Dealing with…mental health

Your Eyewitness is quite pleased that nowadays, we’re discussing “mental health” in Guyana – rather than complaining about “mad people” – as we’ve done for hundreds of years!! It’s not for nothing everyone used to talk about the “Berbice Mad House”, which was supposed to deal with the aforesaid “mad people”. In fact, the location of the “Mad House” in Berbice – with its OFFICIAL name being the “LUNATIC ASYLUM”, not helping any!! – allowed wags in the rest of the country to snicker that all Berbicians were MAD!!
Anyhow, Friday’s gonna be “World Mental Health Day” – with the theme “access to services – mental health in catastrophes and emergencies”. But have we in Guyana really accepted that “mental health” is just as critical to our well-being as “bodily health”?? Your Eyewitness doesn’t think so. No one gives a second thought when folks talk about visiting doctors, clinics or hospitals, but just mention – if you’re VERY bold – that you gotta check out a psychiatrist or psychologist!! Expect surreptitious side glances from folks who’ve suddenly become very wary when you’re around!!
And yes… your Eyewitness is speaking with authority from personal experience!! As when he’s “feeling down, wearing a frown” – but dare not tell even his buddies, who insist they engage in our national pastime of supporting rum shops!! Even if they’re kind, at best they’ll cackle that Eyewitness has “gone mental”!! Officially, according to the Health Ministry, 20 per cent of Guyanese suffer from one form of mental illness or another. But your Eyewitness thinks the figure is more like NINETY PERCENT – since just living in Guyana with every home blasting music that shakes your insides gotta drive everyone bonkers!!
Then when you leave your home, have you driven a car in Guyana’s demolition derby roads?? Walked around the Stabroek Market Square at ANYTIME – or around Georgetown after any elections since 1992?? Listened to some of these provocateurs on social media?? Used a minibus when you have a headache?? Or used a minibus – period??
And that’s why your Eyewitness – whose wife never fails to roll her eyes – gotta get his daily regular fix of beer after work!! But seriously, folks, your Eyewitness is pleased the Government now sees “mental health” as a “public health” issue to deal with. They’ve decriminalised suicide attempts and are making the umpteenth attempt to grapple with suicide.
They can also do well by starting with those street dwellers who inhabit the pavements of Georgetown and display obvious neurotic symptoms. They’ll be removing threats to pedestrians – while helping them.
And yes…the mental is as critical as the physical.

…oil challenges
Whatever happened to the “modular” oil refinery for which the Government had asked for “expressions of interest” (EOIs)? Back in 2019 – even BEFORE the first oil – a local rice magnate had announced he could build a 30,000 bpd one for only US$100 million!! He even announced he’d locate it at Linden. Your Eyewitness was then puzzled as to why Linden – since that’d mean extra shipping costs on a congested river!! But he figured the fella just wanted to sweeten the deal for the PNC – then in power!! The PNC didn’t bite.
The 2020 PPP/C Government renewed calls in 2022 and offered 30 acres of land plus all sorts of attractive incentives – including a decade-long tax holiday and supply of oil at market prices from the Government’s share of profit oil!! They received 4 offers to build the 30M bpd refinery on Crab Island in the Berbice River. The Finance Minister said the refinery would cost at least US$1 BILLION!!!
Then we heard there were logistical challenges and questions of scale of production?!! Shouldn’t we start beating the bushes again!!

…the Demerara crossing
After an initial hitch with the entry ramp from the West Side onto the BJDRB – which saw a personal intervention by Min Edghill to direct backup traffic – traffic’s now flowing quite freely, thank you!!
Imagine when the extended ramp kicks in!!