When will this confounded nonsense stop?? Your Eyewitness knows there’s a lot of “confounded nonsense” going on, but right now his hackles have been raised by the news that some PNC NDC guy from Den Amstel prevented the authorities from fixing the village’s playground!! Imagine that!! Seems like just a short while back that the President had visited Den Amstel and its neighbour Hague – it’s all Dutch to your Eyewitness!! – and had promised $10 million to bring the ground up to snuff so the youths could do sports, and not drugs!!
How dare he?? Who does he think he is?? Is this what he was elected to do?? To fix the problems identified by citizens?? Jeez…what will these PPP politicians think of next?? A President who ACUTALLY mixes with the hoi polloi – and appears to enjoy it to boot?! Soon he’ll want to hang with the boys and play dominoes!! But hold it…didn’t he actually do just that somewhere in the bush?? Where’s this country headed when its President doesn’t know he gotta keep his distance from the madding crowd while waving royally from his moving vehicle??
But we all know what’s going on here, don’t we?? After essentially the same thing happening at Mocha, Buxton, Golden Grove and Belladrum, you gotta be particularly dense not to be able to answer that question! Especially when the PNC leader has explicitly explained their stand: the PNC must be allowed to complain and moan about being “neglected” by the PPP Government!! Creating an “emerging apartheid state” no less!! It’s the only dog whistle they can blow – especially when they can throw “race” into the mix – to “keep their constituency” herded in their corral!! The PPP must not be allowed to take care of any identified problem!!
Now the PNC’s covering their dogged anti-development agenda for their “constituency” by throwing up the fig leaf that the Pres Ali central Government is “bypassing” the local government organs – which not so coincidentally might be controlled by THEIR party members!! But here it was – the contractor that was supposed to do the job was PREVENTED from doing so by the NDC guy!! Are we to expect that the next time Pres Ali and his Cabinet decide to clean up Georgetown for the umpteenth time, Mayor Narine’s gonna throw his body under the President’s rake??
How far is the PNC gonna take this “dog in the manger” attitude?? Tell their “supporters” not to accept house lots?? Or flood relief?? Are they so contemptuous of their supporters that they believe they can be swayed from voting for them at the next elections by filthy lucre??
Don’t they realise that their superlative development record during their THIRTY-THREE YEARS at the helm will keep their loyalty??
…to avoid
But your Eyewitness must confess that some “development” ain’t good. Equatorial Guinea – where Exxon just announced they’ll be pulling out – is a prime example. You must’ve heard the hype about us since 11+billion barrels of oil were discovered, haven’t you?? HIGHEST GDP increase in the world!! Next Dubai!! Richest country by per capita measure!! Etc, etc. Well, Equatorial Guinea’s been there, done that since oil was discovered by ExxonMobil in the mid-nineties!!
But, two decades, later they’re still one of the least developed countries in the world on the Human Development Index – 145th out of 189 countries!! The same President’s been ruling since 1979, and he has routinely “won” 90+% “votes”!! It has the HIGHEST INEQUALITY INDEX in the world – 65 GINI coefficient!! Our Government has committed to avoiding that downward spiral and creating real development through diversification of the economy and building physical and educational infrastructure.
We, the citizens, gotta do our part by increasing our human capital – and watching the Govt!!
