Plantocracy and colonialism in Turkeyen

Is it possible that this is the most politically defunct and sheepish nation in the world? It is possible that in twenty, thirty years time, this nation will just sink into total sycophancy where the citizenry will have no moral awareness of what is right and wrong? An employee of a large retail establishment owned by a local super-rich Guyanese family informed readers of horrible employment practices, one of which is that the employees have to pay for toilet paper in the store washrooms. Elton McCrae, an activist in ACDA’s leadership, sent out an e-mail to a number of us advocating action against this firm. I responded with a column of condemnation the next day. That was it. No one else responded to Elton’s plea. This national silence would never happen in little St. Vincent or even Bermuda. Three years ago, a curious incident occurred on the UG Access Road that affected thousands of UG students and dozens of its staff member. No one person at UG came to the rescue of these people. The story was about the shuttle taxis that park at the head of the UG Access Road outside of the mansion of the Beharry family. The Beharry family sought to move the taxis; I got involved and the police at Sparendaam were sympathetic. Then Commissioner Henry Greene, like a true house slave became a sycophant of the plantocracy. Here now is the background. When I attended UG in the mid seventies, it had less than a thousand students. In 2010 when Commissioner Greene became a house slave (no apology whatsoever referring to him with that description), the UG community amounted to just under six thousand members, including students and staff. What occurred within those thirty-five years since I was a freshman at UG was that thousands of students outside of Georgetown and Region Four were now enrolled at UG. It meant that students were coming from deep within the East Coast region and from Region Five. Their transportation would drop them off at the head of the UG Access Road and they would wait for a Georgetown bus to take them into UG because the walk is about half a mile into the campus. Some innovative Guyanese bought cars, turned them into taxis, and offered a shuttle service. As the student population of UG grew, so did the number of cars in the shuttle. The Beharry family objected to the cars on the parapet outside their mansion. The Sparendaam police moved the shuttle. An appeal was made to some of us at UG. I journeyed to Sparendaam police station where, after negotiation, it was agreed to let the taxis remain because they have to serve the UG community. Within days, the situation was reversed. Back to Sparendaam I went only to be informed that Commissioner Henry Greene ordered that the taxis be removed. Suffice it to follow the saying, “Of the dead speak no ill.” This is the same Henry Greene who couldn’t afford to buy a car so he coveted the vehicle of my Wortmanville neighbour, Dexter VanVeen, the cousin of Kaieteur News staffer, Rawle Welch. VanVeen had to go right up to President Burnham with tears in his eyes. Burnham then ordered Green to  the car to its rightful owner. Since 2010, the UG shuttle taxis are like European gypsies. They have nowhere to park and not a soul in the UG student movement or the UG administration is interested in an intervention. Now a dramatic situation has occurred. The Beharry family is landscaping the entire parapet outside the residence which is just under a quarter of a mile after which there is a gated community by Gafsons which has enclosed the parapet outside the establishment. Opposite the Beharry residence, there are no parapet facilities for the shuttle service. The trench is nearby. In 2011, authorities removed the taxis to make way for equipment for the specialty hospital. So we are beginning to see the end of the shuttle, the end of the income of some small Guyanese citizens and the reestablishment of plantocracy and colonialism in Guyana. A note before we close. In a family dispute over Henry Greene’s assets which has reached the courts, it has been revealed that Mr. Greene was a very rich man. I wonder from where he got all those assets? P.S. Ya think anyone will take up this issue?