…in Queens’ concrete jungle?
Your Eyewitness looked at a GUYANESE protest – LIVE – from his home in Guyana to all the way in South Ozone Park, Queens – almost 3000 miles away! Courtesy of social media. Ain’t this wonderful? Just goes to show that while some bemoan that Guyanese in NYC are split between Brooklyn and Queens, they’ll still get together for that quintessentially Guyanese practice: “byusing” out each other!! Over the last four decades it had been demonstrably clear that Guyanese hadn’t dumped their political loyalties with their move up north. If anything, they became more rabid.
The occasion for the clash was a visit to Queens by AG Anil Nandlall – evidently for a wedding – but a PPP democracy support group organised a meeting to bring supporters up to date on goings on back “home”. The said supporters, of course, also witnessed last year – live on social media – the PNC’s rigging attempt and its denouement in the Granger-Harmon-provoked W Berbice ethnic beatings – following the murders of the Henry cousins and Haresh Singh. Matters that are still such hot items in the news that the residents of the aptly designated “Reg 11” were anxious to get the inside scoop. From the “Unruly Stallion’s mouth, so to speak!
The PNC supporters from Brooklyn, in the meantime, had likewise been kept in the loop on matters from “back home” via social media – especially from a couple of NYC Facebook warriors who evidently appeared to be actually making a living off their Broadcasts. And – with the monetising demands of grabbing viewers and market share – were even more tendentious and extreme in their PNC support. Ever since the PPP’s democracy group had publicised their upcoming meeting with the AG, one of the PNC Facebook Warriors – who had HIS own democracy-promoting outfit – had been rallying PNC supporters to assemble at the Dining Hall where the AG would be giving his report.
Your Eyewitness, then, starved for live entertainment – How much surfing can you do on Netflix? – looked forward eagerly to the Clash of East (Queens) vs West (Brooklyn) Overseas Guyanese. Well, all he can say is that it was a damp squib….A VERY damp squib. And imagine this was on the American July 4th weekend when there should’ve been “ the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air”!! Just a disappointing 30 or so PNC supporters schlepped over from Brooklyn –- to be exhorted by the organisers with bullhorns on the dastardly deeds the PPP were alleged to be inflicting on their cohorts in Guyana.
In the meantime, the PPP supporters were amiably ensconced inside the Hall and being regaled not only by Nandlall – but also virtually, by President Ali!
It’s a tale of two cities?
…in the Courts
Ever since the PNC was blindsided by the No Confidence Motion – “bring it on, big boy!” crowed Amna Ally! — it picked the Courts as the arena to confront the resurgent PPP. Your Eyewitness could only figure Granger was imitating his mentor “Fat Boy” Burnham to intimidate the Judiciary. So the “33-not-greater-than-32” saga played out to its inevitable denouement! But at least the other cases were all constitutionally grounded with possibly colourable ambiguity – allowing their dull counsels to be lectured to by the CCJ!
And having lost every one of those Quixotic jousts, the PNC was duly ejected from office. The country’s moving along while the PNC implodes from its contradictions within and without! But there’s a new and worrying development. The party partisans seem to be moving to test the Courts on criminal law. Where there’s always been the insistence on certainty, lest the barbarians break through the gates.
So what’ll be the criminal law equivalent of 32-not-the-majority-of-65?
…in sugar
There’s a lot of ink being spilled on sugar and the sugar industry. Can anyone say if the rains continue into August whether we will produce even half of the already historically low projections?
Relief for the workers?
