Get Mr Norton and his colleagues to change, or change them out

Dear Editor,
Please allow me a response to that letter from Aubrey Norton, entitled “All must oppose the creeping economic apartheid in Guyana”, which appears in the Kaieteur News of Monday, April 24, 2021.
In that letter, Mr Norton continues his thoughtless and uncontrolled statements which can kindle fears, suspicions, and insecurities among all Guyanese, particularly at this time Afro-Guyanese and others who support the PNC/R/APNU+AFC.
The PPP, from its inception, has been aware that such fears, suspicions and insecurities would arise naturally in a country with a population composed like ours; and from its beginning, the PPP/PPP/C has been striving to bring together people from all groups in Guyana, to work together at building our country. In that process, we would grow and develop ourselves, and create the experiences and bonds which would, in time, be the substance of the overarching sense of being Guyanese of Guyana.
It is easy for Mr Norton to make those charges of discrimination, marginalisation, economic genocide and economic apartheid, but he does so at significant cost to our people and country as a whole; and, more so, those reckless accusations sap the enthusiasm, initiative, and application of PNC/R/APNU+AFC supporters – Afro-Guyanese and others.
Those declarations made by Mr Norton on Social Media had come to notice on April 12th, and on April 14th, on the sidelines of the installation of the Local Government Commission, H.E. President Irfaan Ali addressed those reckless charges.
In the abovementioned letter, Mr Norton claims the President has gone quiet since he provided evidence of PPP racism. I checked with the Office of the President, but did not find any such submission. Mr Norton’s charges: that, quote: “The PPP’s action of depriving African Guyanese and Indigenous communities of the resources to develop small and medium-sized businesses, and focusing them on handouts and the development of playing fields and sport, in general, is a clear path to creating dependent and marginalised African and Indigenous communities while the PPP gets richer and dominates and controls our society”, would have been amusing grand-standing and posturing were they not so dangerous, playing to the still ever-present emotional fears and suspicions in the minds of all our people, within and without our country. If only five percent of his intended audience were to be galvanised by those reckless accusations, our Guyana would be plunged into another period of troubles.
Our PPP Government’s programmes for sports, games, playing fields, scholarships, and assistance to small and medium-sized businesses are publicised in the media, and are available to all our citizens. And the Government has been going further: Ministers have been going out across the country to bring attention to them. Minister Juan Edghill was in Kwakwani and Linden last week, telling about the 20,000 online scholarships; and, this weekend, he and the Minister of Public Service would be leading teams to those locations to register interests and receive applications.
With respect to small and medium-scale businesses, the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce last February held training sessions in Linden for people from more than 200 businesses, and are processing 50-plus applications for grants. The fact that Region 10 is largely Afro-Guyanese, overwhelmingly voting for the PNC unto now, has been in no way deterring our provision of what our Government has to give our citizens of that Region.
Concerning his allegations that this PPP/C Government has been taking away land “legally” acquired by Afro-Guyanese and supporters of the APNU+AFC, the PPP had stated repeatedly that subsequent to the NCM of December 21st, 2018, and more so after March 02, 2020, the Coalition Government had no authority to transact new business. We have put the transactions of that period under review, and most have been allowed to continue.
This PPP/C Government could not, and would not, want to take away any property fully legally acquired. There were a number of sales that were attempted to be completed in a great hurry, with little or no cash transfers, and in some cases without the knowledge of the beneficiaries. A number of those beneficiaries have entered a return–reverse and start-over procedure. We are firstly for growth and development of all; resolution and regularisation, not “take-away”, has been the direction of this PPP/C Government.
Mr. Norton raises again the question of the PPP treating bauxite and sugar differently, which I have responded to a number of times before; and he paints the proposed short, direct, quick Bartica-to-Timehri trail link as a bypass of Linden and de-emphasising of the Linden-Lethem road. He completely ignores the publicised costly asphalt surfacing of the Linden-Mabura section, which is to commence.
Concerning the bauxite issues, we, the PPP/C Government, can say again with a clear conscience that we have treated bauxite and bauxite communities equitably. Coming into Office in 1992, we inherited covenants committed to by the outgoing PNC, which in 1994 required us to cease and terminate all Government subsidies to the bauxite sector, and to close it down.

The PPP/C did not comply, but violated those covenants, and had to find ways that would pass muster to continue subsidies to the bauxite operations and communities until core-partners for their privatization were found – BOSAI and RUSAL – about the mid-2000s. We regretted the disturbances in Aroaima in 2009 and all that followed, which have brought us today to the effective closure of those operations up the Berbice River.
The Union leaders have not been blameless, and must shoulder much of the responsibility for what occurred. Many seemed to think that they were living in the days of the late 1960s and early 1970s, leading up to the nationalisations of the foreign-owned bauxite companies then; when, no doubt with some instigation, they were doing and getting away with a lot that would not normally have been acceptable. It set the stage for the recurring troubles in the bauxite sector after nationalisation.
These are different times. APNU+AFC had let the Aroaima situation stand over the period 2015 to 2020. I know of no new consideration that should lead the PPP/C Government to do differently now.
It is in his clutching at straws in the way he portrays the proposed Bartica-to-Timehri link that one can discern Mr Norton’s emotional fear of losing out in the growth and development of our people and country.
Both Linden and Bartica are gateways to our hinterland, Linden more to the south and east, Bartica more to the south-west, west, and north-west; and, indeed, Bartica has the longer, stronger, historical claim to be the gateway.
There is an existing road link between Bartica and Georgetown – a journey that takes about six hours, and covers about 55 miles of trail, one barge crossing, and 65 miles of surfaced road. The proposed Bartica-Timehri link, constituted of two barge crossings, about 28 miles of trail and 25 miles of surfaced road, should provide a shorter journey of about three hours.
The Bartica-Timehri link has been the obvious next step as we develop, in stages, a network of trails and roads across our country.
When the PPP/C left office in 2015, we were leaning towards the installation of new lane- and-a-half-wide, steel and concrete bridges throughout the length of the Linden-Lethem road, including one across the Kurupukari as our next major development. On returning to office in August 2020, we found that the APNU+AFC had chosen the surfacing of the Linden-Mabura section as their first stage of development, and arrangements were far advanced. The PPP/C chose not to make a change, but have quickly concluded the arrangements for financing this hefty US$190 million project (UK 66 grant + CDB 112 loan+ G-o-G 12), ensuring its early commencement.
Further, even as I was writing this letter, HE President Ali has announced the Government’s commitment to replacing all the existing wooden bridges along the Linden-Lethem trail with concrete bridges, so that the benefits of the surfaced Linden-to-Mabura section would not be diminished by problems along the Mabura-to-Lethem section.
The PPP is investing a lot in keeping Linden as a gateway, striving to develop the Millie’s Hideout-to-Wiruni Landing trail and the Kwakwani-to-Orealla-to-Moleson Creek trail which has recently been announced.
If Linden and Region 10, Afro-Guyanese Afro-communities, and supporters of the APNU+AFC do not take part and benefit equitably in the prosperity which the PPP/C is working for, it would be because Mr Norton and other leaders of the PNC – including, most distressingly, young Amanza Walton-Desir and James Bond – have been continuing to play to the natural fears, suspicions and insecurities of their supporters. Their supporters must cause them to change, or change them out. I understand that a glorious opportunity is at hand. Miraculous things can and do happen. I think of the two years from 1990 to 1992, when I was asked every day, “Do you think that the PNC will ever allow you and Cheddi to win any election? And if by some miracle Cheddi and the PPP were to win, do you think dem people would ever make you their Prime Minister?” Those seemingly impossible things did happen.

Sincerely,
Samuel A.A. Hinds
former President and former Prime Minister