Lawlessness crosses paths with lawfulness

Dear Editor,
A thriving Guyana, composed of six races with a seventh as an adjunct to its population, is at a juncture where lawlessness crosses paths with lawfulness.
Regardless of the emotional pleas from many sources, including people, Police, politicians, Government agencies, private and public organisations, and religious institutions, this provocation has reached an unbearable height, affecting the body, mind, and soul of all law-abiding Guyanese. “To each their own” is invariably amplified.
A country rich in diversity from ancestral heritage and inherited culture, Guyana has adopted modern customs and lost touch with traditional values. Guyanese have refined their ancient beliefs to define practices that are morally questionable in the eyes of decorum while simultaneously fighting to maintain a touch of class from the past. “Old is gold” and it must be respected for its worth.
Not being judgemental but practical, the washing tide has shifted the sands to expose loose pebbles, shaky ground, and porous soil. Our roots have been fertilised with too many dangerous chemicals; too much flooding has watered down our quality, and heavy winds have removed the barriers that hamper our safety nets. Thus, our production is of poor quality and limited in quantity. “Changes start with us changing”, but changes must be for the better, not for the worse.
Every day, the media cries profusely with foul accusations and assaults, treacherous complaints and compromises, reporting news of more crime and corruption. Guyana is not isolated from this stigma, but the constant creation of loopholes and flaws accommodates the sustenance of breaching contracts and breaking binding arrangements. Rules and regulations are bypassed, contaminating law and order. The Matthew effect is conveniently summarised as “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
Guyanese society is steadily deteriorating into an abyss of a lost cause, where the environment is constantly bombarded with foreign influences. With the ambience of loud, lewd, and ludicrous music, this tragedy is a trajectory of a language littered with linguistic battery and assault as its lyrics. This is not the beginning or end of Guyana’s lawlessness. Tony Robbins wrote, “Set high standards for yourself and don’t settle for anything less.”
The case of low salaries has been put forth in defence of bribery. Those grand and great-grandparents who tilled and toiled the soil in the past fielded a cricket team for children and were not inclined to walk on the wrong side of the road. They suffered and endured hardship while making sacrifices to see their children progress successfully without complaint and in the absence of all the current comforts considered today’s necessities. “Don’t hang your hat where you can’t reach it in a hurry” is a proverb that needs resurrection.
Nepotism has dominated the majority of our business entities, both public and private, with unscrupulous behaviours harnessing the smooth system and leaving harassed customers frustrated, out of pocket, and forced to endure an unavoidable process. The weak are being exploited through extortion, and the question of “left or right” is no longer a laughing matter. Fiddling, finagling, and fraud in financial fiascos are fixtures that start from the top and work their wiggling way downwards. “Do as I say, not as I do” has become a laughing stock.
Travelling in the fast lane is trendy for the young and restless. The highway has become no way, leaving angry, impatient, and undisciplined users with low or no tolerance levels. The hero figure often finds itself becoming a zero. Our public transportation system is unacceptable, and it is an embarrassment for seniors and juniors to use. Those customers are exposed to indecency at all levels, including passenger refusals, overcharging, overloading, unacceptable noise instead of music, abusive language, and ill-fitting conductors and drivers. As the saying goes, “What goes around comes around.”
The school system has been taken over by gangsterism. The use of drugs and alcohol has penetrated the psyche. Sex is a promiscuous exercise. Fondling, hugging, and kissing are typical love-making scenes in corridors and classrooms. Student pregnancies are on the rise. Dropouts are the norm. Violence in school is a current feature among students and between students and teachers. Weapons have infiltrated the classrooms. Teachers face a hard-fought battle to maintain control of their classes. Students are often absent from school unbeknownst to their parents.
Prayer in school is an alien activity. Some private schools have been liberated from these ‹extra-curricular activities! ‹Remember, «teachers open the door, but you must enter yourself.»
Making a quick buck has become a way for the fast and furious, the dirty-dinged daredevils. The choke-and-rob situations, hold-ups, and robberies in supermarkets and homes are consistent with the dark side of those determined not to walk on the right side of the road. You can never foresee unexpected mishaps, day or night, in any of the ten regions. But “the moon does run till daylight catches it.”
Recent developments from aggressive proactivity by the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs suggest that the Government is serious about having clean, safe, and noise-free communities in Guyana. How this is translated into a permanent remedial effect and how quickly the repercussions will be implemented are left to be seen by an anxious Guyanese public.
But there are faith, hope, and trust in these devoted servants of the people.

Yours respectfully,
Jai Lall