Dear Editor,
These days I can’t ignore the omnipresent headlines about the “Bilateral Cooperation” between Guyana and Barbados. Not long ago (pre oil Guyana ) I had to sit on “the Guyana Bench” on a vacation to Barbados, albeit a naturalized American Citizen because I was told my US passport noted my country of birth as being Guyana. Notwith-standing, I was being charged $4 USD for 3 slices of toast bread that was until I announced I was born in Guyana resulting in a price change for members of the CARICOM, which is I could pay in Eastern Caribbean dollars or exchange my bucks for EC dollars . Now that Guyana is oil rich and its GDP per Capita has exponentially increased from 2009, and the trajectory is expected to continue for at least the next quarter of a century, I would like to think there should be media coverage of the dismantling of the “Guyana Bench” moreover, there should be repatriation for being taken as a potential “ indentured/ migrant” labour at the time. For those folks that are not aware my paternal great grandparents Marie St. John and Joe Schwiers were true Bajans from Bath, Barbados, so no hidden agenda here…I just want to know if that bloody bench is still there! If it is still there, we should relocate it to the back of the Botanic Garden…!
Sincerely,
Keith Bernard
