The poverty gap is getting wider
Dear Editor,
It is an open secret that some people are very connected or deemed indispensible and are therefore considered the untouchables in Guyana. So much for equity and fairness in a country where the rich and powerful can afford to do whatever they want without any serious legal consequences or ramifications because of their political connections.
Those who are affiliated with the ruling clique do not feel the need to pinch to make ends meet because they have it all, thanks to the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal who has donated the Treasury to them. This is not the same for the poor and the working class, especially the mothers and children of Plastic City who do not know where their next meal ticket is coming from.
The poor and the working class have endured massive suffering under the PPP dictatorship and the Jagdeo cabal has done absolutely nothing in the last ten years to improve their lives.
Over the years, many Guyanese, especially the poor and the working class, have come to accept that two Guyana exists, one for the rich and powerful and the other for the poor and the downtrodden. For this reason, a large number of people, especially the poor and the working class believe that they live in a nation where many things are simply out of their reach.
We have got hold of some data that proved that in 2011, more than 80 percent of the Guyanese people living in Guyana get by on less than a quarter of the average income of the rich 20 percent. This poverty index ratio of 80 to 20 in favour of the rich is the highest in the Caribbean. But if we are to reflect on our living conditions, it was not like this at independence, almost 50 years ago.
The PPP has not done much to improve the lives of the poor and the working class in Guyana during its reign of 21 years. In our minds very little! In fact, the Jagdeo cabal must be blamed for the total collapse of CLICO, the almost bankrupt NIS, the untenable conditions at the public hospitals, the crumbling of UG and the education and health systems, and the demise of the sugar industry especially the US$200 million white elephant at Skeldon which was built by the Chinese.
For years, the people have been asking for a reduction of VAT; but the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal has refused. The people, especially Berbicians, have been seeking a reduction in the Berbice River Bridge toll; but the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal has said no. The sugar workers have been fighting for increased wages and better working conditions from the PPP which claims to be a working class party; but the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal has refused to listen.
For the last twenty years Guyanese have been complaining about the incessant power blackouts and water shortages; but again, the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal has not responded. Finally, the people have been calling for transparency in governance, especially in the awarding of contracts, but the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal has refused to listen.
Many in the poor and the working class have resolved themselves that if the political gangsters and their white collar outlaws continue to rule, by the next elections more of them will definitely fall below the poverty line and perhaps starve to death.
If one is to compare the life of the poor and the working class to the “nouveau riche” of the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal, they will quickly realize that Guyana is not one but two completely different countries.
This is the major disparity between the “nouveau riche” of the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal and the rest of the nation. It took the PPP cabal only 20 years to create two Guyanas.
Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh
