They say that idle minds are the Devil’s workshop and in Guyana – for one with the rate of employment still hovering in the mid-teens – there’s definitely a lot of idle minds mulling around! And keeping the Devil quite busy, thank you – as we can see from the various and sundry crime statistics. Who else but persons with VERY idle minds – who worked at an institution as guards and therefore knew about security cameras all over the place – would stage a robbery at the said institution and not destroy the cameras!?! Then, of course, there are the daily stabbings, muggings, burglaries, and the occasional beating of schoolboys to death.
Back in the day – when the same circumstances were even more severe – Burnham and the PNC came up with the idea of a “National Service” to deal with the problem. Young people were to be recruited and dispatched to open up the interior and at the same time, be taught all sorts of skills that could be used when they graduated from the programme. His mistake was to try to kill two birds with one stone by militarising the operations and also making it compulsory for university graduates!!
The militarisation your Eyewitness could understand. Burnham was denying the majority of the country their vote – and expected a kickback. The militarised National Service could assist in tasks like stuffing ballot boxes when ordered so to free up the army to shoot ballot box martyrs while the police could shoot opposition activists!! But why penalise University grads?? Just because Uni was free?? That might’ve worked in Israel where all Jews believe they’re under threat from the Arabs they kicked out. But Guyana?? There was the problem of Female Indian Uni students who were culturally averse to the mixing (and inevitable mating) in the jungle. They dropped out en masse and a whole generation of female Indian Guyanese remained underdeveloped.
Anyhow, President Ali just announced that he’s gonna unfold a programme to address the problem, but even from the sketchy details revealed, it’s quite clear that – quite wisely – he’s steering VERY clear of the Burnhamite model!! Firstly, he said it’s gonna target 1000 young MEN. Now while, some may kvetch about the absence of young women, there aren’t that many of them running around being sociopaths!!
So what can be done?? It should be clear by now that your Eyewitness feels that training young men for guaranteed jobs should be the greatest thrust.
No one expected that the oil money would solve our problems with the snap of a finger – but if it’s ever to make a dent the young people will have to be prepared for the opportunities coming down the pike!!
…China
Well, Dear Readers, while the Western media are all agog over British PM Liz Truss’ economic meltdown, we should realise she’s running a country that just slid below her former colony India on the economic heft sweepstakes. Meanwhile, China – inexorably climbing to overtake the US as #1 – is holding the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party – which runs the entire shebang!! As to which country will affect our future in the coming decades should be a no-brainer— !!
President Xi Jinping just delivered his account of what transpired over the last five years – with hints of what’s ahead. He had to be coy, since he can’t let on he’s already fixed things, so he’ll be installed for an unprecedented third term!! Gotta play the game about the PEOPLES’ representatives exercising their mandate to FREELY elect their choice!! But we get a hint from his position on Hong Kong where he reiterated that only candidates loyal to Beijing can be candidates for parliament!!
That’s “democracy”, ain’t it??
…cricket??
So, Berbice might get a cricket stadium?? Fantastic idea since it ain’t fair to cricket fans in the Ancient County being forced to schlep all the way to Providence to watch top-level cricket!!
Maybe they’ll include a cricket academy??
