David Hinds’s jaundiced views in conflict with reality (Pt 2)

Dear Editor,
Like his pal Freddie Kissoon, David Hinds continuously propagates the notion that the People’s Progressive Party “ruined Guyana”. They are shamelessly trying to rewrite the economic and rights history of this country, when those two in particular lived and suffered through the perilous dictatorship of the Burnham era. The second President of the United States, John Adams, is credited with the famous quote, “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
It was thanks to the prudent management of our resources by the PPP that Guyana had grown from bankruptcy in 1992 to the vibrant economy that the APNU/AFC coalition inherited in 2015. And I fear this government is determined to take us back to those dark, perilous times.
Perhaps David Hinds is influenced by his friend Freddie, for he has conveniently overlooked the positive changes that the PPP has made to our Constitution; to Parliament; to the Judiciary; and to the economy. The PPP reduced the massive debt burden and recorded years of sustained GDP growth. There were more investments, both local and foreign, that led to prosperity and job creation; and the housing sector exploded with the distribution of over 100,000 house-lots to Guyanese of all ethnic and political affiliations. The PPP built new schools and health-care facilities in every region, and expand welfare to our citizens. Yet none of this progress they see.
How sad that David Hinds has now been reduced to being the mouthpiece of the same corrupt political legacy he once despised.
And in another recent article in the media, “PPP has left Guyana in an ethnic trap” (April 24), Hinds wrote that the PPP’s political domination during its term in office translates into ethnic dominance, which “ensured that African Guyanese developed a very deep fear and hatred for that party”. According to the article, Hinds said that “the consequence is that attempts to reform governance will be seen by most PPP supporters as ethnic revenge on the part of the current government”. He then went on to justify the political witch-hunt and ethnic cleansing of those perceived to be PPP supporters in the Public Sector as an “ethnic imbalance that needs to be corrected”.
Space does not permit an appropriate response to the erroneously racist views the learned Professor advocates, and to do so may very well put me in trouble. But I will say this: When the PPP/C took office in 1992, the Public Sector was made up of 90-95 per cent Afro-Guyanese. Even after 23 years the composition of the Public Sector was still about 75-80 per cent Blacks in a country that has a significant Indian majority. On August 30, the Guyana Chronicle carried a photograph of the Attorney General posing with the staff of the AG Chamber. They were all Afro-Guyanese. Of the 60 to 70 employees of the Ministry of Legal Affairs (professional staff included), only about two Indo-Guyanese now work there. The others have either been dismissed or forced to resign. Since Independence 50 years ago, there was only ONE Indian Head of the Army, Major General Joseph Singh. And in the 23 years of PPP rule, there was only one Commissioner of Police, Seelall Persaud.
At the recent Carifesta Games held in Barbados, someone asked: “Why such a huge delegation only had approximately four persons of Indo-Guyanese origin in their midst, given that demographically Indo-Guyanese are the biggest ethnicity in Guyana? Because of the small number of Indo-Guyanese in the delegation, it was then left to other ethnicities to depict Indo-Guyanese culture in dance routines on stage.” (Stabroek News, September 2). And recently, the REO of Region Five employed 17 persons, all of whom are Afro-Guyanese in a region that is predominantly Indian.
During the 23 years of PPP rule, there was only ONE Indo-Guyanese Chief Justice, Carl Singh, who later became the only Indo-Guyanese Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary. And readers may recall that the PNC never gave Justice Singh the agreement that would have confirmed him as Chancellor.
There is no doubt that Afro-Guyanese fared much more under the PPP than at any time during the entire 28 years of PNC dominance. Some would readily admit that had it not been for the PPP, they would never be able to own a car, a bus or a home of their own. The evidence is everywhere. Ulrick Leacock, a vendor and APNU supporter, said, “If I vote back I would vote for the PPP because they were doing quite well. Which in, when they were in power for 23 years, I build a house and I was working for less money and now in APNU time, I cannot buy a bicycle.” The PPP stands prepared and committed to a public fact-based debate anytime with the likes of David Hinds and Eric Phillips to debunk this racist rhetoric they have been peddling for years to prevent more Afro-Guyanese from supporting the PPP. But don’t expect them to turn up, facts are stubborn things!

HARRY GILL
PPP/C Member of
Parliament