Dear Editor,
Around this same time in August 2020, I broke ranks with my colleagues when I proposed that we give young President Irfaan Ali an opportunity to make Guyana good and glorious. In many areas, some of us remain disappointed and my advice to the President is that he surrounds himself with people of competence and capable of research. For now, I will avoid mentioning the terrible conditions we discovered in the Housing Sector in 2015.
It reminds us all that earlier President Ali stated that we all came here for betterment. That only when descendants of enslaved Africans pointed to the absurdity of this, he sought to correct it. Our President must be careful when making public pronouncements. At the Building Expo, he declared there were 357 contractors. An impossibility. A contractor is a trained person or unit, with the appropriate skills depending on the job (plumbing, electrical, carpentry, masonry, appropriate equipment and machinery etc.,) I make a bet challenging the President to produce the 357 contractors based on the above criteria. Speaking for myself and others, we are not interested in the big bucks but feel that all Guyanese, irrespective of what ships we came in, deserve to benefit from the massive sums now available.
The fact that this Government is not collaborating with the Opposition and Civil Society, to get much, much more out of our non-renewable natural resources is another matter. For now, what follows, represents a weakness of a government that for the first time in this country, has available large sums of money but has been a dismal failure in identifying men and women with the competent sense of nationalism to manage those resources and therefore offer to Guyanese, a better quality of life. The sugar industry is a classic case. Read Tony Vieira’s letters and you will see the silly steps our government is making with sugar that consumes the energies and dignity of our ancestors in the cotton and sugar plantations. Two, this morning at 8:58am, there was a blackout in my area and large parts of Georgetown. We have lots of money, a Turkish ship, etc. The problem, again, is management. People in this and other communities described what is coming out of our water pipes as mud.
Three, as the new term beckons, why our teachers in the public sector should still be arguing with the Government for a decent, reasonable, livable wage? Is it because the big ones can afford to pay the high fees at private schools, ensuring that the gap between the haves and the haves not widens? All that is necessary for equity is to put in place, immediately free education from nursery to university, so that every child is given an opportunity to develop his or her full potential. Four, why is it that certain drugs, to sustain life, are either not available in a public health institution and in some cases, not available in Guyana and if available at some instances, beyond the reach of ordinary folks and unless they can afford to travel to countries, as near as Suriname, Trinidad or Barbados to obtain these medicines?
Fifth, visiting with me were some of my grandchildren. They are all disappointed; in spite of boasting by our ministries, the majority of fruits and vegetables are imported. Recall, the PPP were critical of an earlier Feed, Clothe and House project. Six, when listening to the press conference report by the President, he talked about everything under the sun, except as Head of State, to give this nation the available facts and prognosis with respect to the two items, that if properly managed, can make every Guyanese comfortable and happy.
If the President wishes history to judge him kindly, he must put an end to these orchestrated forays into parts of the country’s capital. Further, sit with the elected representatives of the City, examine the Greater Georgetown Development Plan. Further, support community meetings, from Kingston to Agricola initiated some years ago, allowing citizens to appreciate the vital role they must play to make Georgetown, the Garden City, the envy of those who come to visit. A sine-qua-non must be the identification of persons to do these works based solely on their competence, experience and commitment. Allow me to compliment the President. Whenever I have the occasion to write to him, I receive a reply or acknowledgement. This is a good augury and I publicly congratulate him and hope that he can persuade those over whom he presides to follow such a good example.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Green
Elder
