Guyana is experiencing its worst period of policy paralysis

DEAR EDITOR, After 22 years of PPP rule, it is clear that Guyana is experiencing one of its worst periods of policy paralysis… never seen before.  Today we hear the President speak of “serious negative impact on the economy” in reference to one of the two glitters in the economy – gold which has declined in both value and markets. But cheap talk and empty promises are all that the people get from the ruling cabal, no action whatever. They have not only wrecked the image of Guyana as one of the most corrupt countries in the Caribbean, but have raped the treasury to enrich themselves, relatives and friends. Today, most Guyanese are worse off than 22 years ago when the PPP came to power. The overnight “rags to riches” members of the cabal have huge overseas bank accounts and mansions that could only be attained through corrupt practices.  Guyana is a corrupt and failed state; thanks to the cabal. With Forbes Burnham and Cheddi Jagan, we knew Massa Day was done, and control of the commanding heights of the economy had begun. With Nelson Mandela in South Africa, it was dismantling apartheid and the beginning of the healing process between whites and blacks. With Barack Obama of the United States, it was creating a more equal society for all Americans. But with the Jagdeo/Ramotar PPP cabal which has been in power for the past 14 years, it is ignoring the interest of the people, in the hope that the people will not recognize their unfair, uncaring and corrupt actions. By the standards used in developing countries to rate governments, the PPP regime and its anti-Jaganites have so far achieved a failing grade. This now begs the operative question, can APNU govern in place of the Ramotar Government.  The facts reveal that APNU is a mass-based coalition that does have access to technical and financial assets in the diaspora, but the leaders have to work extremely hard to prove themselves to the people. They have to be pro-active on the issues and not allow the PPP to set the agenda for meetings, where the meetings should be held and the issues to be discussed. We believe that meetings between the government and the opposition should not be held only at the Office of the President, but also at a neutral location such as Parliament Building.  However, APNU is fortunate to have in its fold people like Carl Greenidge who has experience in Government at the highest level and several military officers with executive experience including its leader Mr. David Granger and its shadow Minister of Public Works Mr. Joe Harmon. Unlike the visionless PPP, APNU, in particular Mr. Greenidge has a vision that will set Guyana on a path of rapid development thus transforming it from a Third World-low income country to one of a developing, middle income country. However, the leaders of APNU have to frontally address the historical stigma associated with the PNC period of governance between 1968 and 1985.  We discounted the period 1964-1968 because that was a period of free and fair elections and a duly elected government.  We also discounted 1986-1992, since this was the period when the economic recovery programme was being formulated by the Hoyte administration, which set the foundation for the economic recovery to which Guyana continues to benefit from to this day. That credit has to squarely rest on the shoulders of Mr. Carl Greenidge who at the time was the Minister of Finance. This is something the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal has failed to recognize. They continue to spread their propaganda that the PNC did not do anything, but claimed that the PPP has built the National Stadium, the Tain UG Campus and the Berbice Bridge. The questions the people should ask these people are: who built the Demerara Harbour Bridge, the UG Campus at Turkeyen, the Soesdyke-Linden highway, the Corentyne highway, the Canje Bridge, the President’s College, Critchlow Labour College, National Park, the Cultural Centre etc.? Unlike the PPP, APNU has a framework for governing a complex, multi-ethnic, inherently cynical, constantly evolving society burdened by escalating crime, drug trafficking and corruption, and a culture of near total dependency. But we must ask the hard question – when will Mr. Granger and his team march into the villages with flowers and words of hope and explain their programmes.  We especially expect the leaders of APNU to march into the East Indian-dominated communities like Enmore, Albion, Port Mourant and Black Bush Polder, just to name a few. Mr. Granger cannot be President of all of Guyana if he cannot embrace and connect with all the people of Guyana – Indo and Afro-Guyanese, Amerindians, and the other races.  All the people of Guyana need leadership in this hour of need. To be saved from the policy paralysis under the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal. They need a government that will share the country’s resources equally among its people and not a selected group of friends and relatives as is the case today. From the evidence at our disposal, we are convinced that Mr. Granger is a decent individual, who was not associated with the rigging of elections, and thus it is a gross falsehood and blatant propaganda on the part of the PPP to accuse him of being involved in the rigging machinery that was alive during those elections. We believe that if Mr. Granger approaches this job with the dedication and the energy it deserves, the Guyanese people will give him a fair chance and Guyana will definitely prosper.

Asquith Rose and Harish Singh