Dear Editor,
On 13th January 2023, every Guyanese, regardless of age, ethnicity or political persuasion, suffered another tremendous loss after the inferno which completely gutted the Christ Church Secondary School in Georgetown. As of consequence, another batch of over 500 secondary school students and their families are swimming against the tides to reorient themselves and cope with the increase in financial costs and logistics of travelling to Cyril Potter College of Education, Cummings Lodge, in pursuit of an education with hopes of fulfilling their dreams of acquiring their best results at the upcoming Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Examination and beyond.
Compounded with the physical infrastructure losses are the losses of academic resources and data and memories of teachers, administrators and students, which are irreplaceable. Who can truly tabulate the correct value lost in this inferno? How can a political party or a politician articulate his or her gains now that it’s all down to ashes?
Further, I often wonder how a group or an individual can be so easily manipulated into committing acts of crime in pursuit of political mileage and gains for one’s preferred party or leader. I also wonder what positive gains were made for this nation since the 1960s, and repeated until today, as properties of businessmen, academic institutions and Government buildings were set ablaze. I also wonder why, with the endless budgetary allocations, advancement in technology and intelligence gathering by the professional services, the masterminds and cohorts of these plots are never identified, charged, and brought before the courts.
How much longer can the small, medium and large taxpayers, students and educators and decent-minded citizens of this nation be held at ransom and forced to endure the trauma and monetary losses as a result of politically motivated actions in Guyana?
It must be completely understood that state property does not belong to any Government. The governing body is only the custodian of such state assets. The real owners are the taxpayers, and together we have a right to protect and preserve what truly belongs to the nation. The time has come for us to call upon the actors of all those with whom we have entrusted with our lives, livelihood, and resources to act and adopt all measures necessary to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice in an effort to curb this disdainful cycle.
Respectfully,
Nazar Mohamed
Businessman
