…bleariness
Your Eyewitness is valiantly trying to rise out of the fog into which he’d sunk with all the Christmas cheer he imbibed. While for some it might’ve been a case of drowning their sorrows, for most it seemed to be a determined (heroic?) refusal to cave in to the confluence of miserable weather and even more miserable economic tidings.
So even though he’s not a noted tippler, your Eyewitness must confess while the cumulative effect of the vino did uncover a much more effusive personality that matched the bonhomie of the occasion, he’s wondering if the present incessant pounding in his head’s worth it! But that’s Christmas in Guyana, isn’t it? Drink, drink and more drink. How in the world did it get this way? Your Eyewitness isn’t even making the connection between the drinking and the religious nature of the occasion being celebrated. Just celebrating and drinking.
But even before the Big Binge, there was at least one person who thought about the effects of drinking – Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan. When he first introduced his 2 am curfew against drinking, he’d confused your Eyewitness to no end when he “explained” it was to reduce “crime”. What the heck was the connection between drinking past 2 am and crime, he wanted to know? Was there some study that showed a dramatic spike in crimes when folks were allowed to drink into the wee hours of the morning?
How the heck did this work exactly? Did criminals have to drink past 2 am to work up the courage to commit their heinous acts? Or did they have to plot till that time to make sure they synchronised their watches and suchlike? Anyhow this year it was all explained by the goodly Minister – it wasn’t crime he was trying to stop – it was traffic accidents.
Entreated by the owners of bars and clubs to extend the drinking hours for the “Christmas Season”, Ramjattan was reported to have asked sternly, “Is how much more y’all want to drink after 2 am? Are you not concerned about the road accidents and the need to address this? Well, I am concerned. I am not going to bend the laws for a few people who want to promote lawlessness. The law gives you up to 2 am and that is what you have to work with. So it is not negotiable.”
What firmness! What resolution! Your Eyewithness was proud a line had been drawn now that he knew that it was accidents the Minister was trying to reduce. That made sense.
Then the following day, Ramjattan reversed himself! What a will!! What fortitude!!!
…tax and fatten
The pejorative term “tax and spend governments” arose during the Depression-era Roosevelt government when the latter tried to stimulate the economy and get folks back to work. But at the same time the size of government inevitably ballooned. But what do you call a government that refuses to stimulate the economy, yet increase taxes?
The tax on electricity is a good example. From a cost/expenses standpoint, GPL’s tariffs were computed when oil was at US$100 plus per barrel. Right now, it’s half of that and GPL’s rolling in cash. And from the revenue standpoint, shouldn’t GPL be going after all those folks – in communities that have been IDENTIFIED – that are stealing electricity?
Back in the day, Burnham bled profits from sugar – but at least he had a strategic vision for the funds he took from the pockets of sugar workers. He wanted to build the Mazaruni Hydropower Project.
So what’s this government doing with the funds from taxes? Spending on festivals, its salaries and perks and enriching favoured insiders, that’s what.
This government’s strategic “vision” is to fatten itself and its favoured elite.
…parking meters
The Government still has one last chance to redeem itself from the largest pork barrel ever created in Guyana – the Georgetown Parking Meter Caper.
The Minister of Communities can refuse to approve the necessary by-laws.
