Dear Editor,
On Thursday 14th December, I attended the Annual Christmas Lunch held for the veterans of the GDF. The event is normally held at Coglan’s House on Carefesta Avenue. As I moved around and greeted these old soldiers, my mind was flooded with fond memories of these men and women when we were young and full of energy. We all risked our lives and made many sacrifices in order to safeguard and secure these 83,000 square miles which we love and call our home. Over the recent weeks, I have heard voices, from the PPP, arguing all and sundry to become instantly patriotic. I had to smile at the crus hypocrisy of this bunch. There was a time when President Forbes Burnham made a famous call “every citizen, a soldier’. The same PPP did everything humanly possible to discourage the participation of a certain segment of this population, even threatening violence against some of their own supporters.
Now that the PPP is in Government, and facing the prospects of a Venezuelan invasion, they are the ones arguing for the nation to sing the once forbidden song, ‘not a blade of grass’. As I talked with the veterans, many of them in their late 60s, 70s and even 80s, several of them are facing health issues and an acute shortage of cash. They are barely getting by. So I ask myself: if these men and women who gave so much for this country, do not they deserve to benefit from Guyana’s vast oil wealth? At this time of plenty, the Government should stop making foolish excuses and reward/ compensate our beloved veterans. If not now, then when? This is a time when the Government representatives should sit down with elected officers from the Guyana Veterans Legion and take deliberate steps to provide the much-needed help for these old warriors.
Also, I pose to make another observation. If young men and women should see the treatment meted out on these veterans by this so-called ‘caring Government’, will they really be encouraged to serve? They watch the old men and women who have already served and are now discarded like old rags. How motivated are they likely to offer their own services? The answer, my friend is blowing in the wind. The answer is blowing in the wind.
Sincerely,
Aubrey Retemyer