The AFC appears to be pre-occupied in a failed bid to do damage control, the Amerindians are no fools and would be greet the AFC and APNU with cold shoulders anytime they dare to visit their communities.

This Chap Ramjhaaatan , he really gat a brain???  Who  else helping him to make decisions???  Anybody knows???

You GO GIRL. Tell it to the Nee NEE NEE Makarhams!!!  GREAT!!

This is indeed pathetic on the part of the Opposition.  OUR AMERINDIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE TELLING ITAS IT IS!! KEEP THE PRESSURE ON BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

I AM HAPPY TO SEE PEOPLE ARE NOT SITTING BACK AND ALLOW THE OPPOSITION TO DESTROY THEIR COMMUNITIES!!!!!!!!

It is unconscionable what the Opposition is attempting to do to our Amerindian Brothers and Sisters. What an absolute DISGRACE!!!

Look I understand the importance of this matter so I am pleased that everyone is taking their time to respond. This IS a matter of National importance and a measured and well researched reply is absolutely necessary. So take your time Folks.

HEHEHEHEHE

Dear Editor,

In a letter published in SN on April 17, captioned ‘All the PPP presidents have been committed to the realization of a better Guyana,’ Jagnarine Somwar attacked my letter captioned, ‘The PPP/C is a perversion of Dr Jagan’s party’ (SN, April 9).

Mr Somwar correctly agrees that Dr Jagan stood for the working class. But then he strays from the truth and claims that the present-day PPP/C remains the same.

Editor, the evidence does not support Mr Somwar’s contention; the present-day PPP/C has in fact, become a rich-people’s party.

The truth is, the PPP/C seems to have declared war on Guyanese workers and poor people, and taken the side of the upper-class oligarchs and oppressors. This regime has abandoned collective bargaining. Instead, in 2013, they imposed a 5% salary increase on public servants, far less than the 15% approved by the opposition.

This administration refuses to reduce the burdensome 16% VAT. The rulers refuse to raise the Old Age Pension to $15,000, as the opposition proposed. They refuse to regulate minibus fares. They refuse to reduce the toll on minibuses crossing the Berbice River bridge. They refuse to legislate a living wage for Guyanese workers, even as under-employed Guyanese struggle to pay bills.

This PPP/C regime has neglected institutions that provide jobs, and care for poor Guyanese. The nation’s hospitals do not have medicines and basic equipment. The Palms Geriatric Home is in disrepair. The National Insurance Scheme is heading for bankruptcy. GuySuCo, which employs poor cane-cutters, is in decline. Public schools have leaking roofs. Hinterland residents endure constant blackouts. Fishermen in Berbice continue to suffer attacks by pirates. And the list goes on.

Mr Somwar admits that today’s PPP/C leaders have different personas, styles and values, and I agree with him on this single point. Unlike the humble Dr Jagan, today’s leaders are known for their bullyism and arrogance. They have no qualms about referring to writers as ‘sleazeballs’ and they have no problem insulting fellow parliamentarians, then refusing to apologise. Their moral values do not apply to their colleagues who are allowed to get away with the most egregious misconduct.

In 1997, just before Dr Jagan died, he said: “I have always associated myself with the ideology of the working class.” And we know this is true, because decades earlier, in 1961, he said: “My first charge is to raise my people from the mire of poverty.” So, whereas Dr Jagan spent his life as a champion of the working poor, the present-day leaders have become part and parcel of the wealthy elite.

They were planned to evict poor coal-producers from land in Yarowkabra in order to grant the land to BK International. They allowed rich people to pay less money to cross the Berbice River bridge, by slashing the toll on SUVs and pickup trucks towing boats and jet-skies; while poor people who travel in cars, minibuses and on motorcycles must pay the same high toll. They continue to subsidise the Berbice Bridge company to the tune of $110 million per year by waiving dividends, so that wealthy investors can make big profits. Obviously, present-day PPP/C leaders have switched sides.

Editor, Guyanese are not stupid; people like Mr Somwar cannot fool us. Dr Jagan indeed fought for workers; he cared about poor people. On the other hand, the present-day PPP/C leaders are taking from the poor and giving to the rich. They have their air-conditioned mansions, their million dollar salaries, their obscene pensions, and their 4×4 vehicles.

 Yours faithfully,

Mark DaCosta

http://www.stabroeknews.com/20...-support-contention/

HEHEHE HAHAHAHA But it is not FUNNY. We shouds ALL have Sympathy for our Amerindian brothers and sisters. Are we listening to their anguish????

over 20 years into PPP rule and almost 80 % or our people are still in abject poverty. Our young women are relegated to being maids and in house sex toys to the rich PPP class or whores at mining and lumber camps. Our young men are taken great distances from their villages to work at the most dangerous or grimy jobs for slave wages with no protections. The PPP can cry all they want about Amerind development but the reality is we do not care or want them intruding in our lives and keeping us in poverty. We want what is ours and the ability to determine our own future in our own way. This  idea that children of dalits know better what is to be our lot in our own lands ought to inform the PPP of their prejudices. If dalits can climb out of destitution why cant we who never suffered those indignities except now at the hands of those who were  once classified as subaltern dredges?

This PPP/C administration refuses to reduce the burdensome 16% VAT. The rulers refuse to raise the Old Age Pension to $15,000, as the opposition proposed. They refuse to regulate minibus fares. They refuse to reduce the toll on minibuses crossing the Berbice River bridge. They refuse to legislate a living wage for Guyanese workers, even as under-employed Guyanese struggle to pay bills.

This PPP/C regime has neglected institutions that provide jobs, and care for poor Guyanese. The nation’s hospitals do not have medicines and basic equipment. The Palms Geriatric Home is in disrepair. The National Insurance Scheme is heading for bankruptcy. GuySuCo, which employs poor cane-cutters, is in decline. Public schools have leaking roofs. Hinterland residents endure constant blackouts. Fishermen in Berbice continue to suffer attacks by pirates. And the list goes on.

I dont believe in threats BUt what I heard is people like you will NOT be allowed to set foot in their Neighborhood.

Region Eight has been forsaken by the PPP Govt.

(Excerpts from the Budget debate presentation by Eula Marcello MP) EDUCATION Schools across Region Eight are facing very difficult challenges; lack of teaching materials, janitorial supplies, and inadequate textbooks at nursery, primary and secondary school levels. The schools need specialised teachers for specific subjects since teachers who are trained in math and technical drawing are asked to also teach social studies and agriculture science teachers are being

Eula Marcello MP

asked to teach maths. There is no ICT being taught at the secondary schools in Region Eight. Construction of the Paramakatoi Primary School that started in 2012 is still to be completed. The students are housed at the Multi-Purpose Hall and the Paramakatoi Church of Christ. This clearly shows that if the government was serious about education for all Guyanese children, they would have ensured that the construction was completed in a timely manner. While the government is building schools, however long it takes to complete construction, the buildings alone are not enough. We need teachers from the Hinterland to be trained, so when they would have completed their training they would return to their villages to serve. There is nothing in the 2014 budget for a technical institute in the hinterland. Are we to take it that this government does not believe that Amerindians are capable of pursuing technical studies? Why is it that for so long, Amerindian children are being denied the opportunity to realise their dreams of attending a technical institute? Why is it that they have to leave the hinterland to attend technical institutes on the Coast, why the discrimination? HEALTH The people of Region Eight suffered tremendously from the shortage of commonly used medicines last year and the same continues this year. Good health is one of the most important things a person must have in order to work and bring progress and improve his livelihood and the livelihood of others. If we are to have a decent health care system in this country we need to start by paying our health care workers a decent living wage. It seems that expired-drugs are the order of the day at Region Eight as drugs are not being supplied in a timely manner. In addition, drugs supplied to the hospital, health centres and health post are very much limited and the administrators do not seem to take into account the growing population. The Government boasts of the increase in the number of nurses and doctors in the health system. While this may be true, most of the health centres in Region Eight do not have a doctor. For example, in the case of Kato Cottage Hospital, there is no doctor and the hospital is managed by two community health workers. There are no Community Health Workers at a number of Community Health Posts, so decent health care delivery cannot be realised in these communities. In order to have a proper health care system in this country we need adequate staff and adequate medical supplies. We need dedicated medical professionals who are readily available, especially in times of emergencies, and not persons who spend their nights drinking alcohol and their days sleeping so they are hardly at their post. The Health Minister should pay surprise visits to some of the hinterland locations and then they would know what is going on. How can you trust the diagnosis of a doctor who smells of alcohol? On many occasions persons have to travel to Georgetown at their own expense to see a proper doctor and get proper medical attention. This is why the Georgetown Public Hospital is burdened with minor matters from the hinterland; because the health centres in the hinterland are not properly staffed and equipped. Furthermore, due to shortage of medical supplies in North Pakaraimas, patients are referred to District Hospitals unnecessarily. WATER There is no adequate water supply at Region Eight. The Salbora Well goes on and off. Further inland in the interior remote areas, wells dug in 2012-2013 do not serve the public adequately, since there is need for extension of pipelines. INFRASTRUCTURE In the years 2012 and 2013 more infrastructural development was promised and more tax dollars were allocated, but all the people have received are a set of sub-standard projects and contractors being overpaid as we read in the Auditor General’s Reports. When the representatives of the Guyanese people raise questions with the intention that action would be taken to rectify the discrepancies, they end up being victimised and abused, very often by the persons who ought to have seen to the proper implementation of the projects in the first place. It is recommend that central government scrutinise developmental projects from the initial stages through to completion so that the people who put up the tax dollars to fund the projects can get value for their money. Examples of these include the Paramakatoi/Mountain Foot Health Centre since its commencement in early 2012, Arasawa Health Post not completed though it started three years ago, X-Ray department extension commenced early this year and is left incomplete, so there is no X-Ray service at Mahdia. It must be noted that the Public Works budget for Region Eight was reduced. The Region will now get less than it did last year for this critical sector.

If I am not mistaken the brothers and sisters were referring to Eula Marcello among others..

 You can believe what you want. We are here and as we see it your winter is coming

sell souls. See in our forum what is said of them....worms if ever there were any.

I listened to REAL Amerindians in REAL Amerindian Villages, guess who most will listen to and believe???

to you real ones are the kneebenders to children of dalits who are recasting them as the new Sudra in their own land.

Keep this one and the one from Albion fuh Election time.

AFC is in damage control mode. It is too late for the AFC to recover from the recent political blows.

It stems from a lack of mature leadership. No amount of damage control will assist the AFC.

quit prattling bollox simply because it sounds like music to your tone deaf ears. The PPP are a kleptocracy and that is the focus of any analysis of good government. Also  Ramotar is a spineless, sniveling toady to Jagdeo so where is the PPP leadership?

AFC/PNC will become baigan choka. Our native community is ending them a very strong signal.

Smoke and mirrors. The only signal sent here is the desperation of the PPP that they use the nations resources to boot strap a campaign using native faces but PPP bought and paid for souls.

Region Eight has been forsaken by the PPP Govt.

(Excerpts from the Budget debate presentation by Eula Marcello MP) EDUCATION Schools across Region Eight are facing very difficult challenges; lack of teaching materials, janitorial supplies, and inadequate textbooks at nursery, primary and secondary school levels. The schools need specialised teachers for specific subjects since teachers who are trained in math and technical drawing are asked to also teach social studies and agriculture science teachers are being

Eula Marcello MP

asked to teach maths. There is no ICT being taught at the secondary schools in Region Eight. Construction of the Paramakatoi Primary School that started in 2012 is still to be completed. The students are housed at the Multi-Purpose Hall and the Paramakatoi Church of Christ. This clearly shows that if the government was serious about education for all Guyanese children, they would have ensured that the construction was completed in a timely manner. While the government is building schools, however long it takes to complete construction, the buildings alone are not enough. We need teachers from the Hinterland to be trained, so when they would have completed their training they would return to their villages to serve. There is nothing in the 2014 budget for a technical institute in the hinterland. Are we to take it that this government does not believe that Amerindians are capable of pursuing technical studies? Why is it that for so long, Amerindian children are being denied the opportunity to realise their dreams of attending a technical institute? Why is it that they have to leave the hinterland to attend technical institutes on the Coast, why the discrimination?

When it takes a Buckman to send a message, telling the joint opposition to act responsible in the interest of the indigenous people's it speaks volume. I use to hear Buckman don't have brains, but when I listen to my Buck brother in the video, they should be sitting in Granger and Ramjattan seats in parliament. What a shame!  

 Apparently you are late separated from the loogie ethos and is still mired in the ignorance of vestigial casteism that you think others are lesser than you. 6000 years of being told you are crap can indeed do profound psychological damage. As Naipaul suggested...it is a form of communal shitting and remains endemic in many places as we can see with you.

Concentrate on the message of a Buckman.

When it takes a Buckman to send a message, telling the joint opposition to act responsible in the interest of the indigenous people's it speaks volume.

to the contrary fool; pathetic reliance on racist goading illustrates aptly what a low functioning moron you are. That poor fellow being bought and soul is not representative of his community no less than a grasping bigot like ypou represent our community. We all have sell souls. Opportunistic thieves need these people to facilitate their crooked intent.

$1.1B Amerindian Development Fund was for uncontrolled vote buying

…there still remains in the 2014 Budget a lot of fat -Chris Ram  

The $1.1B that the parliamentary opposition did not approve was said to be used under the Amerindian Development Fund was exposed as money for uncontrolled vote-buying in the Amerindian communities. The money had nothing to do with capital expenditure.

Financial Analyst Christopher Ram

This is according to Financial Analyst, Christopher Ram, who in his review of the recent budget which was reduced by $37B, said that as it relates to that $1.1B fund, “when the window was opened on the projects, (the projects) melted like fat from pork exposed to the sun.” According to Ram, “Not surprisingly, none of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Ministers seemed in the least bit embarrassed at being caught red-handed, even as they abused some bemused Amerindians to picket the National Assembly.” According to the project profile for the use of the $1.1B as was set out by the Ministry of Finance, the money would be used to secure the livelihood and youth entrepreneurship apprenticeship programmes; construction of village officers and multi-purpose buildings; purchase of sports gear, musical instruments, drip irrigation systems, tractor and implements; support to other projects and programmes including eco-tourism. Ram in his analysis noted that collaterally, $42.5M for water and land transport and acquisition of furniture and equipment under the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs was also not approved. In his continued analysis of the expenditures Ram wrote that the surprises at some of the non-approvals were probably matched by some of the items that were approved. “The state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), an entity with no Board of Directors, a history of violations of the law requiring the publication of financial statements, and a future awash with red ink, was given a further $6B as a subsidy for 2014; the Commerce, Industry and Consumer Affairs Ministry was allocated $1B for an as yet undefined programme to support enterprise development initiatives while the Ministry of Finance got a pass on an allocation of $4.4B for unspecified Other Employment Costs, a re-designation of the line item previously described as Revision Of Wages and Salaries.” According to Ram, GuySuCo placed the Opposition on the horns of a dilemma. He said that while they knew the money would continue to finance poor governance, lack of accountability and a hopelessly managed and structured entity, the Parliamentary Opposition, and mainly the Alliance For Change (AFC), could not dare to not approve the budget provision for the sugar corporation. “No one, it seems, was prepared to say to GuySuCo no more money until it accounts for what the Assembly had given it in prior years.” Ram suggested that if the country is going to drain money into GuySuCo, use at least half of that money to pay severance for a few thousand workers and allow them to pursue other employment of their choice and the rest for a serious restructuring of the industry. Ram posits that “in two to three years we could have a streamlined, profitable enterprise.” According to Ram, A Partner for National Unity (APNU), while it harbours legitimate doubts about the spending of previous multi-billion dollar allocations for Revision of Wages and Salaries, it would have found itself at the mercy of the government propaganda machinery – GINA/NCN – if it had dared to not approve the line item for Other Employment Costs. “APNU’s problem is that it knows that some part of the allocation will go to revision of wages and salaries of public sector employees, the majority of whom it may consider supporters.” He said, too, that APNU with its perceived emphasis for a stronger and more effective Police Force should probably explain why it would approve a twenty-fold increase in the capital allocation for Community Policing while the Police Force receives a reduction under the same budget. A point to note is that when the allocations for the Ministry of Home Affairs came up for a vote, not a single question was posed to the subject minister. Ram in his analysis said too that the $1B allocation for Enterprise development initiatives without a clear institutional mechanism and criteria for accessing these funds defies all logic, economics and the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act. In addition to the allocations referred to, there still remains in the 2014 Budget a lot of fat, according to Ram, “and one has to assume that the thirty-three opposition members of the National Assembly lost concentration or commitment when the items came up for concentration.” According to Ram, Dr. Frank Anthony and Minister Irfaan Ali must be smiling at the amount of funds at their disposal for their discretionary spendthrift ways.

The Amerindians are cognizant of the sinister motives of the AFC/APNU and are prepared to deal with the AFC/APNU according whenever their dare to visit their communities.

The Amerindians are cognizant of the sinister motives of the PPP/C and are prepared to deal with the PPP/C accordingly whenever they dare to visit their communities begging for votes.

The A.F.C/A.P.N.U showed their true colors against the Amerindian population of Guyana, when they inflicted a severe cut to the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs Budgetary allocation.

The $1.1B that the parliamentary opposition did not approve was said to be used under the Amerindian Development Fund was exposed as money for uncontrolled vote-buying in the Amerindian communities. The money had nothing to do with capital expenditure.

Financial Analyst Christopher Ram

 

Who whould you believe, Chris Ram or Ralph Ramkarran on the 2014 budget?

that they draw down taxpayer dollars to pay a half-wit for posting these inanities on GNI is a true measure of the contempt the PPP Gov't has for the people of Guyana

smfh