percent fulfill?
While the dance continues and our people are blindly pledging allegiance to some of those standing on the playground while they sweat on the plantation, we must wonder about how our past broke us and how the present continues to break us. We must pay attention to the dance that is continuing and acknowledge that perhaps these are not just unfortunate events. Our people do not have to continue to die in an unusual number of unfortunate, avoidable events. Like the road accidents for example. It may seem impossible, but there are countries with few accidents. Norway is the safest place to drive according to OurWorldInData and Gov.UK with only 1.5 deaths per 100000 people. Sweden’s fatalities are 1.7 per 100000 and Denmark 2.2. The highway speed limit in Norway is 15.5 kph while it is 14 kph for rural roads. Perhaps we can learn something from them.
Every year lives are lost in the mining industry. In the early 90s my cousin was lost at the age of 19. Still in 2023, the threats to life in the mining industry remain. How do we stop this? Is it impossible to prevent the loss of life as we seek Guyana’s natural resources?
We continue to hurt each other while the lord and lady of death continue to dance in Guyana. We are not pausing. Many are not stopping to acknowledge that it is unusual that we grapple with tragedy so often. But perhaps the majority are desensitized.
