Let go and let us breathe, so we can prosper

Dear Editor,
On Thursday, July 30, 2020, the Guyana Court of Appeal ruled on the frivolous case brought before it to stop the final declaration of the March 2, 2020 election results using the figures that emanated from the National Recount. The court unanimously dismissed the case and the Judges, even going a step further to rebuke those who brought the case. This ruling paved the way for the declaration of the results, a declaration that will show an electoral win for the PPP/C. With seemingly all legal pathway now blocked to frustrate the conclusion of the electoral process, the APNU/AFC coalition has decided to play its final and odious card, the race card.
In a Facebook rant, Imran Khan, an AFC Executive and senior coalition functionary, engaged spewing division based on unfounded allegations about Afro-Guyanese being discriminated against by successive PPP/C Governments – claiming that their progress was only assured by a coalition Government. For him to make these wild and potentially dangerous allegations on the eve of Emancipation Day, and with the current tense political situation in the country, is unconscionable and utterly despicable.
The reality is that during their 23 years in office the PPP/C boasted a track record of promoting initiatives that benefited all Guyanese.
Looking at communities, which the PNCR-led APNU/AFC coalition touts as areas of stronghold support, this fact is clear. Region 10, home to Linden, is one such community.
In Region 10, face-to-face engagements between leaders and the people of the community to address their economic challenges remains something only done under a PPP/C Government.
During their tenure, the housing projects saw thousands of Guyanese of all races benefiting from affordable housing. This includes the new housing scheme at Amelia’s Ward. There is nothing more that gives one dignity than owning your own home. Thousands of Afro-Guyanese benefited from this initiative.
In 2002, the then Jagdeo-led Government launched the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP), whose main goal was to aid the Linden community due to the decline in the Bauxite industry and the severe economic dislocation. The aim was to expand Linden’s economic base and diversify the local economy, and to encourage entrepreneurship and the enterprise of the residents of Linden.
The advances in infrastructure, from a spanking new hospital to roads were also investments made under the PPP/C Government. Linden was also able to attract investment, with a call centre being established and providing jobs. That call centre has since been reduced to nothing under the APNU/AFC coalition.
It is convenient that Mr Khan has forgotten these and, likely, a show of duplicity. Maybe he can answer what has happened to the housing sector under his Government? What happened to the LEAP initiative? What happened to the progressive trajectory that Linden 10 was on? Mr Khan cannot answer these questions, because to do so would expose the failings of his APNU/AFC coalition Government.
These failings range from making lives harder for all Guyanese, including their supporters, to blatant actions that disadvantaged Afro-Guyanese for the sake of the coalition’s cronies. One such example is the cancellation of leases for black farmers in West Berbice, only to have them given to a member of the coalition. The coalition does not care about any particular race, they are only interested in their own personal gain, at whosoever expense. This is a fact.
Further, the PPP/C Government had implemented the cash grants and uniform voucher programmes that greatly assisted the less fortunate in our society. All Guyanese benefited. Mr Khan should now answer why his coalition callously took away those benefits, almost $2 billion, from the people. As if the removal of these support programmes were not enough, Mr Khan should explain his coalition’s reasoning for implementing policies that increased cost of living for everyone from the farmer and vendor to the small business owner and student.
When one examines the behaviour of the APNU/AFC coalition it is obvious that they are only interested in the prosperity of a selected few. As the country’s economy sinks, a few members and friends of the coalition continue to benefit from the largess of the State. This has nothing to do with race. Some of the largest beneficiaries – outside of the coalition officials themselves – are cronies, BK Tiwarie and Stanley Ming, etc. Unfortunately, for the black community in Guyana, many of those benefiting are not Afro-Guyanese but are friends and backers of the coalition. These relationships have brought great wealth to these few individuals whilst the rest of the population suffers.
In 2018, the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) had been called on to do a fact-based study on the periods 1964-1992 (under the PNC Administration), 1992-2015 (under the PPP/C Administration) and 2015 to present (under the APNU/AFC coalition Government) – relative to the welfare of Afro-Guyanese in Guyana. The findings of this study, once it is done, will hopefully silence those who would use race to divide how.
However, Editor, I am not too hopeful that those in the coalition will act responsibly because Stabroek News had done extensive work – an entire 30-plus newspaper pages – to show that the claims of young Afro-Guyanese men being killed were untrue. The Stabroek News investigative report pointed of approximately 420 persons who were killed between February 2002 and September 2006 – 151 murdered by bandits, 30 security officers were killed and 239 were killed during confrontations with the police and in unexplained circumstances.
That said, it is the people who have to send a message to their political leaders.
Bob Marley sang “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery” and it is a fact that no one but ourselves can free our minds. I implore my African brothers and sisters, do not allow yourself to be used to advance the cause of those who care nothing about you.
Instead, ask yourself, was my life better under the PPP/C, or is it better now? The answer is clear. The APNU/AFC coalition’s mismanagement of our country has left us all in a worst off state. They are now seeking to use us, playing on sentiments of Afro-Guyanese, to stay in power so that they can continue to pillage our resources, whilst we starve. We are smarter than that. We are not obliged to back anyone because of race.
Further, since the COVID-19 pandemic, who has shown that they care about the Guyanese people? Definitely not the APNU/AFC coalition! Whilst the coalition has dithered, and wasted monies on ill-conceived projects – including over $1.6 billion on a non-functioning facility – the PPP/C Task Force has been out every day supporting communities all across this country. And this was another example of the fact that your race or who you voted for does not matter to the PPP/C; rather PPP/C leaders understand that they are given respect as leaders because they fulfil the first role of public service – that is responding to the needs of all our people.
People like Imran Khan and his ilk will see us divided to suit their own agendas. Let us show them that we are better than that. By their words and actions, it is the APNU/AFC coalition that is threatening this nation and our collective progress. They are the ones keeping us back.
Mr Khan, shelve your divisive comments; you are clearly not interested in serious discussion. Let go and let us breathe so we can prosper.

With regards,
Sherwyn Greaves