Dear Editor,
Monday, May 1, we celebrate May Day or if we prefer Labour Day at the beginning of Critchlow Week in honour of Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, the Father of Trade Unionism in the British Commonwealth.
On Monday, we celebrate the triumph of the working class. We celebrate to put a break on exploitation by 19th and 20th century capitalist colonial exploitation. Critchlow’s struggle was followed by our two nation-builders Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham , who in different ways asserted the right of our people to be independent.
For those of us who lived through that era and survived the trauma and trials of the Cold War, this May Day is not a time to celebrate. I say this because it appears that the ruling Party in Government has betrayed its founder, Dr. Jagan and seem part of a not so subtle process of recolonization worsened by corruption at all levels of our society.
I listened to His Excellency President Irfaan Ali deliver his address to the Police Officer’s Conference on Thursday. A well-crafted speech preceded by the Address of the Acting Commissioner of Police, but who is the President fooling?
The corruption at all levels in the Force is no secret. Thank God however, that there exist members of the Officer Corps and ordinary ranks who are decent men and women and many citizens can look forward to justice and fairness from such members of the Police Force.
If the President is serious, he must with the cooperation of the political Opposition and decent members of civil society get rid of the bad eggs so that we can take seriously those fine words delivered at the GPF Conference on Thursday.
One of the hallmarks of a modern democracy is that the Chief Administrative Officers in Ministries should be persons with the ability and understanding that their position requires them to at all times behave and perform as expected as good public servants.
Not a word from the President at that Conference on the whole story regarding the top position in the Ministry of Home Affairs responsible for the direction and administration of the Guyana Police Force.
A position of PS, the PPP has for years and quite recently contended that the holders of such a position should not he party hacks, the description the PPP has used from time to time. And I thought the President may have used the opportunity at the Conference to explain how it is or rather why it is that the Permanent Secretary was travelling to the People’s Republic of China to attend a training course designed or it appears intended for PPP Members.
If true, this is clear evidence that the President and his Government are unable to differentiate between matters of the State and Party partisan politics. With a similar philosophy we note at a Party Press Conference the General Secretary of the PPP from the throne at Freedom House informing the Nation about a matter of national interest and importance, a somersault on the advertised sale of the Marriott, so this entire nation is treated like infants or a belief that all of us are non compos mentis, and they are told by the Vice President that this profit-making entity was only advertised to test the market.
If I was a bidder, I would demand compensation for the time and money spent to prepare the bid.
The President should say under whose Ministerial portfolio the sale of state properties falls under.
Is this not Party paramountcy? A matter that the PPP accused the PNC of.
The absurdity of this statement is palpable as it displays disregard and disrespect for businesses that expended time and money to submit tenders but beyond that coupled with these two recent events, the impression one gets is with an abundance of cash we are moving to a clever plan to establish a one-party state.
Citizens who are concerned that we should live in society, where our wealth is evenly distributed and where the voices of those not in Government are allowed to be heard must not ignore these signs..
We must not fail to observe that one reason for a public service being seemingly unable to cope with the dynamics and complexities of an oil economy is that we have the government that seems unwilling to give our public servants, policemen. soldiers, doctors, medical personnel, teachers, ranks of the Constabulary, messengers, clerks a substantial increase in wages, salaries and conditions at work, and this must be our clarion call for May Day 2023
When would our leaders understand that unless they sit and talk, this massive wealth that we have can be a curse and not a blessing.
Happy Labour Week. The struggle continues.
Quo Vadis Guyana?
Hamilton Green
Elder
