Your Eyewitness is kinda surprised by the Opposition’s recent interpretation of “democracy”. He’d always thought that, in democracies, political parties organize themselves and appeal to the people to get as many votes as they can. In this way, they’d win elections to run the villages, districts, towns, or the country, to better the lives of the people, no? But what the Opposition are doing is complaining bitterly that the PPP are “poaching” their voters!! Now, “poaching” is when you capture wildlife on someone else’s property. So, are African Guyanese the PNC’s “wildlife” on their transported property, whom the PPP shouldn’t court??
What the heck is this?? Sure, your Eyewitness knows that, for the last half of a century, our people have been voting along ethnic lines; but no one informed him that, because of this, the PNC and the PPP acquired prescriptive rights over them!! He thought that only applied to land!! But then, if the PNC see their erstwhile supporters as “wildlife”, then maybe they go with the land?? But then, haven’t the Opposition – as well as the Government – been insisting we should stop voting “race” and start voting for parties because we trust or like their programs etc.?? So, the PPP are violating the rules of democracy by seeking African Guyanese votes? And they’re “slave catchers” to do so?? Are African Guyanese “slaves” as well as “wildlife”??
Anyhow, with the PPP appearing like an unstoppable juggernaut with just two days to go for the LGE, the PNC have become even more hysterical that their hold over “municipalities” – read Georgetown – might be slip-sliding away!! They’ve issued a statement claiming “with the growing demand for land in urban areas, the PPP’s campaign in municipalities is intended to control town councils so that they can raise property taxes and confiscate lands from those who can no longer pay or who have outstanding debts. The PPP wants your valuable land to hand over to its elite, friends, family and favourites”!!!
Can you believe this tripe?? This is undiluted fearmongering of the most despicable kind – plain and simple. Let’s take a look at the tax rates of municipalities. Didn’t the PNC, in 2018, engage the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC)/Axilogic of Canada for the “modernization of Guyana’s property assessment system to ensure a complete national property inventory”?? Didn’t both Finance Minister Jordan and Communities Minister Bulkan bemoan that the tax rates – especially of municipalities – needed to be raised??
In the 2018 Budget, Jordan announced that “NDCs and municipalities must be financially self-sufficient if they are to deliver and maintain quality public goods and services to their constituents”!! So, if the PPP were to raise rates and taxes, wouldn’t they be following the PNC’s lead??
…fires
It was a spectacular sight, but an even more spectacular demonstration of the effect of Global Warming. Who could’ve ever imagined that forest fires in Canada would smother New York City – five hundred miles to the south – in smoke??! We all have relatives in the Big Apple, so your Eyewitness is pretty sure you were shown directly, or on the news, NYC becoming a ghostly apparition straight out of Conan Doyle’s fog-wreathed London!! And the forest fires weren’t from the Canadian West that’s typically conflagrated – like the American West – at this time.
No siree Bob!! These are fires in eastern Quebec – now literally feeling the heat like it never did before!! So, your Eyewitness is hoping this’ll be another piece of evidence to convince the global behemoths up north they gotta do more on Global Warming. America’s iconic Colorado River in their National Park has almost disappeared. All tourists can see is a faint sliver from the top of the Canyon!!
Carbon Credits ain’t enough!!
…peace in Haiti
Piggybacking on the US’ US$54M aid to Haiti, Caricom’s Good Offices Initiatives, including appointment of an Eminent Persons Group, will broker discussions with Haitian stakeholders, starting with meetings in Jamaica from 11-13 June, 2023.
Peace!!
