The Guyana Public Service Union is looking closely at the call by the newly formed `Unite Guyana’ group for a total shutdown of the country this Wednesday in protest at the crime wave.
The two groups met yesterday to discuss the proposal and strategies they may want to adopt for the occasion.
Meanwhile, a source close to the government yesterday told Stabroek News that as far as he knew the government had not been notified by any group of the plans to shut down the country. A full page advertisement in yesterday and Friday’s Stabroek News says “The Government and the Opposition have failed 93% of the Guyanese people.”
According to the advertisement, the political parties and government must accept that the country is in crisis; they must come together to resolve the most pressing problem of safety and security of citizens immediately without any preconditions; the security forces must take more proactive and direct action to resolve the crime situation; explanation must be given to citizens as to the failure to uphold the fundamental rights of all civilised societies. Failure to address these issues, they said, will force a continuation of protest actions.
The group demanded that all the political parties come together to solve the crime situation.
The advertisements were sponsored by a number of businesses, many of which operate on Regent Street.
The PNC/R also reacted to the call for a shutdown. PNC Chairman Robert Corbin on Thursday told reporters that “the PNC Reform is not the government of Guyana.”
He said people were beginning to look on the PNC/R as though they were the government and blaming the PNC/R for what the government had not been doing.
Told that the government and the PNC/R were mainly responsible for the state of affairs in the country, Corbin said “it is unfair to say that the PNC/R as a party could be responsible.”
Though no one group yesterday wanted to admit to placing advertisements, Stabroek News understands that the organisers have approached some of the unions including the Guyana Public Union for support.
A source close to the GPSU yesterday told this newspaper that some members of the union’s executive were “favourably disposed to considering the ‘shut-down’ since it has merit.”
The union executive was likely to discuss the issue today to work out the details of their possible participation and to throw it out to the general membership tomorrow whether they agree to take part.
The general feeling from the union, the source said, was that it was likely that GPSU support would be forthcoming even though earlier initiatives by the union to attract support from the organisers calling for the day of protest had failed.
The union, the source said, was very much concerned about the rising level of criminal activity permeating the society.
Meanwhile, the ‘Unite Guyana’ group met again yesterday and is said to be canvassing individual support for the day of protest. Some felt that one day alone would not be effective to send a strong enough message to the country’s “politicians” whom they blame for the current state of affairs.
Stabroek News understands that the idea of a total shutdown arose from a meeting of members of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) last week.
While the call for the shutdown met with a good response from the majority of members, the idea was embraced less wholehartedly by some members of the GCCI executive.
This newspaper was unable to get a comment from the GCCI President Edward Boyer on the GCCI’s official position.
Calls to the Chairman of the of Guyana Manufacturers’ Association, Ramesh Dookie, and other executives of that organization on Friday and Saturday regarding their position on the issue, were not returned. Based on the sponsorship of the advertisement it was evident that individual members of both the GCCI and the GMA were in support of a day of protest.