Anna Correia
By now it has become stale news that the APNU/AFC won a campaign on empty promises. The expectation of change the nation looked forward to, “the good life in a green economy”, withered by the end of 2015. The performance of the Granger administration today speaks for itself, as it cumulates one corruption scandal after the next, neglects its people and turns a blind eye to their hardships. You know a government’s a failure when those who gave it power begin to complain.
Besides engaging in a Trujillistic crusade to rename public properties in the image of the PNC, and invent institutions to create jobs for boys, the only other thing our President seems good at is ignoring the struggles of Guyanese. That is, when he’s not venerating the late Dictator Burnham for being the “architect of social cohesion”.
Indeed, Social Cohesion became another verse of the coalition’s hymn, convincing voters to get on a ship that had already sunk. There is even a Social Cohesion Ministry now, although no one really knows how it serves its purpose, because all it does is “consult” with pockets of interest groups that pretend to represent the nation. But why worry? Amna Ally did say that “social cohesion is catching on”! Is it?
Insofar as social cohesion is concerned, the Government only provides lip service. There has been no commitment to promote inclusive governance and involve Guyanese in decision-making to date. The fragile relationship of trust between Government and citizens has unravelled at an alarming rate, but this was to be expected the day the coalition decided to assassinate the rice and sugar industries.
It was to be expected the day social entitlements were stripped from the working class and poor.
It was to be expected the day taxes went up for the donkey cart and farmer alike, and the day it began to cost $32,000 a month to park in Georgetown, et cetera. It is little wonder therefore, that the sense of belonging of Guyanese to this society continues to dissipate.
But people should have known better than to trust a leader who believes that Burnham was the “architect of social cohesion”. At least the people of Region 9 did, and perhaps that’s why they’re paying now.
Seven months have elapsed since 1200 Rupununians solicited President Granger himself to intervene on their behalf, against Regional Executive Officer (REO) Carl Parker. This man, a PNC political appointee, is alleged to be a sore in the Region’s development, an instigator of discrimination on 14 grounds, all enumerated in the petition which found its way to the President’s desk earlier this year. His disregard for the RDC’s authority has increased the desire of residents to see him replaced.
Yet, even after trying to intimidate a female Amerindian petitioner with the hope of having her retract the petition, Parker still runs around the Rupununi immune. It doesn’t matter if Sherry Atkinson, an Education Officer, publicly accused him of recurrent sexual harassment at her workplace, a tale not unfamiliar among women who worked with Parker in the past. No one seems willing to lift a finger, especially not Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan or the Education Ministry to which Sherry Atkinson wrote for assistance. But then again why would Bulkan or Roopnaraine lift a finger, if the President himself seems intent on protecting Parker? So much for social cohesion.
What is important is that the Carl Parker issue has not been forgotten, and even if it takes time, the man will have to answer to the people for the rights violations he’s being accused of. An investigation into the matter will have to produce results, and the Government will have to assume its responsibility in protecting a man long accused of infringing on the social, political and economic rights of Amerindian peoples in Region 9.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) often uses the PNC’s 28-year dictatorial rule as a comparative measure of development and success for its 23 years in power. But what does the coalition use to measure progress, human development and social cohesion? Surely, it cannot be the first five Jaganite years of the PPP, for this would surely put today’s government to shame.
