On November 16th, in Cummings Park, ‘E’ Field Sophia, an 11-month-old baby girl, Melveena Angel Blair, was burnt to death in her family’s home. The fire began around 11:18 am. It rendered her entire family, comprising of her mother, father and three siblings, homeless. One sibling was also injured in the fire.
Based on a Ministry of Home Affairs press release, the six members of the family lived in a wooden structure measuring 3.3 metres by 2.6 metres. The family may have lived very happily within these confines but this was rough living under any circumstance.
Initial investigations by the Guyana Fire Service revealed that the fire was accidentally ignited by children playing with matches. It was also revealed that no adult was present in the home at the time of the fire. The children’s mother was working five houses away, leaving the children unsupervised when the fire broke out.
The press release said that the Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, visited the scene of the fire, where he met with family members and police officers of the Turkeyen Police Station to discuss the incident and extend his support. Additionally, the Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud and personnel from her office also visited the scene and offered assistance to the family.
Of course, these children should never have been left unattended. That is easier said than done in this new economy where the talk of oil riches hides the pernicious reality of families in desperate poverty such as those of Melveena Angel Blair. It is the ignoring of this reality – notwithstanding its grass roots beginnings and the legendary frugality of the Jagans – that the PPP/C government would be hard-pressed to explain. One would hope that as he presided over Wednesday’s lavish state banquet for Prime Minister Modi that President Ali was at least cogitating over how these impoverished families could be assisted in a structured manner by the oil-rich Guyana.
With four children to feed and other expenses, Melveena’s mother no doubt had to work to bring in income. This was perhaps also the case for the father of the children. The fact remains that these families are invisible to the power brokers at the Office of the President and Freedom House. What sense did it make for the two ministers to visit after the fact?
If ministers Benn and Persaud had been aware of the privations of this family prior to the tragic fire would they have visited before and made some interventions to ease the plight of this family? If the answer is no then their visits after the fact would really only be a gimmick to impress the public and to salve their conscience. If the answer to the question is yes then what are these two ministers and others in Cabinet doing to locate families in similar strife in every nook and cranny of this country and to lift them out of the dire circumstances they face?
It is for the government of President Ali to work out some structure whether food supplements, a solar panel, the ability to earn income from some venture at their home or assistance with a minder for children while their parents earn a living. Put local government to work. Find these families and begin the task of easing their burdens with the billions being earned from oil and gas. It is as simple as that.
The planned distribution of $100,000 to each adult will give Melveena’s family a temporary respite but only a temporary one. They will still have to face harsh days without some comprehensive programme to provide them with ongoing assistance. Was the city council or any of the ministries in touch with Melveena’s family at all?
There needs to be some social security net. During the days of PNC governance deep structural adjustment had led to the formation of the Social Impact Amelioration Programme. Whether that programme attained its goals is open for discussion but this government now has the wherewithal to finance a similar one. It simply requires planning and an acceptance that the deep levels of poverty that exist are a vulgarity in the context of an economy that is taking in more than US$1b into the budget in oil revenues and spending that and borrowing on top of that.
Just to accentuate the point we reprint some comments from those who contributed to the last cost of living column in Stabroek News.
Parbatie Sookhai, a pensioner: `My husband had a stroke and he is bedridden at home. There is no ambulance available to carry my husband from home to the hospital, so a doctor comes home to tend to him every three or two week. I have to pay for his medical services. We both surviving on our pension. I have to use the pension money to buy things he needs to eat and grocery for the home. Upon that, I have the utility bills to pay and the cost for items at the shops is expensive; everything gone up at the shops. I have to try with the cost of living. For example, before a white bread cost $360; now the same bread cost $460. Also, a few months back, adult pampers cost $1,400 and something; now the pampers cost $1,860. The government should increase wages and provide more subsidy for people. Also, to consider distributing hampers or things that the elderly needs like pampers, every month and for the government to implement a special programme for the elderly and disabled individuals to help with the cost of living.’
Clifford Lloyd, a 53-year-old rice farmer: `The cost of living gone up; the cost for everything gone up. My wife, son and I live together. My son and I work to provide for the home. Apart from me working as a rice farmer, I also work at my son’s bodywork business. Together we try to cope with the cost of living because every time my wife goes at the shop to buy groceries, the prices go up; there is nothing we can do about it. For example, a couple months back, a 10-kg Karibee rice cost $2,000 and something; now the rice cost $3,000. Before a big pack Demerara Gold sugar cost $1,500; now the sugar cost $3,000. Even the cost for greens gone up. The government should reduce VAT on items so the cost for these items can be affordable for us.’
Now in the fifth year of its governance and fast approaching the fifth anniversary of oil production, this government cannot continue to be oblivious to the harsh circumstances that many families have to endure on a daily basis.
