There will be darker days ahead if the PPP is re-elected

Dear Editor,
The most frightening question to all Guyanese in this election is what will Guyana be like in 2020 if the PPP is re-elected to office? Many are of the opinion that there will be greater deterioration in the social, economic and political sectors of the country, a serious decline in the lives of the people, especially the poor and the working class, as well as a massive increase in crime and human and capital flight. Quantitatively or qualitatively, the trends are pointing toward darker days for Guyana or toward a dystopian failed state if the PPP is re-elected to office on May 11.
Never mind the promises made by Ramotar and Jagdeo at their campaign rally in Kitty; no right-thinking Guyanese should ever believe them or take them taken seriously. They had promised the voters the moon and the stars in 2006 and again in 2011 but did not fulfill any of them. If the PPP wins the elections, there will be no national development plan, no reduction in crime and corruption, only the meager five percent increases in wages/salaries, more vulgarity and abuse, more raping of the treasury, more nepotism and cronyism and no help for the poor and the working class. After a decade of extraordinary pain, suffering and loss of loved ones due to armed robberies and senseless murders, the people are fed-up and afraid. They want a change from this crime ridden and corrupt life style in Guyana. Unlike the population which have to pay for their own security, the PPP oligarchs are well protected 24 hours a day with large numbers of security personnel at the taxpayers’ expense.
These events have triggered a deep existential sadness, a recognition that savagery is an increasing part of societal life, and worse, those who are in power are incapable of solving them. Instead, they continue to spew mindless psychobabble. Regrettably, when heinous crimes such as the political assassination of Courtney Crum Ewing are committed, one gets the sense that it will be another “cold murder case” because we know that the real murderers will not be caught. The Police have not made an intensive effort to solve it. Instead, they are buying time so that the late Crum Ewing murder like many other murders will become another cold case of unsolved murders. The truth is the top brass of police force is afraid of reprisals from those in authority. And worse, the leaders of the PPP have shown total disrespect for the dead with their vicious, slimy and hateful attacks against the late Courtney Crum Ewing who was laid to rest two weeks ago.
Many, including supporters of the PPP, feel they are like a runaway train with their vicious attacks on the most vulnerable and hapless victim and the dead. Critical areas that are severely impacting the people were not addressed at their Kitty rally and many others such as corruption, the raping of the treasury, mismanagement of the country’s resources, health care and education are not given the attention they deserve in this campaign by the PPP. The PPP cabal is more interested in addressing and meeting their own needs and those of their rich friends and relatives.
In Guyana, there is an urgent need for proper health care in areas of physical and mental health, but the current health care system is antiquated. The health care system lacks infrastructure, training and expertise at multiple levels, including the proper management of resources and personnel. The incompetent PPP regime has failed to design and develop a modern health care system, yet, they have allowed Surrendra Engineering to rob the taxpayers of over US$10 million in their ill-fated attempt to build the  Specialty Hospital. If built, the Specialty Hospital would have only benefitted themselves and their rich friends and relatives. The only access the poor and the working class would have had to the Specialty Hospital is to mop the floors, empty the garbage, become security guards and porters.
In terms of crime, there is not a single plan or strategy to get the crime rates down, and is nowhere close and will not be for a long time. In the meantime, Mr. Rohee continues to cite his own twisted statistics which often seem out of touch to fool the nation that the crime rate is going down. He is completely ignorant of the fact that security is a qualitative issue and that robbery is not just about mayhem and murder, but about the long term psychological pain and suffering of the victims.
It will take years of concerted effort and intense collaboration with ministries like a competent Ministry of Home Affairs, an effective and ingenious Ministry of Education, a sensible Ministry of Culture, and an intensely high-functioning and hands-on Ministry of Human Services to both solve crime and weed it out all-together. Solving crime is a very complex problem which has not been understood by the PPP regime and it is not their primary focus which means that the solution to the problem seems dim. Unless there is a change of government on May 11, the twin evils of armed robberies and murders will continue to reap havoc on the nation.  It is time for all to ponder what will happen to this and future generations if the PPP is re-elected to office?
Asquith Rose, Chandra Deolall, Dr. Merle Spencer-Marks.