Dear Editor,
Quite recently, I was in Rupununi, Region 9 (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and was bombarded with the following complaints by villagers.
* The Minister of Public Health, Dr George Horton, lied to the family of Thelma Rebeiro, saying that he will visit her on the 5th September, 2016 at the Lethem Hospital, even though he recently visited villages in South Rupununi; Thelma Rebeiro, in the meanwhile, continues suffering at the Lethem Hospital, unable to regain consciousness after two surgeries for gallstones at the Lethem and Georgetown Public Hospitals.
The surgeries were done in April 2016. Even the Guyana Medical Council (GMC) failed to carry out an investigation to determine the cause for Thelma Rebeiro’s current health condition, which seems highly suspicious that the doctors who performed the surgeries may be at fault, which the GMC intends to hide.
* The Government’s Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS) is in jeopardy and may soon collapse because stipends are not being paid to participants of the programme.
* The Brazilians who are contracted by the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) to dig eight wells in the Rupununi region are not paying their Amerindian workers on the claim that the GWI is not paying the Brazilian contractors. Recently, the Brazilians had to borrow money from a Shulinab businessman to pay their Amerindian workers. The businessman in Shulinab Village has not being repaid as yet. Dr Richard Van West-Charles needs to urgently investigate this matter.
* The rich and powerful in the Rupununi are now bent on taking away titled Amerindian village lands. In Parikwaranau Village, a known rancher has taken away a portion of the village’s land where a house has been built and a ranch demarcated with the erection of a notice board. This matter has since been reported to the Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, Sydney Allicock, in August 2016, but so far no action has been taken. The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) was also called to investigate this piracy of Parikwaranau’s titled village lands.
* The Region 9 tender board seems to be awarding contracts to persons who cannot build, neither repair roads and as a result, lots of sub-standard works are being carried out. A road entering Aishalton was recently built but has now collapsed. The Region 9 tender board needs investigating.
* Illegal mining activities at the Marudi Mountains are causing severe environmental damages with no government interventions, such as Aishalton, where the heavy trucks of the illegal miners are destroying the main public road from Lethem to the deep south of the Rupununi. It was alleged that the Region 9 Regional Executive Officer (REO) has given the permission for illegal mining activities at the Marudi Mountains. Has the mediation process headed by Mr Joe Singh in relation to mining at the Marudi Mountains completely failed?
* The awarding of second hand all-terrain vehicles (ATVS) to health workers of South Rupununi by the Ministry of Public Health, will not last. The health workers are highly concerned.
* Health workers do not get fuel and are now taking out the sick from villages to the Lethem hospital and returning them back to the villages by the REO. Is this a directive from the Granger Administration?
* The Police at Aishalton village are harassing villagers when they use their motorcycles because of not being licensed and not using helmets.
The licensing officer the Lethem Police station promised to go and have all motorcycles licensed in South Rupununi about a year ago. To date he has not done so. Can the F Division commander intervene?
* Aircraft are landing at times on make shift airstrips about fifteen miles from a bus shed opposite the entrance to the Shiriri community on the main road. The relevant authorities need to investigate.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Persaud
