Dear Editor
Lawyers, doctors, teachers, nurses, politicians, police, soldiers, entertainers, artists, religious groups, vendors, pork knockers, engineers, cleaners, pick pockets, choke and robbers, taxi drivers, models, minibus and boat drivers, pilots, fashion boutique owners, photographers, social media influencers, writers, columnist and journalist, masons and carpenters, confidence tricksters, obeah workers, Amerindian chiefs, professional athletes, UG students, Afro Guyanese, Indo Guyanese, Chinese Guyanese, Portuguese Guyanese and the Spanish that just came ..
They all share a common, aged old phenomenon that they are forced to live with in Guyana; an unacceptable, uncivilised and inexcusable disrespect. Blackout in Guyana! It has come to define who we are as a people; whether, One People, One Nation, One Destiny or One Guyana. We are deeply divided along the lines of race and politics. In Guyana, it is either you are very rich or very poor. We party, pray and pronounce on ‘people’s business’ daily. Yet, we wake up to blackouts and go to bed in blackouts. We in the club, in church, in jail, at work, at home, at a wedding, at a funeral, in court, BLAM! Blackout comes.
We have lived with it for many decades and it gets worse by the day. It is unbearable today. It has come to define us as Guyanese. Sometimes, I think it is the Litmus test that determines the degree of advantage that can be taken on us. I was in conversation with a politician talking about blackout in Guyana and in the middle of the conversation, bladdam! ‘Light cut off’. How ironic. I will say this, no matter our deep differences in politics and along the lines of race, no matter our status and class, if we want the world to stop looking at us funny, let us unite and tell GPL and the government no more excuses. Let us come out in our hundreds of thousands and make Georgetown the new Electric Avenue.
Let us stand up for something as a collective. Let us prove that Christmas 2023 will be one of lights and that change will come and be permanent after more than four decades. Let us show the world that we are a civilised people that can unite on something. Let us muster the energy to demand and ensure we have stable and reliable energy in Guyana.
Sincerely,
Norman Browne
Social and Political Activist
