March 14, 2014 · By Staff Writer

Dear Editor,

There is no doubt that we live in a divided society. And I don’t mean the accidentally created and artificially maintained ethnic cleavage; I am talking about the real division: the huge gap between the haves and the have-nots, the rich and the poor. The evidence of this growing divide and the negative consequences of this reality are clear. So, is the Ramotar administration blind to the issue or is the problem being ignored and perpetuated?

We all know the names of the rich; the beneficiaries of government contracts, inside information and preferential treatment. These new money-makers are the ones connected to the powerful decision-makers, while we, the ordinary Guyanese, struggle to make ends meet. The new-rich powerful people serve each other in a hand-wash-hand relationship. They are the elite; we are the poor masses. It is ‘us’ and ‘them,’ the division is clear.

The problems created by class division are recognised by religious leaders, academics and political thinkers across the spectrum. In 2012, US President Obama said that class division is the, “defining challenge of our time.” Mahatma Ghandi said: “Poverty is the worst form of violence.” Conservative economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, advisor to Republican President George W Bush highlighted the social problems caused by economic inequality and, incredibly, actually advocated progressive taxation of the rich. In reference to trickle-down theories of economic development, Pope Francis said: “ [They are] a crude and naïve trust in those wielding economic power.”

The facts are clear. In December 2013, Oxfam International reported that the eighty-five wealthiest individuals on earth were worth US$1.7 trillion; the same amount of money sparsely shared by the poorest 50% of the world’s population – 3.5 billion persons. The report, presented to political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January 2014, also stated that the world’s richest 1% possessed 65% of humanity’s financial resources. So, is this inequality fair; is this the way things are supposed to be?

The poor masses are suffering day after day; they are always worried about bills, rent and the cost of food. But now, the problem is becoming so big that even the world’s wealthy, powerful elite are getting worried. This is because if the world’s poor people have no jobs and no money to spend, they cannot buy the goods that the rich people are producing. And they are afraid that the whole economic and social house of cards can collapse under the weight of resistance to the status quo. After all, the masses will not tolerate this situation indefinitely; the concentration of wealth in the hands of the elite will have consequences. Eventually, the jobless poor across the globe will stop sitting and starving quietly, and will take action to change things.

In Guyana the issue is stark and immediately obvious. Poor people die at public hospitals for lack of medicines and oxygen, while the elite can charter private jets to overseas hospitals to treat their fevers. The masses are locked up for speaking out against injustice, while the rich drive their 4×4 vehicles recklessly, cause accidents, and face no consequences. The children of the wealthy attend the best private educational institutions, while our poor children have to fetch water to flush toilets in public schools. So, are we, the poor masses supposed to put up with this forever?

The experts agree that to change things we must act together; we cannot allow the elite to continue to divide us. Indigenous Guyanese in Lethem are suffering in constant blackouts, poor fishermen in Berbice are being attacked by pirates, Georgetown’s residents are living in a garbage city and our brothers and sisters in Linden have no jobs.

We, the poor masses, must change things. We must insist on a living wage, access to decent education, gainful employment and quality health care. We must reject all attempts to divide us; we are all Guyanese facing a common enemy: poverty. We must use our voices, our pens, our votes, to remove and replace anyone who would keep us down. We are the masses; we have strength in unity and in numbers. We will not be divided and trampled on by the few, no matter how much money they have.

Yours faithfully, Mark DaCosta

http://www.stabroeknews.com/20...ommon-enemy-poverty/

March 8, 2014

In this little piece of paradise we call Guyana, we hardly depend on the tourism industry yet we have much to offer. Our 83,000 square miles make us the largest Caribbean state, 80% of which is largely untouched forests. From the beaches of the Corentyne to the rolling hills of the Rupununi Savannahs, the marine turtles on the North West beaches to the dense Iwokrama forest – Guyana is no doubt blessed and is a haven for eco-tourism.

But there is a problem. One that is staring at us right in the face. And we should be embarrassed to invite tourists into the country because of this problem. We all know what it is: the current state of the capital.

The practice has been to have tourists land at the Cheddi Jagan or Ogle International Airports and then whisk them off to Kaieteur and the interior to visit our eco-resorts and get their fill of looking at our birds and breathing that clean fresh air. But to have the full Guyanese experience one would always have to visit the capital which boasts a mixture of every culture that kissed this earth. And the same cannot be done when cruise ships dock at Port Georgetown.

Picture this: City Hall, which used to be a gem is now a murky piece of lead. The High Court building is in shipshape, but the broken hand and sceptre of Victoria is an insult to our colonial heritage. The canals that used to be low and shimmering are now pungent, stagnant and filled with garbage. The streets are lined with filth and the air with disgust. I could go on. But you get the picture. It is familiar and it is what the tourist sees.

And after we have fixed the city physically—and only heaven knows when that will happen—we have to fix the citizens. Or maybe we should tackle that first.

Let me list the tasks: We have to fix the often rude and uncaring behaviour that sometimes passes for customer service. We have to straighten out the security forces. Then we must tackle the less-than-average citizens; the ones who delight in standing on the corners urinating, cursing at the top of their lungs; blasting derogatory music from their vehicles or push carts.

Public transportation is a nightmare: too fast, choked, rude conductors and aggressive drivers. Then there are those pedestrians who have no regard for vehicular traffic and cross the roads when they feel like and at their own speed. It is as though we are slipping into anarchy; or have we already fallen?

When did the most hospitable country in the Caribbean lose its charm? Suriname boasted during Carifesta it was the most hospitable and Trinidad and Tobago invites business and tourists alike to ‘the Bridge between South America and the Caribbean’. What is our claim to fame these days? Garbage?

Let’s be grateful that Guyana does not have to depend solely on tourism. Let’s be thankful that we have diversification. Tourism is needed, tourism is wanted but tourism can never be accomplished with how we keep ourselves. Let’s stop pretending that we have arrived. And let’s start working really hard to regain what we have lost. (Jairo Rodrigues)

http://www.stabroeknews.com/20...8/lets-talk-tourism/