Dear Editor,
Recently, I toured Portugal and the observations I made left me wondering as to what is really going on in our country where, for example, a citizen who goes out for a dinner or a lunch has to pay more money (almost double) than in Portugal for an equivalent meal; where the service at restaurants in Portugal leaves us way behind; where the quality of the food leaves us way behind – all because the Portuguese economy is greatly more self-sufficient (84% self-sufficiency index) than our economy.
As they strive to increase their in-country productivity, we in Guyana are living under a government which is indifferent to the importation of more and more food items which we all see as contributing to high prices across the board. We need to use Robert Persaud’s call of “grow more food” when he was agriculture minister – unfortunately, Mr. Persaud turned out to be a genius of failure in that sector, except for his sloganeering successes of his mantra – he accomplished nothing. Now, he has a big job again in this government and guess what – his title “genius of failure” will be, (fatefully for us all) fully invigorated.
Editor, one of the greater tragedies which this country has endured was the almost total migration, mainly to Canada, of our Portuguese compatriots who played a very important role in our country in many more ways than one – they were trusted employees in most businesses, owned different private enterprises and served Guyana in many sectors of our economy and were mainly honest and hardworking, building their family units to truly integrate into Guyanese society. Unfortunately, the politics of darkness cast a long shadow in that period of our history and political betrayals along with a degenerating economy contributed to the mass migration of most Portuguese Guyanese to Canada and elsewhere.
Editor, maybe it is time that we renew old relationships, and even though it would be a generic situation, we should approach the Portuguese government to come to Guyana along with private companies to invest and build close business, cultural and scientific relationships. For example, if one moves around Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, the Atlantic Ocean is right in your face and when one looks at the marvelous sea defence structures in place, an observer has to think of our poor sea defences and wonder if, given the opportunity, the Portuguese could help us. We stayed in a hotel which used to have ocean lapping at a seawall which was almost at the front entrance of that hotel and now, the ocean has been pushed back where 4 lanes of roadway and a cruise ship terminal are now in place!
Our government should send a delegation to investigate the possibilities of attracting Portuguese investment and trade to Guyana along with their expertise in many areas of our development. From their roads which are smooth and perfect, their trains and public transportation which work very well, their health care system which is pretty good, their agricultural push for self-sufficiency and low costs to their people, their agro industry and export of certain agro products – and many other areas of economic activity which can benefit our country.
Editor, what was in effect a great plus for Portugal is the fact that wherever we went, the people were very friendly and respectful and very proud of their country. I often asked them if they wanted to migrate somewhere else and always got the same answer of “no way” with a strong optimism for their country’s future. I would urge any Guyanese that if one is considering going to Europe on vacation do not leave out Portugal – remember that the English language is learned from age 6 so many people speak our lingo.
Sincerely,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr,)
