Dear Editor,
President Ali becomes unduly exercised when his government is called to book for failing to help Guyanese as they grapple with a horrendous cost of living crisis. To put it melodically, there is nothing related to excellence that is heard or discerned about Excellency Ali when he bops and hops around for the right response. He points to how much has been done, the consistency of the PPP/C Government’s kindness and care, and how poorly the PNC compares. I could give a damn about what the PNC did or didn’t do. The comrade leader should know that that is ancient history. In American: tell me, sir, what have you done for me lately. For the edification of the leader who has lost his bearings and became overbearing in that operation, the ‘me’ means the Guyanese people. Respectfully, I would be compelled to return to the president any special consideration from him. I could do without the atmospherics, the question marks.
But as much as I commend both President Ali and the PPP/C Government for the hands of financial assistance extended, there is one subsidy that is not working, is an abject dud, makes the president looks like a, er, loser: akin to one backing the wrong horse. It has to do with millions donated to farmers. Fertilizers, cash, whatever other concessions doled out to farmers that eluded my attention, but for which there is nothing to show. Nothing returned by farmers. No reciprocity from farmers. Not so much as some scant cent and jill relief from farmers. To repeat, the facts speak for all Guyana to parse through and conclude accordingly.
The PPP/C Government helped farmers in tangible terms, significant ways, that reduced the pressures on their production processes and pockets. It follows, therefore, that the prices for food items-greens, ground provisions, and all the stuff of the good earth-should reflect a steep decline due to all those subsidies grabbed and absorbed. At the very least, food prices for the fruits of the soil should have stayed still. They haven’t. Somebody took President Ali (and his subsidies) for a ride. Don’t look at me. I am not a farmer, and I certainly have not been a beneficiary of any government subsidy. Cost of living reality is that week after week basic agricultural food items to be consumed by regular human beings have blown through the roof, keep soaring into the stratosphere. It is the equivalent of taking someone’s money and then buying a whip to beat him with it. I feel sorry for President Ali, for it is his own people giving him a licking, making him look bad. If I were a farmer, and most of them are of a particular persuasion, my priority would be to make my president look good. See! check at all the positives that came from his subsidies. Housewives are cheerful, mothers and shoppers are giving the president a big, hearty cheer. Just helping the PPP. It’s who I am, proud of being a different kind of Guyanese.
Finally, I struggle to suppress the thought that those farm subsidies (also a dirty phrase in America) were really a disguised advance to facilitate later political donations. The world of Guyana operates that way, doesn’t it. There is no free lunch, and the PPP is the king of that counter and cash register. I will accept everything as being on the up and up with those subsidies, which prompts this humble recommendation to President Ali. Since those farm subsidies have turned out to be such a poor cost of living (food availability and security) investment, stop subsidizing the cheating suppliers and start buttressing the shorthanded demanders. How high will the farming man, the middleman, the party man, and the conman pretending at sowing and reaping, raise wholesale prices? The buyers will be better armed, thanks to the PPP Government’s version of dollars for the distressed. Takeaway all those billions from sugar and give it to the people who produce ballots to work (really) and live proudly (honestly, too). The sellers can go on charging at Guyanese like the Light Brigade. Like the British one, they will have to grasp their saddlebags of perishables, reverse their journey, and find use for their food frauds. It is the hallmark of wisdom to know when to discontinue what does Guyanese little good. Yank subsidies, spank farmers, crank food shoppers.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
