Everybody is fed-up with one thing or another. The positives that were expected from the change of government have come to absolute naught and criticisms of the Granger Administration are coming thick and fast and from every direction.
There is no “A” grade here and in a truly democratic country, this Government would have been booted out already by a unanimous no-confidence vote from the National Assembly. But Guyana is held hostage by its race politics and there is no putting country before party at any level of governance or society.
We moved from brutal colonial politics to self-government that continuously fails to deliver any good life, and whereas the Granger Government is facing three people’s protests, this triple-threat is unlikely to birth a unified mass movement that could be the catalyst that would transform our national landscape in every way.
Two years after the signing of the Cummingsburg Accord, that agreement is in tatters. From the first when Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo was denied the chairmanship of Cabinet meetings – as agreed to in the Accord – the verdict was in.
What has followed is a clear descent into Burnhamism: poor economic strategies; serial corruptions; PNC paramountcy; and an anti-Indian racism that is openly flaunted in every area from the composition of the civil service and State boards (the GPHC Board being the most recent) to the unjust treatment of the predominantly Indian Guyanese sugar workers following the Wales Estate closure.
That the sugar industry, which has historically significance to every citizen can be so meaningless to a Guyana government that it can simply shrug off a severance-pay dispute that affects hundreds of workers is not unlike the treatment our fore-parents received at the hands of the colonial planters.
A similar heartlessness is evident in Government’s gouging of the pockets of parents who choose to send their children to private educational institutions. Finance Minister Winston Jordan’s remark that parents have a “choice” was his “let them eat cake” moment with all the attendant haughtiness.
Freedom of choice is a fundamental democratic right and only a Government that cares little about our children and our country’s future would resort to punishing parents who make enormous sacrifices to give their children the best possible education.
And, anyway, what is the “choice” when Government concedes that the public education system is in need of comprehensive reform?
An online petition against the addition of VAT to school fees has received over 3,000 signatures. To sign the petition, go to: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/education-vat-free
The other contentious issue facing the Granger Government is the obscene SCSI Parking Meter Contract signed by Mayor Patricia Chase Green and three PNC Councillors.
Now that the details of the contract have been made public, everyone understands why they wanted to keep it secret. They have, basically, sold off the city and the rights of the citizenry to SCSI and Attorney General Basil Williams who perused the terms of the agreement saw nothing wrong with it legally or otherwise.
The still unanswered question is: what did the four signatories stand to gain from this obscenity?
The matter is now before the courts and the M&CC will have to show just cause why the contract should not be revoked.
That these three issues have attracted large protest support shows that there is a healthy level of civic-mindedness and fearlessness among Guyanese, and that they are willing to demonstrate their indignation and frustration with the hope that their voices will be heard even by a Government that continues to be tone-deaf and uncaring.
The protests are all underlined by financial concerns at a time when Guyana’s economy is contracting. The Private Sector Commission is sounding the alarm about its loss in confidence in the Government because of their ill-judged statements and inability to attract new investments to energise the business sector.
With the Granger Government behaving as if the country is actually making progress when all the statistics and analyses – and protests – show otherwise, Guyana seems to be suffering from the same kind of leadership, as in the US, that insists on its own “alternative reality”.
This was the case during the Burnham era, and the loss of confidence within the business sector reflects real fears that Guyana is being taken down that path again.
If we are indeed returned to that dark time, protests will once again be met with intimidation and State-sponsored violence.
Perhaps, the protests could all converge into a unified mass movement and become the first step in that longed for change that would steer Guyana in a positive direction.
