The Great Divide

By Dominic Gaskin

Of Guyana’s ten administrative regions, it is safe to say that four remain almost scandalously underdeveloped and neglected to the extent that life, for most residents, is a harsh experience with few opportunities for improvement. The government, through its Ministries of Local Government, Amerindian Affairs, Education, Health and Public Works, and a clutch of Regional Executive Officers (REOs), determines the fates of Regions 1 (Barima-Waini), 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), 8 (Potaro-Siparuni) and 9 (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), and must shoulder full responsibility for the current state of those regions and the poor living conditions facing their residents. Our government should explain to the people of these regions why, after over two decades in charge, it still provides them with only the most basic services, which are noticeably inferior to even the poor-quality government services received by the rest of the population. In education, we are witnessing the creation of severely disadvantaged communities. The results of Guyana’s 2012 population census have still not been released, but figures from the previous exercise show rates of illiteracy in these regions at about twice the national average. Last year’s National Grade Six Assessment results show a clear regional disparity, with not a single child from Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9 scoring among the top one hundred. This glaring inequality was even worse at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level, with these same regions unable to produce a single student among the top one hundred and seventy-five. With performance in these two major assessments well below an already poor national average, what future is there for the youth of these regions? In its 2011 report on Guyana’s progress on the Millennium Development Goals, the Government of Guyana revealed that the percentage of people living in moderate poverty in the rural interior was 73.5 and the percentage living in extreme poverty 54.0. The national averages for these two statistics at the same time were 36.1 percent and 18.6 percent respectively. Specifically, the amount of persons living in moderate poverty in Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9 were 80.1%, 61.4%, 94.3% and 74.4% respectively. Moderate poverty was defined as not having sufficient income to afford a specified bundle of basic food and non-food items, while extreme poverty was defined as not having sufficient income to afford only the food items in that basket. Sadly, our nation has come to accept this great divide and there is very little fuss made over the stark inequalities that exist between our coastal communities and those in the hinterland. The fact that the four regions mentioned above are inhabited mainly by members of Guyana’s Amerindian population makes this an even less palatable state of affairs. However, the most disturbing aspect of this situation is the manner in which the PPP-C government has sought to exert political control over the Amerindian population, even in the face of its failure to deliver improved living conditions. A recent news report highlights the extent of the problem and demonstrates the gross disrespect with which Amerindians are treated by government officials. The report concerned village leaders who were transported from the hinterland to Georgetown in order to participate in the April 14th protest against the AFC and APNU over their budget positions. Immediately prior to the exercise they were briefed at the National Convention Centre byPermanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Nigel Dharamlall, who took the opportunity to admonish some of them for referring to Community Development Projects (CDPs) as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Projects. In a recording of the proceedings Mr. Dharamlall can be heard threatening Toshaos: “I don’t want any single one of you to ever again, and I keep saying this over and over again, any CSO who says that they’re working at the UNDP project called the CDP, I want you off the CSO project. Any Toshao or senior councillor who represents to any village that the CDP is a UNDP project, you don’t have access to my office. I coming hardline on people who don’t see the future and who don’t want to be part of the development of the country”. This excerpt from Mr. Dharamlall’s tirade was preceded by an attack on the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) in which he stated, “the APA is in bed with the opposition” and warned his captive audience not to support them. The language and tone employed by this government official towards senior members of the Amerindian community is crude, arrogant and reminiscent of a different era. This was a clear attempt to bully the Amerindians into compliance with PPP-C party policy and to bombard them with their latest propaganda. His Minister, in a shrill delivery of her own, maintained the assault on the AFC, APNU and APA, no doubt creating just the right mood for a fruitful picketing exercise. Had he lived to witness this, George Orwell would have been mightily impressed with his own prescience. It has often been said of the PPP-C that it will destroy that which it cannot control, and these latest attacks on the APA are consistent with that narrative. It would appear that the APA has incensed the government by receiving a European Union grant of 150,000 Euros as a result of submitting a successful project proposal to that body. The Government, of course, would have preferred to be the recipient of these funds and to control disbursal to the implementing organization. A strong and independent APA that it cannot control is clearly seen as a threat to the political agenda of the PPP-C Government when it comes to the Amerindians, and for it (APA) to have received funds directly from the European Union is seen as a challenge to PPP-C’s influence over the Amerindian population; hence its attempts to destroy the credibility of the APA. A review of the minutes of the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee (MSSC) of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) of February 2014 will show that this matter has engaged the attention of the MSSC. It is unfortunate that a committee such as this one, which needs to be as free from political interference as possible, is being used by the government to undermine a civil organization as important to our Amerindian brothers and sisters as the APA. One cannot deny that the Amerindians as well as other persons living in Guyana’s hinterland regions are worse off than the rest of our population. The PPP-C Government, instead of correcting this problem, seeks to exploit these disadvantaged communities in order to impose its political agenda upon them. It is becoming increasingly clear that political domination by any one clique or group will never be accepted in our ethnically diverse society, and that those with such an agenda will never be able to unite the Guyanese people with a common vision for this country’s future. Real development will only take place when the resources of this wealthy paradise are put to work in a way that benefits all our people, regardless of geographical location or ethnic background; or, indeed, which political party they support.