Dear Editor,
SN went to Fyrish, Corentyne this week. It is the heart of PPP country. The people in Fyrish are feeling it. Some bad, some worse. A couple took the easy way out, managed themselves carefully, but still squeezed in a taste of the daily struggle to cope with cost-of-living realities. President Ali may rear up in rage, but that doesn’t assist one Guyanese to put one grain of rice more in one pot, one small spoonful of something on their children’s plate. The president may get bent out of shape by what he conveniently interprets as critical of his efforts. My simple, humble advice to President Ali is that he who listens, learns; is able to adjust and grow. When a leader grows in the things that are most meaningful to his people, the people themselves grow. At least, they have a chance to do so. Amid all the grand national priorities and glorious national development strategies, surely the first must be that the hungry in society have enough to eat. The president may race all over the world, celebrate his practiced speeches, but he does well to remember there is that world at home. It is like having a severely ill family member at home who must be faced, after all the time on the road. Not just faced, but also grappled with on how to deal with, as in easing their chronic pain. It is painful for me to say this, but there is little choice. It will sure be punishing for the president to absorb this, through his people, but of this duty there can be none other. The people of Fyrish articulated their rough, unsparing, dismal circumstances the best. We can tell them that we know how they feel. We don’t, that is, unless we walk in their shoes.
From the majority of the Fyrish voices came the rippling echoes of a lament that strengthened, just would not go peacefully into that rustic setting. The cost of living is “really bad” and “high” and “hard” and “terrible” and “increased” and “hard” (again) and “really hard.” Seven out of ten Guyanese speaking to their crawling, weeping agony. Is President Ali still fixated on attacking deviationists? Stamping out those who call attention to these situations, repeated week after week by SN? The raw exercising of power, sticking it to perceived enemies, when exhausted, is still faced with those hungry citizens who hope for relief. The president’s budget pushes infrastructure in preparation, as is said, for the future. There are people, Mr. President, ravaged by hunger and not having enough today. Commercial speakers lament the shortage of labour, which means importing, projects dragging along, and labour prices spiraling. Shortage of labour, shortage of basics, shortage of leadership care that compels to do something, the right things, about the many Guyanese who creep about like babies, hustling to find their way somehow. More projects mean more labour deficits. They also mean more pressure on prices. I stick to food because those boats must be supplied. I listen for the patter of prolonged rain, even at the risk of flooding, because otherwise it is alarming what a drought could do to the shrinking basket of goods that Guyanese can afford.
Two villagers from Fyrish said the cost of living is “normal” and “a little expensive.” God bless these citizens with their powerful understatements. Perhaps, the first was being sarcastic, and the other a minimalist. For there are those who lived overseas, but now make Guyana their home, and I hear the conversations. Fyrish, Foulis, Farm, and the refrain is the same. The times are rough, and things are hard. It is a bitter song. President Ali has his own songs, and he has neither time nor patience with any others. The budget blueprint is too lopsided. The private corruption priorities are too obvious. Look at the latest war over a contract.
A different allocation of the millions makes sense. A programme for the weaker has its merits. Instead of starting out with how to cheat citizens, search for ways to comfort them. Price controls have their underbelly; it is better to control self and appreciate that people are hurting badly. It’s been a long time since the president has been heard to speak of that slippery, shadowy creature called ‘One Guyana.’ Meanwhile, the folks in Fyrish count their ‘fine change’ and wonder who will hear them, help them.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
