Dear Editor,
Mine may be a tiny voice, but I will cry the cry of the wretched of Guyana. Whether Eteringbang or Enmore, or Linden or Lusignan, the cry of the hard-pressed and anguished must be recorded in this richest per head place in the world. Before a president, a vice president, what is being done? Before an Opposition Leader, there is the need for a stronger stance. To the rich in a society racing towards greater riches, what happened to conscience, all those noble attributes claimed just a few short (four) years ago? Especially while those, the multitude, with not enough labours unanswered, neglected, and even scorned? Kingston came in for a visit and visibility this Monday in SN. I cannot be the only Guyanese who hear their voices, identify with their struggle. Like hell I can be. Or should be. Where is the rest of Guyana? Listen to them, their unique voices, fellow citizens.
Delroy Adam: “I find the prices for food items are not stable.” Was that heard, Dr. Cruz, Chief Statistician, along with those making up the brain trust of the Bank of Guyana with those food inflation numbers calculated? At the minor rates of food inflation that I have read, there should be not one Guyanese complaining about “food prices are not stable.” If those are stable, then I am a better geometrician than Euclid, know more about straight lines than him. In quintessential Guyanese expression, there was Ms. Denise Sampson: “The cost of living is not nice at all….” This is the ugliness that terrifies Guyanese across these still 83,000 square, President Ali. Does that un-niceness, lack of niceness, deformities about what is nice originating from Office of the President (and the presidency) not trigger alarms? Dr. President: the respectful exhortation is to pause and ponder what these Guyanese are going through under the national leadership of one Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali in this the ripest and richest era of this land’s existence. Amid the glistening riches, reports of riches, and reality of grand riches, there is this appalling rancidness of Guyanese who can’t buy food. Food, Mr. President? No way that this can be right, actually happening.
Then, the truly revealing from Mr. Jermaine Forde: “The cost of living is affecting people, especially the middle class people….” Perhaps, this citizen uses a tighter definition, or has a narrower understanding, of “middle class:” than I do. To take him at his word, however, if this is the reality of the “middle class” one can only speculate regarding the tribulations of the, shall I say, lower class, as in the working class. For this to be happening in this 24-hour wonderland is pathetic and speaks volumes about something else. It reflects poorly on President Ali and dismisses as a mockery the policymaking prowess of the Hon Vice President, the erudite, Dr. Jagdeo. With all these good doctors around, and all these human reservoirs of learning, isn’t time that we all get some real learning about where the people of this country are?
Probably, the president and his people are comforted by Mr. Terrence Peters, who warmed to the task with, “the cost of living is not really affecting me because me and family of six try to cope with it.” Bravo and hurray to Mr. Peters! The hope is that there are many more like him in this planetary paradise, though those two words “try”, and “cope” should have no place in this Guyana of today. His words, then again, about “not affecting” may be more of the mind taking control over matter in the broader context. When the Guyanese people cry their pain, I cry with them. I cry for them.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall