That old – very old!! – saying by the old Hollywood siren Mae West – “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor; but believe me rich is better!!” was, of course, prompted by the even older saying that “the poor will inherit the earth”! That, however, didn’t address the cries of the poor about their miserable lives in the here and now – as they await their “inheritance”!! So, we invented Government which would be responsible for guiding us folks to get out of their poverty and at least have enough wealth to be able to live with dignity.
Well, in Guyana, we experienced the situation explained by Kwame Nkrumah that while our poor were promised their reward in Heaven – and then looked upwards as they waited – the Europeans stole their lands and what it produced to give them the wealth – so they could drink their rum swizzles and kick their feet!!
And we found out to our cost, however, that unlike what Nkrumah figured, when we kicked out the Europeans, the manna didn’t fall from heavens to make us rich. The hitch came from two facts – firstly that most of those we elected to govern the country to deliver wealth – they delivered that wealth to themselves!! Like Burnham and the PNC who seized control of the “commanding heights of the economy” – but destroyed it with their policy of “jobs for the boys”!! The poor lost corn and husk!!
The second was getting the necessary capital to develop the economy that would generate jobs and money. Well, since the PPP returned to office in 1992, they’ve been giving yeoman service on that challenge of the poor – having inherited one of the highest per capita debt burden from the PNC. Our poverty level gradually started heading downwards, but it remained stubbornly high because of the literal financial hole we were placed by the PNC!!
Then, of course, came the oil in 2015 – manna not from the heavens but below the sea!! The progress has been dramatic. For the poor, this was emphasised by the former head of the Private Sector Commission – a self-made business czar from Canal – who just made a dramatic announcement. Earlier, he’d created some waves when he told a visiting IMF team that in Guyana “poverty was voluntary”! He’s now put his money where his mouth is with a bold challenge after hearing from one particular band of Opposition wailing Jeremiahs that so many remained poor.
“I’ll take you out of poverty within one to six months, providing you’re willing to do two things.” The opportunities are out there, he assured us – he’d simply identify those opportunities and then it would DEPEND on the complainers to first take the jobs then work hard – six days a week!!
Any takers??
…stable
Another reason for our stubborn poverty is the Opposition not only moaning and groaning about “poverty” but makes it a self-fulfilling prophecy, which discourages investment. The US Ambassador just pointed this out: “Investment requires more than just a favourable business climate. The two most common concerns we hear from US companies looking at potentially investing in Guyana are political and civil unrest – especially surrounding elections and Venezuela.” The first is from the Opposition and the second is from Mad Maduro!
The Opposition should quit their opportunistic exploitation of the poor and take up the PSC former Head’s challenge to ease up on their looting, burning and general mayhem – which creates a vicious poverty circle! The Ambassador continued, “Maduro’s rhetoric is inflammatory and unacceptable, but at the end of the day, it is just bluster aimed at shoring up domestic support.”
If Maduro ain’t all bluff and bluster, as your Eyewitness described yesterday, the US gonna deal with him!! The Opposition must eschew violence!!
…democratic
The US Ambassador also identified elections that the Opposition always use to create tensions. In a statement that should put shivers in the latter’s backs, she promised the ABCEU countries gonna repeat their 2020 role to deliver clean elections!!
