The Good, the Bad, and the P.P.P.
by Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine
From Caribbean Contact , October 16 - 19, 1996From being tbe richest country in the Caribbean, Guyana has descended into abject poverty. Its per capita income of less than US$ 700 renders it the .second poorest (after Haiti) in the Western Hemisphere. The once blessed bread basket of the Caribbean, and a jewel in the crown of the British Empire, now stands as a failed Republic, with a former Communist as its Head of State, with excessive bureaucracy feeding on the blood of the general populace, notwithstanding robbery and violence as common place as rice and sugar... indeed the entire country is a disaster. In fact, crime has spiraled to such heights that the President has sought the assistance of the army in its feeble, lopsided efforts to combat this scourge.
From a historical perspective one can objectively state that crime became a virtual way of life since the inception of the PNC to power. A bad syndrome that, even to this day, still engulfs every facet of life in Guyana. What is even worse in this scenario is the fact that the much condemned police commissioner, Laurie Lewis, has had his tenure extended, and the very political subservience of the force that Dr. Jagan castigated as opposition leader has been diverted towards bis own ends. The harassment meted out to supporters of Asgar Ally's GDP and tbe brutality of picketers out side of parliament buildings protesting the cyanide spill at OMAI's goldmine are grim reminders of the good and bad attributes of political dictates. Instating Laurie Lewis to fight crime is like installing Elizabeth Taylor as a marriage counsilor. In tbe PNC days official corruption was prevalent, as was media cover-up of distasteful events.
The power barge, bought by Public Utitities Robert Corbin, and tbe stabbing to death of Fr. Bernard Darke are respectively two profound examples of these phenomena. Such evil as condemned and highlighted by the P.P. even in the wake of so called investigations. The Jonestown mass suicide, the shooting of Education Minister Vincent Teekah, the beating of catholic nun, Sister Doreen Rowtie, in 1990 during a GUARD march, were all but obliterated from the media by the PNC regime. Indeed a bad sore as far as democracy is concerned. These incidents are now, however, confined to history.
But what of the present regime? Are the officials any different In 1994 the Head of State, Finance. Minister Bharat Jagdeo (then a Junior Minister) and Presidential Secretariat Head, Dr. Roger Luncheon, embarked on a trip to the far East. Much controversy arose especially as to the nature of the funding of the trip which was done by a logging company, BARAMA which the gov't was at loggerhead with.
Shortly afterwards Finance Minister Asgar Ally resigned for personal reasons. By then he had already sold the gov't owned GBTI (Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry) share en bloc to one entrepreneur, the Beharry Group of Companies, under highly suspicious conditions.
Then last year Customs Officials uncovered a gold smuggling racket involving top Guyanese businessmen, many of whom are P.P.P supporters. The result: "an investigation is being carried out!"
This is the sort of action the Guyanese public is all too familiar with and the question must be asked: " Is the P.P.P a good .. or bad govt?
In the manner that Forbes Burnham proclaimed Feed, Clothe and House the Nation by 1976 (we all know the result of this) Jagan has annonnced a Lean and Clean administration. Still, rampant corruption in the police force, customs, public service and the judiciary are as manifest as ever, and to this end the P.P.P, by its hands off approach, is acquiescing to this disease. The good promise to have police officials declare their assets has fallen through the holes in the P.P.P's cup. Police and Customs officials continue to acquire million dollar vehicles and property which are disapportionate from their salaries.
Amidst all this stands the decent hard workmg citizens of the country, those who believe in the cause of a duly elected govt, especially its godlike leader Dr. Cheddi Jagan. This sense of idealism becomes shattered by the stark reality of the fact that one man's personal integrity is no offset for the proliferation of corrupt administrators, many of whom are in his own party. Notwithstanding, the very same administrative structures and personnel that were facilitators of mayhem and corruption are basically still intact. Paradoxically, persons like Dr. Henry Jeffrey (Labor minister) Huley Hanoman (PPP MP), Kim Kissoon (LlNMINE's Chairman), Maniram Prashad (Georgetown Chamber ol Commerce President) were all former PNC henchmen. Huley Hanoman even went as far as writing a book entitled "Why I support Hoyte and the PNC". While forgiveness can be described as a moral virtue it can also produce disastrous consequences for the entire nation.
The President often quotes statistics on the Western World but his role model for development should be countries like Singapore, Malaysia Trinidad and India - poor countries which prospered through highly creative and discipline economic policies. Leaders like Lee Kwan Yue (Singapore) Eric Williams (T&T) Teddy Roosevelt (USA) Winstor Churchill (England) are persons the head of state should emulate for they all had creative and highly successful programs - not the likes of Stalin, Krushchev. Castro, Mao - Tse - Tung and company who devastated their respective countries through the ill-fated ideology of communism. The accomplishments of these men will always be remembered for the history of the world is essentially the history of the lives of great men.
In the final analysis Jagan should realize that in the like manner he abused his control, through GAWU, of the sugar workers to pressure the PNC, the PNC is using the Police Force, the Public Service and crime as a strategic weapon of destabilization of his gov't. And while he may yet be victorious at the upcoming elections the working - class people will not taste this achievement for it is they, more than any other section of the population, who will be the losers.
The real hypocrasy of this govt lies in ambiguity in its assessment of people associated with backtrack and contraband, for even though the govt has advocated harsh penalties for these offences it does not say 'no' to donations from contraband dealers. In New York, thousands of people who reached America via the backtrack route, contribute liberally towards the PPP's cup -- their dollars are not considered dirty. Another dumb procedure is the monitoring of remigrants so that they do not abase duty free concessions. Deportees on the other hand, go unmonitored. In other words remigrants pose more danger than deportees!. Where is tbe good governance?
In the meantime schools are being refurbished and built with foreign money, the economy is being run along the lines of the very Economic Recovery Program that Jagan condemned and each passing day produces another drug deal, another violent robbery, another set of backtrack deportees, another bribe to customs, police and the public service, another oversees visit by a govt functionary, and another promise to fight crime and corruption......
The Guyana nation can no longer be sustained on promises, it is a time for action not excuses. As the man says when you come to shoot, shoot! Don't talk...'