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FM
Former Member

A new Guyana begins to stir

Last Updated: August 25, 2012 12:00am -- Source

 

We were standing on the Georgetown Seawall that holds back the Atlantic Ocean from flooding the biggest city in Guyana, South America.

 

The tide was out and it was stunningly beautiful. I was with the crew from Londoner Chris Basso’s Tagg TV who were there filming a segment for his Internet reality TV tourism project. We walked out as far as we could to touch the water and feel the sand.

 

The wall that protects the city could be a metaphor for the people of this often ignored part of the world — fragile yet strong, beaten down but resilient.

 

Production logistics manager and Bassoo’s right-hand man, Damien Lewis and his 10-year-old son, his shorter carbon copy, were with us. Lewis, 31, is one of the most introspective and thoughtful people I’ve ever met.

 

At all times, he is unfailingly polite and quietly determined.

 

He has been eking out a living as a production manager and filmmaker in Georgetown but it’s difficult.

 

The jobs he’s had up to now have paid little and have held him back. He has family in New Jersey who offered to take his son and twin daughters to be educated in the United States.

 

That’s not for Lewis. He wants his children to grow and help build a thriving Guyana.

“I want you to see my people,” he told me within the first hour of my whirlwind arrival in Guyana almost two weeks ago and just before a three-hour bumpy road trip along the northern coast to Berbice.

 

For two weeks I did. I saw their homes and businesses and the enormous gap between the rich and the poor.

 

I rode along their crumbling, chaotic roads and watched drivers honk their horns continuously sometimes to avoid cattle, goats, dogs, horses and donkeys. I shopped at their bustling market and avoided the garbage strewn in the streets, I drank from a coconut and sipped on sugar cane juice. I steered clear of their water supply. I experienced their iffy electrical grid.

And I met astoundingly generous people.

 

Something during what was a crazy, unpredictable trip became clear: Guyana is on the cusp of big change.

 

For two decades following its independence from British colonial rule, it languished under the iron-fisted leadership of a banana republic dictator, president Forbes Burnham who remained in power through fraudulent elections practices and political corruption.

 

His austerity program in the 1970s sent the masses of educated class fleeing to Canada, the United States, Great Britain and the rest of Europe. He followed it up with a plan to make the country self-sufficient and banned the importation of basic foodstuffs like flour, cooking oil and canned goods. There were nightly power blackouts and violent gangs ruled the frightened streets.

Guyana became cut off from the world and known only for having one of the shortest lifespans in the region and cult leader Jim Jones’ execution of his 1,000 People’s Temple followers at an encampment set up in Guyana — land leased for $2-million from Burnham’s government.

 

Burnham’s sudden death during surgery in 1985 sent Guyana staggering into the future.

 

The rough tides for the country, like the ocean’s tide that crashes against the seawall, began to recede. Free and fair elections were monitored by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter in the early 1990s. An economic recovery program designed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, plus support from Canada, the U.S. and Great Britain, launched in 1989 started some economic growth.

 

Culturally, traditional values slammed against new technologies. Communications, particularly television opened the eyes of the Guyanese to the rest of the world. Cellular communications were a god-send in a place where few could afford land lines.

 

Guyana is still a very poor country. The average monthly income is about $250. Crime remains rampant. Foreign remittances make up a large chunk of the economy. The infrastructure is broken. A successful government public information program fought back the spread of HIV/AIDS.

 

Domestic violence stories clog up the newspaper columns in what the president said is “a male-dominated society.” The minister of social services calls the abuse of women crisis — something a counsellor from the front lines said is an issue in 75-100% of Guyanese homes — is “a pandemic.”

 

There are areas that could help turn around the ship. Most of the country’s geography is raw, unpopulated rainforest, opening up opportunities for ecological programming and preservation. More women are attending university and taking positions of responsibility.

 

Innovative programs, like the Mangrove Restoration project, employ single mothers in jobs like planting mangroves along the coast — a cheap and effective ecological seawall — and beekeeping to take ownership of the ecological project.

 

The greatest asset of Guyana is its people, a resilient and gracious population who would, as Basso said so many times to me, “would gratefully give you their last bowl of rice.”

 

At no time while in the company of Bassoo’s crew did I feel unsafe. So many Guyanese told me about close relatives living in North America. A wonderful couple invited me into their home for a Eid feast I will never forget. Another man I met lives around the corner from my sister in Oakville.

 

The young Guyanese were charming. Yaphet Jackman, 27, a super-talented filmmaker tapped to edit Bassoo’s 50 short episodes who has a quick wit and enormous sense of humour, said he wants to finish complete his University of Guyana degree with his optional year at the sister school, the University of Ohio. His plan is to return to Guyana and teach.

 

I watched the ongoing love story between Rupesh and Samantha Singh, a couple with its own production company and TV show. They are shooting behind-the-scenes footage for a separate show for the privately owned TVG.

I saw the Guyanese crew welcome wide-eyed Londoners Rob Ross and Patrick Kirshner to their country and treat them like brothers.

 

And I got to know Bassoo, a business guy with enormous energy and what appears at first to be a kooky project that involves tourism, a Miss Canada — Jaclyn Miles — with a domestic violence platform, the Internet, and the government’s blessing.

 

He was born Canadian but Guyana, his parents’ homeland, is close to his heart. He is driven to show it in a positive way. Tagg TV may spark that Guyanese diaspora that fled 40 years ago to become less fearful and return to the homes they left behind.

 

Already the trickle has begun. Some foreign Guyanese close to retirement are returning home to reclaim the place.

 

That’s good news for Lewis and the rest of his people. So grateful he was for making his new Canadian friends, he wanted us to share one of his greatest days before Megan Walker, the executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre who was there to help Miles with the domestic violence message, and myself left this week.

 

Everyone knew he was going to ask Reshma Doobar, his longtime girlfriend, to marry him this week. Everyone but Doobar.

 

And there we were, Canadian and Guyanese, side-by-side at a ornate Chinese restaurant, witnessing a wedding and pointing the happy couple into a bright future.

 

Hopefully, that bright future can happen across Guyana.

 

jane.sims@sunmedia.ca

Replies sorted oldest to newest

good for you,too bad you did not go down to linden and let the people there know how guyana is making the right turn for the good.why dont you go live in the people shoes for a year or go to better hope when there is high tide and the sea water is washing over  the seawall and see how lovely it is

FM

We need to change the country's name back to British Guiana.  Many people confuse Guyana with Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea. Many people think we are just another backward country in Africa.  The name Guyana is bad for business  and foreign investment.  As long as we use it the country is not going anywhere.  

 
 

 

Prashad
Originally Posted by Mitwah:

Something during what was a crazy, unpredictable trip became clear: Guyana is on the cusp of big change.

 

Thanks to the AFC!


Mits, KFC only good fuh change dem Buckta and Panty and I hear only weekly.

 

Bhai, Look what Moses has turned into??/ SHAME indeed.

Nehru
Originally Posted by Prashad:

We need to change the country's name back to British Guiana.  Many people confuse Guyana with Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea. Many people think we are just another backward country in Africa.  The name Guyana is bad for business  and foreign investment.  As long as we use it the country is not going anywhere.  

 
 

 

How about English Guyana instead?

 

There's French and Dutch Guyanas, there's also an English Guyana.

cain
Originally Posted by Cobra:

Guyana don't have room for short sighted people. You remind me of Ramjattan when he opposed the Marriott project.

 The Marriott is a leech product fro the Brassington family so we do not want it.  Let Marriot build one if the options are so great to turn a profit.

FM
Originally Posted by Mitwah:

Something during what was a crazy, unpredictable trip became clear: Guyana is on the cusp of big change.

 

Thanks to the AFC!

 You are so right. Without them NCN, NICIL etc would all be going on their merry way and the people would be oblivious to the concretized culture of theft and patronage being fostered by the PPP.

FM
Originally Posted by Nehru:
Originally Posted by Mitwah:

Something during what was a crazy, unpredictable trip became clear: Guyana is on the cusp of big change.

 

Thanks to the AFC!


Mits, KFC only good fuh change dem Buckta and Panty and I hear only weekly.

 

Bhai, Look what Moses has turned into??/ SHAME indeed.

Bhai, forget about Ramjattan and Moses. Read the article and note the serious indictments  that writer inferred on the PPP/C. For example:
Guyana is still a very poor country. The average monthly income is about $250. Crime remains rampant. Foreign remittances make up a large chunk of the economy. The infrastructure is broken.

 

Nehru a certain PPP elite is holding down 2 Acting positions and several directorships, even though the court has determined that it is not allowed by the constitution. These positions are all paid for by taxpayers. His monthly income is much much more than the meagre average of $250. This is how the "teefing" is legalized.

 

 

Mitwah
Originally Posted by cain:
Originally Posted by Prashad:

We need to change the country's name back to British Guiana.  Many people confuse Guyana with Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea. Many people think we are just another backward country in Africa.  The name Guyana is bad for business  and foreign investment.  As long as we use it the country is not going anywhere.  

 
 

 

How about English Guyana instead?

 

There's French and Dutch Guyanas, there's also an English Guyana.

Correction here. Ther is no Dutch Guiana anymore. It's called Suriname. French Guiana still exists.

FM
Originally Posted by Mitwah:
Originally Posted by Nehru:
Originally Posted by Mitwah:

Something during what was a crazy, unpredictable trip became clear: Guyana is on the cusp of big change.

 

Thanks to the AFC!


Mits, KFC only good fuh change dem Buckta and Panty and I hear only weekly.

 

Bhai, Look what Moses has turned into??/ SHAME indeed.

Bhai, forget about Ramjattan and Moses. Read the article and note the serious indictments  that writer inferred on the PPP/C. For example:
Guyana is still a very poor country. The average monthly income is about $250. Crime remains rampant. Foreign remittances make up a large chunk of the economy. The infrastructure is broken.

 

Nehru a certain PPP elite is holding down 2 Acting positions and several directorships, even though the court has determined that it is not allowed by the constitution. These positions are all paid for by taxpayers. His monthly income is much much more than the meagre average of $250. This is how the "teefing" is legalized.

 

 

250 a month is not too bad for an undeveloped 3rd world nation and places the nation 116 out of 183 however, there needs to be further improvement.

FM
Originally Posted by Prashad:

We need to change the country's name back to British Guiana.  Many people confuse Guyana with Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea. Many people think we are just another backward country in Africa.  The name Guyana is bad for business  and foreign investment.  As long as we use it the country is not going anywhere.  

 
 

 


I agree with Prashad here. One time I was talking to a girl from Nigeria. I told her that I was from Guyana.  Then she ask me if I worked in Accra.

FM
Originally Posted by Wally:
Originally Posted by Prashad:

We need to change the country's name back to British Guiana.  Many people confuse Guyana with Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea. Many people think we are just another backward country in Africa.  The name Guyana is bad for business  and foreign investment.  As long as we use it the country is not going anywhere.  

 
 

 


I agree with Prashad here. One time I was talking to a girl from Nigeria. I told her that I was from Guyana.  Then she ask me if I worked in Accra.

 

Or even Dutch Guiana or name the country after one of the counties like the ancient county.... Berbice. I agree that the name Guyana is close to Ghana, West Africa, a nation riddled with social, political and economic problems.

FM
Originally Posted by Prashad:

We need to change the country's name back to British Guiana. 

 
 

 


And then they will think that Guyana is some backward British colony near to Papua New Guinea.

 

The British dont want us and were glad when we bid them good bye in 1966.  I am curious to know why so many West Indians fail to understand that they viewed us as a burden once the more profitable colonies (India, Kenya and Gold Coast...now Ghana) went their merry ways. 

 

We yielded lower revenues but were more expensive to run as our westernized ways led us to set up trade unions and demand proper wages, and a relatively decent social and physical infrastructure.

FM
Originally Posted by skeldon_man:
 

 French Guiana still exists.

The official name is Guyane and it is an integral part of France.  The EU extends to the Caribbean (Martinique and Guadeloupe) and also to South America.

 

All this display is showing that Guyanese lack confidence in ourselves and want to run back to Mummy.  Problem is Mummy is an old lady and she has no interest in taking care of her adult kids.

FM
Originally Posted by Wally:
 
 
 

 


I agree with Prashad here. One time I was talking to a girl from Nigeria. I told her that I was from Guyana.  Then she ask me if I worked in Accra.


Thats because Guyana has done a pitiful job in building a BRAND GUYANA.

 

You can ask the most illiterate peasant in China about Jamaica and they will say "yes Bob Marley, and Usain Bolt".    Jamaica is a very problem ridden island, but has spent a good deal of effort in building an international awareness of its people, culture and products.

FM

Caribny you just don't get it.  You cannot build a brand that is similar to a bad one already being used by someone else.  It would be like building a motor car and calling it Lodo or Yaga after the Lada or Yugo cars then thinking that you will sell millions in North America.  SH-T leads to SH-T.  You cannot change that and people remember sh-t.

 

We had golding brand names with British Guiana ,British Guiana Flag and British Guiana dollar.  But we changed it up playing big and bad. Which is good for people who hate the British yet they would not think twice about buying  beer and  dinner for the british woman.  But now people cannot tell us apart from those African countries.  We are not going any where any time soon or later as long as we keep the name Guyana, Guyana flag and Guyana money.

Prashad
Last edited by Prashad
Originally Posted by Prashad:

Caribny you just don't get it.  You cannot build a brand that is similar to a bad one already being used by someone else.  It would be like building a motor car and calling it Lodo or Yaga after the Lada or Yugo cars then thinking that you will sell millions in North America.  SH-T leads to SH-T.  You cannot change that and people remember sh-t.

 

We had golding brand names with British Guiana ,British Guiana Flag and British Guiana dollar.  But we changed it up playing big and bad. Which is good for people who hate the British yet they would not think twice about buying  beer and  dinner for the british woman.  But now people cannot tell us apart from those African countries.  We are not going any where any time soon or later as long as we keep the name Guyana, Guyana flag and Guyana money.

 

 

There was never a BG dollar.  We used to use the BWI dollar...which now survives as the EC dollar, after Guyana, T&T, and Barbados got their independence and their own currencies.

 


I do not know why you think that BG had such a good reputation.  There was that infamous poem written by an English expat who was banished to BG....it went on about "tropical diseases....mud....mosquitoes".  BG was a known hardship post and many of them took every opportunity to vacation in Barbados, which they saw as more pleasant.

 

Islanders saw BG as a country where one would be attacked by some wild animal (including some terrifying huge mosquito), this after walking through miles of mud....BG being seen as a backward country with its only redeeming feature being an excellent educational system....And yes "big foot" was a disease associated with BG as well.

 

So change the name back to British Guiana and many will remember what a blighted place it was.  Even your "West on Trial" piece of garbage written by Cheddi doesnt say much positive about it.

 

If you want BG then accept being called a "mudhead" because that is what British Guianese were called then.

FM
Last edited by Former Member

Caribnj don't disrespect "the West on Trail".  I sleep with a copy under my pillow every night of the week.  I am telling you reality of Guyana in the world context.  We are not going anywhere because the rest of the world think we are a coup-yam republic in West Africa.

Prashad
Originally Posted by Prashad:

Caribnj don't disrespect "the West on Trail". 


That book is a racist piece of nonsense and an insult to AfroGuyanese who knew the truth of the 1960s.  And I read it several times.

 

No wonder to this day AfroGuyanese despise the PPP.

 

 

And people always thought that Guiana was part of Africa.  Guinea....Guiana.  See why?   Britain had mnay colonies in Africa so what is there to gain. No one will consider you British and the British will not soil their name by linking it it to the cesspool destroyed by their former colonials.

FM
Originally Posted by caribny:
Originally Posted by Prashad:

Caribny you just don't get it.  You cannot build a brand that is similar to a bad one already being used by someone else.  It would be like building a motor car and calling it Lodo or Yaga after the Lada or Yugo cars then thinking that you will sell millions in North America.  SH-T leads to SH-T.  You cannot change that and people remember sh-t.

 

We had golding brand names with British Guiana ,British Guiana Flag and British Guiana dollar.  But we changed it up playing big and bad. Which is good for people who hate the British yet they would not think twice about buying  beer and  dinner for the british woman.  But now people cannot tell us apart from those African countries.  We are not going any where any time soon or later as long as we keep the name Guyana, Guyana flag and Guyana money.

 

 

There was never a BG dollar.  We used to use the BWI dollar...which now survives as the EC dollar, after Guyana, T&T, and Barbados got their independence and their own currencies.

 


I do not know why you think that BG had such a good reputation.  There was that infamous poem written by an English expat who was banished to BG....it went on about "tropical diseases....mud....mosquitoes".  BG was a known hardship post and many of them took every opportunity to vacation in Barbados, which they saw as more pleasant.

 

Islanders saw BG as a country where one would be attacked by some wild animal (including some terrifying huge mosquito), this after walking through miles of mud....BG being seen as a backward country with its only redeeming feature being an excellent educational system....And yes "big foot" was a disease associated with BG as well.

 

So change the name back to British Guiana and many will remember what a blighted place it was.  Even your "West on Trial" piece of garbage written by Cheddi doesnt say much positive about it.

 

If you want BG then accept being called a "mudhead" because that is what British Guianese were called then.

British Guiana did not have its own money.  CaribNY what do you call this.


http://www.banknoteexpress.com/gallery/brguiana.html

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Britis...V-RARE-/320663396542

 

 

http://numismondo.com/pm/brg/

 

 

All of these notes are worth more money today.

Prashad
Originally Posted by Prashad:
Originally Posted by caribny:
Originally Posted by Prashad:

Caribny you just don't get it.  You cannot build a brand that is similar to a bad one already being used by someone else.  It would be like building a motor car and calling it Lodo or Yaga after the Lada or Yugo cars then thinking that you will sell millions in North America.  SH-T leads to SH-T.  You cannot change that and people remember sh-t.

 

We had golding brand names with British Guiana ,British Guiana Flag and British Guiana dollar.  But we changed it up playing big and bad. Which is good for people who hate the British yet they would not think twice about buying  beer and  dinner for the british woman.  But now people cannot tell us apart from those African countries.  We are not going any where any time soon or later as long as we keep the name Guyana, Guyana flag and Guyana money.

 

 

There was never a BG dollar.  We used to use the BWI dollar...which now survives as the EC dollar, after Guyana, T&T, and Barbados got their independence and their own currencies.

 


I do not know why you think that BG had such a good reputation.  There was that infamous poem written by an English expat who was banished to BG....it went on about "tropical diseases....mud....mosquitoes".  BG was a known hardship post and many of them took every opportunity to vacation in Barbados, which they saw as more pleasant.

 

Islanders saw BG as a country where one would be attacked by some wild animal (including some terrifying huge mosquito), this after walking through miles of mud....BG being seen as a backward country with its only redeeming feature being an excellent educational system....And yes "big foot" was a disease associated with BG as well.

 

So change the name back to British Guiana and many will remember what a blighted place it was.  Even your "West on Trial" piece of garbage written by Cheddi doesnt say much positive about it.

 

If you want BG then accept being called a "mudhead" because that is what British Guianese were called then.

British Guiana did not have its own money.  CaribNY what do you call this.


http://www.banknoteexpress.com/gallery/brguiana.html

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Britis...V-RARE-/320663396542

 

 

http://numismondo.com/pm/brg/

 

 

All of these notes are worth more money today.

 

Carib is a dunce.

FM
Originally Posted by Prashad:
Originally Posted by caribny:
Originally Posted by Prashad:

 

 

British Guiana did not have its own money.  CaribNY what do you call this.


http://www.banknoteexpress.com/gallery/brguiana.html

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Britis...V-RARE-/320663396542

 

 

http://numismondo.com/pm/brg/

 

 

All of these notes are worth more money today.

Why dont you print notes from 1964 too?  I mean if the BG dollar was so powerful it ought to have been in circulation around then.  It wasnt.  It was the BWEE dollar.  BWEE wasnt only an airline.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Guiana

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...h_West_Indies_dollar

 

Note the  part about currency in the right hand corner, and in the second post.  British West Indian dollar was used until 1965.

 

I especially love the Barclays Bank note and the Royal Bank note.  Those werent BG notes BTW.   They were on the full faith and credit of those banks and only circulated for use in BG.

FM
Last edited by Former Member

Stick to the issue CaribNY.  You said that British Guiana had no currency of its own.  Did you see how much one British Guiana dollar is worth today on EBAY.

 

$1 British Guiana dollar = $1360 dollars US. 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Britis...V-RARE-/320663396542

 

 

We had golden brand names and we F them up.  We are not going anywhere any time soon or later.  And unlike CaribNY, most Guyanese cannot afford to visit  Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea or any of those places where the rest of the world think Guyanese live.

Prashad
Last edited by Prashad
Originally Posted by caribny:
Originally Posted by Prashad:

We need to change the country's name back to British Guiana. 

 
 

 


And then they will think that Guyana is some backward British colony near to Papua New Guinea.

 

The British dont want us and were glad when we bid them good bye in 1966.  I am curious to know why so many West Indians fail to understand that they viewed us as a burden once the more profitable colonies (India, Kenya and Gold Coast...now Ghana) went their merry ways. 

 

We yielded lower revenues but were more expensive to run as our westernized ways led us to set up trade unions and demand proper wages, and a relatively decent social and physical infrastructure.

 give the place a spanish name-but they used to call it "Wild Coast". Confused they were about the coast line.

S

Excerpt for KN:

 

The essence of our reality in Guyana is one of racism in politics and political voting behaviour. That is changing slowly in several distinct patterns: (1) More voters are refusing to vote for race-based parties resulting in lower overall voter turnout (69% in 2006 and 73% in 2011), (2) Multi-racial political platforms such as the AFC have cemented vital support and grown in the last two election although slowly, (3) Other powerful issues such as corruption, crime, the economy and wrongdoing have replaced race as the primary voting consideration in the minds of some voters. In the case of the PPP, the hijacking of the party by the Jagdeoites is a telling factor in how PPP supporters view this cabal dominating the PPP.

Mitwah

i agree to rename guyana i say chor chor the indian word for thief thief it will let the world know that is the ppp government  ruling guyana and also its a country to keep away from so when a canadian white ask me which country i am from and i tell them chor chor they will say oh that country that is being rule by them indian thief

FM

You are sick to the core. You should tell Guyanese that them Canadians would take an axe and smash the brains of seals to attract more tourists to Canada. How's that for a sales pitch?      

FM

If we go back to being called British Guiana we might as well put up a sign saying that we are the falkland islands.  This is because as British Guiana we will become sitting ducks for land claims not only from Venezula but every latin country in South America.

FM
Originally Posted by Prashad:

Stick to the issue CaribNY.  You said that British Guiana had no currency of its own.  Did you see how much one British Guiana dollar is worth today on EBAY.

 

$1 British Guiana dollar = $1360 dollars US. 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Britis...V-RARE-/320663396542

 

 

We had golden brand names and we F them up.  We are not going anywhere any time soon or later.  And unlike CaribNY, most Guyanese cannot afford to visit  Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea or any of those places where the rest of the world think Guyanese live.

Stick to THIS issue.  The BG$ was replaced by the BWI$.  Why if the BG$ was so strong??????

 

And Guinea, Guiana.   Apparently the stigma is still there.  It is not only  since 1966 that Guyana was mistaken for other nations...in fcat we were even confused with Papua New Guinea.  You can well see why this is when you check the spoelling of Guiana and Guinea.

 

You will never get permission to add "British" as Guyana is not British and the British dumped us along with their other money losing colonies in the Caribbean.  This after introducing new laws in 1962 aimed at blocking migration from these impoverished and money draining territories.

 

I also see you are an ignorant man.  The valuation is based on the scarcity of the note and not on its true exchange value.  It has NONE because it is not legal tender any where.  So goi buy that BG$ and try exchanging it for a US$ in a bank.

 

And let me remind you that British Guiana in the 1930s was no "gold brand".  It was a severely impverished country with no infrastructure outside of G/twn and the sugar estates.  Most Guyanese live din grinding poverty, malaria was rife and a smal planter class ruled with a tight fist.  If you read "West on Trial" you would know this.

FM

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