Dear Editor,
After the 2015 Elections, the APNU/AFC embarked on an unparalleled egocentric course which had even thrust its own supporters and members into a state of oblivion and total abandonment when it comes to implementing social and economic policies to rescue them from a dire state of poverty and social ills.
This state of affairs does not surprise in the least, since I live in close proximity to Fyrish village and had witnessed many excursions from the Coalition, and yet, the condition of the people there had not been alleviated at all.
In April 2016, then President Granger visited the village for a second time, and in what had become his trademark ‘bowling’ delivery, urged the residents to strengthen the pillars: the church, the school, the home and the farm, to ensure the revival of the fortunes of the village, which once stood as an agriculture powerhouse and the ‘fruit bowl’ of the Corentyne.
It should be recalled that he had declared Region 6 as the ‘sugar bowl’ and ‘rice bowl’ on some of his ‘outreaches’. Unfortunately, the only ‘bowl’ he succeeded in delivering to Region 6 was the ‘begging bowl’. It is instructive to note that, more than one year after Granger’s ‘pillar and fruit bowl’ speech at the Village Day observances, the entire Fyrish farmland was inundated by flood waters, and all the fruit trees and plantain trees were laid waste.
On 17th October this year, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and his team held a well-attended meeting with residents and farmers at the Fyrish Primary School. I had expected that after Granger and Harmon had visited the village on numerous occasions, the residents would have had most of their problems resolved, but that was wishful thinking. In fact, Minister Mustapha was bombarded with multiple problems which should have been resolved. It was clear that the Granger Government had neglected the very ‘pillars’ which he had philosophised about in 2016.
The visibly disappointed residents complained bitterly about truckloads of garbage blocking most of the drains, sanitation issues, and drainage and irrigation problems. It simply cannot be that all these problems just materialised after 2nd August 2020. It was evident that the ‘farm’ pillar was not properly erected, and was not given the transformative boost needed. It was clear that there will not be any plantains to manufacture the famous plantain chips, and the attempts to grow non-traditional crops suffered many setbacks.
Fortunately, the Minister did not walk alone, since he was not on an ‘excursion’ trip. Minister Zulfikar, upon listening to these myriad problems, immediately instructed the various members of his team to set upon the issues raised, and resolve them as a matter of great urgency. The team comprised Dr Oudho Homenauth from NAREI, Nizam Hassan from GRDB, Frederick Flatts from NDIA, the Regional Chairman and Vice Chairman, and others.
In addition, residents raised the issue of an excavator being used as the personal asset of an APNU member, and the illegal distribution of over 800 acres of land to another. Immediately, the excavator was transferred to the Region, and the land issue came under investigation.
I am sure that the Fyrish story is another replica of what had manifested itself in various other villages which had strongly supported the Coalition. It was evident that Granger and his ministers had just visited these villages to have fun unlimited. It was about big celebrations, pomp and pageantry, and the next day hungry bellies growling. They never cared to uplift the residents from the social and economic quagmire which engulfed and threatened their livelihoods, and which became widespread after 2015. They fooled and deceived the people. They destroyed sugar, and were in the process of doing so with rice, and then they placated the situation by dangling the ‘oil money’ in front of the people.
The residents were clearly happy that the closed estates are being reopened, and that Albion Estate, which provide employment to many residents from the village, was saved from the Coalition’s guillotine. This Agriculture Minister has already made a tremendous difference to the agriculture sector.
The Coalition never cared to put money in the pockets of the people. In fact, they took money out of the people’s pockets. Today, Santa Claus has arrived early from the North Pole, and each household is being given $25,000 to assist them during the pandemic. It is a timely boost after the Coalition’s Grinch would have stolen Christmas from them since 2015. In addition, the 2020 Budget has ensured that $20 billion go back into the pockets of our people.
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
