A private tour operator came up with the idea of marketing Jonestown as a tourist destination; and boy, has she spawned a spirited debate in and out of the chatterati class! They’re the ones who insist on enlightening us with their opinions in the letters’ pages every morning, as we blearily start our day. Now, did you notice you didn’t have to ask, “Which Jonestown?” in your Eyewitness opening line above? That’s right – Jonestown’s known by one and all – both inside and outside Guyana.
Especially outside. Not even being credited with the world-famous “Demerara Brown Sugar” had many heard of Guyana, before Jim Jones served up that spiked Cool Aid that killed 909 of his followers – including himself. Another five – US Congressman Leo Ryan, NBC correspondent Don Harris, NBC soundman Bob Brown, newspaper photographer Greg Robinson, and Temple defector Patty Parks – were shot to death at the Port Kaituma airstrip. Then four – Sharon Amos and her children: Liane Harris, Christa Amos and Martin Amos – died at the “Peoples Temple” house in Lamaha Gardens in Georgetown. The total number who died in that tragedy was 918!! That’s the largest ever recorded mass suicide – pushing that of the ancient Jews after the Roman siege at Masada. Mourned for millennia, that’s now described as being “only 28” killed!!
Those who’re against the idea of Jonestown being a tourist spot basically think it’s too ghoulish, and only revive the negative coverage we received back then. And this would dull our newfound lustre as the “fastest growing economy in the world”!
Now, your Eyewitness can understand this view – but doesn’t think it should kill the proposal. Jonestown’s part of our past – even though some insist it was an “American thing”. That might be so – but the gruesome act was committed HERE, and this might be the time for us to deal with it on our terms now that our oil money has given us a voice.
As far as your Eyewitness is concerned, several aspects of the sordid episode must be clarified – with the main one being the relationship between the settlement founded by Jim Jones and the PNC of Burnham. The latter had massively rigged the 1973 elections, and was governing Guyana as a dictator when permission was given. Burnham dubbed himself a “revolutionary socialist” just as Jim Jones had dubbed himself, which was the basis of their relationship. Another was the Peoples Temple’s use of financial and sexual bribes to PNC officials to circumvent the laws of our land.
Lastly, there’s a need to clear up what happened after the mass suicide, when only PNC officials were allowed to enter the compound. Allegedly millions in jewellery and cash were removed.
THAT’s ghoulish!!
…racist charges
Race, of course, permeates and pervades all interactions in Guyana. The question is: How’re we gonna deal with it? One present instance is that of a prominent African Guyanese businessman – who’d asserted very publicly and trenchantly that commercial banks in Guyana are discriminating against Afro-Guyanese – forcing them to pay interest rates significantly higher when compared to other ethnicities. This became a rallying cry for the Opposition, and the businessman was hosted on several of their platforms and was appointed as their rep on the NRF.
Recently, he snarkily claimed VP Jagdeo was a “Jack of all trades and master of none”, and that he “has a genetic predisposition to eating his cake and having it.” The VP retorted that the latter assertion smacked of a racial smear against Indian Guyanese, of which he’s a member – and with whom his party has long been associated.
The businessman has now turned this assertion as “racially provocative”, and has lodged a complaint with the ERC!! Maybe Jagdeo should cross-file a charge??!!
…land sores
Proposed changes in the compulsory acquisition of land by the state are being pilloried by the Opposition, that its operations would most adversely affect African Guyanese “ancestral lands”. Since, aside from Amerindians’, all lands have been purchased, how come only the latter’s “ancestral”?
