By Antonio Dey
Discrimination, racism and economic exploitation were among the plights raised by those who turned up on Thursday at a Town Hall styled-meeting facilitated by a visiting US delegation currently in Guyana a fact-finding mission.
While the delegation met with a section of Civil Society and the APNU+AFC, the PPP/C government has insisted it will not meet with the visiting team as it considered it to be biased on favour of the opposition.
Cyril Walker, a Guyanese engineer who worked for several years in his native land and the United States told the 14-person delegation headed by President and Founder of the Organization of World Leaders, Dee Dawkins-Haigler and the audience that Guyana’s procurement laws are compromised as contracts are being awarded indiscriminately under the Ali government.
“I was not getting what I needed here (Guyana), so I had to migrate to the US where I worked as a project manager for several companies and I saw how their procurement system works, people get contracts and bids but they have to give 15% to minority contractors, which doesn’t happen here…What we need to do is pressure the government to revise the regulations and mechanisms, so that this can be possible, because the procurement system is unfair,” he contended. “For 19 years this was not done, and the time is now, once this is done, we don’t have to beg no politician for anything,” Walker added.
Elton McRae of Beterverwagting, ECD lamented that the community is continuously faced with issues of ancestral lands being sold to private business officials. Regrettably, McRae told the delegation and audience that these acts were allegedly perpetuated by former representatives of the village’s Neighborhood Democratic Council. Though McRae did not say who these persons were, Stabroek News understands that a former council official was among other persons implicated, but that person had on many occasions denied any involvement when confronted on the subject. McRae said that it took the recourse of litigation for several ancestral lands to be reclaimed by residents. But what about those who cannot afford the services of an attorney to fight for their land entitlements, he questioned.
On the same point, McRae reasoned that due to the structure of Guyana’s judiciary system many practicing attorneys who are bar members cannot fully represent citizens in a way they truly desire because the land issue involve the state (which are their employer) and private citizens. However, he noted that while other lands were unfortunately sold, there is a dire need for the government to create commissions to protect ancestral/ indigenous lands but who lack such protection. Sabanthoonyii, an Indigenous Rights Activist from the Arawak Community of Wakapau said that they are many injustices being meted out towards Guyanese of Indigenous Heritage. “We are being left behind, our voices are not being heard, the indigenous peoples of our country we need representation, we don’t want people to say that we will represent you and they don’t”, she appealed.
The activist told the delegation that Government has neglected her community and several others, as there are disparities in education and other social requirements.
“We need proper access to education and health care in our communities, imagine my niece died because of a scorpion sting, in this day and age, where science and technology are advanced, a child not supposed to die from a scorpion sting, we need better health care in our communities, this is unacceptable”, the activist posited. Sabanthoonyii was referring to twelve-year-old Zaleena Boyer who died on Wednesday at the Mabaruma Hospital after she was stung by a scorpion while on her way to school. Stabroek News reported that Boyer of Wauna, Mabaruma, Region 1, had told a resident that she was stung by the scorpion that was in her shoe. The resident subsequently took her to a health centre and later transferred to the Mabaruma Hospital where she died.
Livable wages
One businessman (who prefers to be unnamed) chided the government for its nonchalant approach towards public servants in relation to providing livable wages and income in wake of the high living costs. He also accused the government of demonstrating nepotism in the corporate sector as micro-business owners, who are Afro-Guyanese, and are supposedly anti-government are ignored. According to the businessman, the government’s “One Guyana” tout is a charade as entrepreneurship at no point should be politicized. “They are paying more attention to macro- business, especially those who are their friends and cronies in the private sector, which is totally unjust, everyone must benefit equally, irrespective of whichever party they support”.
A former employee at the Office of the Prime Minister alleged that when the PPP/C took office in 2020, his service was terminated. According to the man, no reasons were given for his abrupt termination. He said that during his six years of service under the David Granger administration he had demonstrated professionalism and it was heartless for the incumbent regime to take such actions. “How could you take bread out of peoples’ mouths, how could you assume that because someone is Afro-Guyanese they are supporters of APNU+AFC?” the man questioned. “I worked from 6am to 6pm, at the office of the former PM (Moses Nagamootoo) and when they came to power in 2020, they kept me on for a month and eventually I was fired, no reason given, they just fired me”, he lamented.
Several other citizens informed of their applications to the Central Housing & Planning Authority for house-lots in 2017 and 2019, which were allegedly granted under the former administration, but subsequent to the change in administration, they were told that their applications were being processed. To date, there has been no word on the matter, they lamented.
“In 2020, we received $17.5M and $13.4M respectively for leased lands in Wales and the government of Guyana is currently giving us a hard time… we got our lawyers involved as the matter is currently before the court.” Other complainants include a US-based Guyanese businessman who said he returned to Guyana in 2015 to start up a real estate company where he employed scores of Guyanese but was eventually blackmailed by a business affiliate of the government for fraud and running a Ponzi scheme.
A former educator said her eldest son suffered financially as his services were also terminated under the Ali led government. “It pains me as a mother to see my son suffer under this government, all because they claimed that his wife was a supporter of the coalition government… they were going to fire her too but they didn’t succeed, now tell me which government does that”, she posited. She said her son has been applying for jobs over the past three years and to date he has not acquired any. The emotional mother said that she is totally heartbroken as this has taken a toll on her son’s physical well-being. “When you speak about discrimination, racial profiling we are at the centre of it, our country is polarized, because hurting my child, is hurting me”. “What do you have to say about those who were working honestly and their livelihoods are being undermined, how fair is that”, the educator said.
Youth Activist Mbeki X said that while the delegation’s fact-finding mission is important, he is hoping that attention is paid towards initiating empowerment programmes in Afro-Guyanese communities. He is adamant that the visiting US officials can lend their support towards this initiative and even assist local organizations which promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in schools. Attorney-at-law Dawn Cush also ridiculed the government for its nonchalance towards making substantive appointments of the Chancellor and Chief Justice.
Vincent Alexander, Chairman of IDPADA-G, also informed the fact-finding team that Government has deliberately withheld the subvention organization due to claims of the body not being transparent and accountable for the funds. IDPADA-G and the government have since been locked in a court battle over the 2022 subvention which the organization was supposed to have received. Though the matter is before the court, the government had earlier announced that it would allocate the planned 2023 subvention directly to the organization’s 50+ members and not directly to IDPADA-G. Alexander said this was a malicious attempt by the government to stymie the Afro-Guyanese organization.
At the end of the Town Hall meeting, Dee Dawkins-Haigler, a former Chair of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus and Rep. John King III, a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives urged other citizens with pressing matters to submit their dossier in order to complement that which the fact-finding mission had already collected. Dawkins-Haigler also raised concerns over allegations of the delegation receiving donations from civil society to complement the fact-finding mission. She stated that the delegation is unbiased and non-partisan and is committed towards conducting an impartial and uncorrupted fact- finding mission.
Members of the visiting delegation comprise of – Georgia State Senator Micheal Rhett; North Carolina General Assembly Representative, Dr. Amber Barker; Georgia State Representative Debra Basemore; Mississippi State Senator Hillman Frazier; Texas State Representative Rhetta Bowers; Kentucky State Senator Gerald Neal; Tennessee State Representative G.A Hardaway; South Carolina House of Representatives, Annie McDaniel; Latron Price Owner of Westside Community Market (LLC), and Founder of Save Ourselves Marcus Coleman.
The delegation had on Thursday met with the Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey C. Norton, MP, at Congress Place Office in Sophia, Georgetown. Accompanying the Opposition Leader at the meeting were the PNCR General Secretary, Dawn Hastings-Williams, Economist, Elson Low, PNCR Executive Member, Mervyn Williams Parliamentarians Ganesh Mahipaul, Coretta McDonald, and Dineshwar Jai Prashad. Yesterday the Delegation also held a Town Hall meeting at the Linden Mayor & Town Council office in Region 10.
