Dear Editor,
When the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) was established in 2000, and publicly launched in 2003 in the midst of the political and socio-economic as well as racial violence in Guyana, there was hope that this “independent” agency would serve as the mitigating force in the nation’s affairs, thereby resulting in peace, harmony, cohesion and equality.
From its mandate then, which saw it taking a hands-on approach to the reports of violence, hate speech, racial intolerance, political hostility and discrimination, the ERC was seen as an organisation with the ability to take serious action against anyone who broke the law in the abovementioned respects.
The ERC had also been seen reaching out to groups and creating behavioural change and a new way of thinking, more in line with the modern Guyana, in which the race of a person ought not to influence his/her decisions. The ERC was very prominent in the society, and there were signs of a progressive nation, which could at times put race aside and celebrate things that were common, traditional, and good for Guyana.
Sadly, this was not to last past the years when Mr Bharrat Jagdeo was President. In 2011, Robert Corbin filed an injunction which, to this date, we are still seeing the effects of. Notwithstanding that it was filed in an election year, it stalled, derailed, and interfered with the work of the ERC.
History would attest that there were delays and bottlenecks deliberately placed by the PNC-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC), which controlled the National Assembly, and those bottlenecks resulted in the ERC never being reconstituted in the house during that period of the one-seat majority.
Quickly, the Government changed and a Social Cohesion Ministry was created to do exactly what the ERC could have done, but the Ministry had more political bias and focus. In 2018, the ERC was reconstituted, and a new chairman was chosen. He would take on the role of objectively changing the ERC to the liking of those in power. The incumbent APNU+AFC Government then launched a most ethnically-polarising programme ranging from the firing of thousands of Indigenous peoples employed in the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) to firing of even more thousands in the sugar industry in an ethnically-directed manner.
There were countless reasons for the ERC to intervene. I recall the cries of then PPP/C Parliamentarian Gail Texeira, the Amerindian organisations, Indian Arrival Committee, and the dismissed professionals for ERC to investigate these practices, which were unfair and political in nature. Persons even went to the extent of carrying complaints to the ERC, only to be informed that the body would investigate. Time passed, and the ERC only grew more silent and mum on the events, which could one day boil over, thereby causing a clash of races or racial interest.
Even when there was the opportunity of saying something or making statements that could stop this denigration into violence, all that the ERC said was ‘nothing’ and ‘nothing of substance’.
The words of Volda Lawrence that justified a discriminatory employment policy of the former Government are still fresh in the minds of the people. What did the ERC say? Nothing! At least nothing meaningful.
We had the recent brutal killings of Joel and Isaiah Henry, followed by the murders of Haresh Singh and Prettipaul Hargobin. What did the ERC say about the killings to prevent mass protests, burglaries, ethnic violence, and disturbance in Guyana? Nothing. In the end, all that took place led Guyana right where it was at the time of 1998. Had quick action not been taken by the Police and President Irfaan Ali, we would not have seen the end.
The ERC has to undergo a reform yet again. It should hang its head in shame and disgrace. It needs an urgent transformation back into an organisation which manages the affairs of this country in a preventative manner, as opposed to always being reactionary.
The conversations on race relations in Guyana will take place, but they must do so against the backdrop of a truly independent and unbiased ERC. If not, the ERC will become a toothless poodle in the fight against injustice, discrimination and racial inequality.
Sincerely,
Alvin Hamilton
