No respect for Indigenous people
Guyana has been relegated to the highest level of political excesses, intolerance and disrespect. Never before in all our history as an independent nation have we experienced such decline, and many would put forward that even as a colony our people were never subjected to such disrespect by the British. Those who fought for independence, and many are still alive today, would tell us that the intent was to create a nation where all peoples would be respected, where leaders and those who were led would recognise and value the efforts and contributions of each to the development of our country, where no citizen would be considered inferior. It is this intent that would have led to the following being set out in the Preamble to our Constitution, “We, the Guyanese People … Celebrate our cultural and racial diversity and strengthen our unity by eliminating any and every form of discrimination; Value the special place in our nation of the Indigenous Peoples and recognise their rights as citizens to land and security and to their promulgation of policies for their communities;” Further, our Constitution in Article 146 (1) thus states, “… no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his or her freedom of expression …” It is therefore revolting that our Head of State, at a public meeting would tell a citizen, one of our Indigenous brothers, “yuh stupid.” This is most unbecoming of a Head of State and must be condemned in the most unambiguous language. Whether or not the individual was under the influence of alcohol is immaterial. He was there as a citizen of our country, his rights guaranteed and protected by the Constitution, including his right to freely express his opinion. Were he disrupting the meeting and preventing others from enjoying their right to receive information or express their opinion, then the organisers would have been within their right to have him removed. This did not happen. Instead, Mr Adams was slapped, threatened and ridiculed. It would be unheard of for the Head of State of the USA, Britain, Canada, or any developed country, to so ridicule a citizen. They would have to resign immediately. Even within our own Caricom Region, such threats and ridicule of a citizen would not be accepted. Why is it that in Guyana, the President believes he can get away with berating a citizen in such a manner? The PPP would have us believe that they care about our Indigenous Peoples, but the evidence proves this is not so. The Indigenous People remain the poorest of our nation’s peoples. Health care, education, other social services and infrastructural development are at the lowest levels in these communities, even as our national economy relies on the resources of the hinterland. While the PPP Government boasts of how many health centres it would have built or rehabilitated in the interior, the fact remains that the Indigenous People still cannot access proper health care in their communities. They have to be brought to the coast for most medical procedures. There are constant reports of the hospitals being short on essential drugs or drugs having passed their expiration dates and the hospitals not adequately staffed. The CSEC pass rate within Amerindian communities is probably the lowest in the country. In Region Nine for example, on average, only one of every five students would pass their exams. The PPP Government has failed to make adequate inputs of human and other resources to lift the delivery of education to an acceptable level in Amerindian villages. It is not enough to build school buildings and a few desks and benches. The building would be of little benefit to the people if learning does not take place in it. The PPP has employed a strategy where the trappings of education are prominently displayed in Amerindian communities, but the actual edification of the majority of the children does not take place. The PPP propaganda machinery would have us believe that the Amerindians are better off under the PPP Government, but they would not tell us that decisions of the Amerindian Village Council could be overturned by the Minister. If the Village Council decides that it does not want mining done in its area, the Minister can overturn that decision. This same propaganda machinery would issue photographs showing the government giving hand-outs to villages. Everyone knows if you want to take people out of poverty you teach them to fish and not give them fish. Instead of educating Amerindians and creating opportunities for their economic development, the PPP has sought to institute the dependency syndrome by ensuring Amerindians are the least educated and among the poorest of our peoples. Hence, the Head of State believes he can speak to an Amerindian citizen in a derogatory manner, threaten and ridicule that citizen. This is discriminatory! It is highly doubtful that the President would make such a remark at a meeting of citizens of the Coastland.
