Dear Editor,
I am so pleased that our Government is rolling up its sleeves in the trenches, fighting the holy war for the growth and development of our economy and the betterment of our citizens.
I am extremely impressed with the visions being expressed by his Excellency President Dr Irfaan Ali, Prime Minister Brigadier Mark Phillips, and Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, along with the cabinet advisers and other leaders. I am extremely proud of the dynamism, drive, and incessant visits to firstly listen and speak to the people. I am elated that they are exemplifying themselves to the people, recognising that the people are the most important factor in our nation-building.
As for the Opposition, I wish to give them a piece of advice: they need to know that the person who councils and guides is not an enemy, but a true friend. Your true friend is not the one who flatters and cajoles you.
Unfortunately, there are those who cannot see the wisdom of this philosophy and psychology of life.
At this juncture, I wish to refer to one of our major natural resources: sugar, which many of the supporters of the opposition have been fed the idea that sugar is a burden on our economy and prosperity. Here is where the developmental context of nations in the former Government was seriously lacking in vision. Prior to closing down the sugar estates and destroying thousands of lives and shaking up our economy, they could have simply gone and spoken to the people! They should have listened to the heart and soul of the people! The people are the owners and employers of governments, and it is the people who will hire and fire governments.
If a Government that enjoys the vagaries of power fails to understand the true power of the people, then that Government is unfit for office. In finality, the people will nail their coffins tight, as we have seen.
With this in mind, I wish to state that I think the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) or People’s National Congress (PNC) made a huge mistake and caused the people to symbolically nail their coffins tight! In my view, the Opposition has a tough job to re-impose itself in the minds of the population to give them another chance.
Also, the acts of some individuals after the elections in 2020 and the five months of prolonged suffering have proven that the Opposition continues to play a bully without seeking to win the hearts and minds of the Government, and in particular, the people.
The Opposition has not grasped the idea of sugar in the hearts of some large segments of the Guyanese population. I am not talking about the Indo-Guyanese grouping alone, but also of the large segment of Afro-Guyanese in many communities in Region 6, where all ethnicities live as one; breathe as one; share, and coexist as one family. The new Opposition failed to consult with the people, and that was a big blunder on its part.
This is possibly one reason why it would never be able to rise again: because of its inability to talk to the people in general, and have the people listen to it. They failed to seek the guidance of the people as the then Government.
The highhandedness of closing sugar in these major areas is due to the gross dereliction of intelligence, comprehension, and knowledge of areas and people.
As for the Alliance for Change (AFC), it is bye-bye perpetually. I am shocked to see an institution as experienced as the People’s National Congress (PNC), which I have had respect for, would give nine free seats to an entity that did not even bring a third of one. The same Alliance for Change (AFC) who failed to speak to the people to prepare them to accept that sugar is about to be destroyed. It was former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo who said the sugar industry was too big to fall. However, as soon as they took power, they started to dismantle sugar.
Ladies and gentlemen, friends and families, as I said above, and as most of you with wisdom understand, sugar is here to stay! Sugar is Guyana’s heartbeat, and a way of survival for tens of thousands of Guyanese. Sugar lives in the bloodline, and has become Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of the various towns and cities of Guyana. Sugar has become life, but as I said, the former Government lacked the vision, ideology, and even the mindset of thought to understand the extensiveness and breadth of sugar. Every life, every aspect of business: trucking, manufacturing, services, supermarkets, stores, all forms of commerce, welding establishments, transportation systems, etc., all existed and survived because of the thing called ‘sugar.’
Let us remember that we, as Guyanese, are one human family under God; and we, as a people, must not allow political ambitions to lead us astray, to cause us to hate, hurt, or deny each other opportunities and facilities.
Sincerely,
Roshan Khan Sr
