The last… quarter

Well, here we are – October, heralding the last quarter of the year is here!! We start sensing the year’s fast drawing to a close – with folks gonna start becoming frantic about Christmas shopping and all that! Esp after the VP assured that every family’s gonna get that cash grant!! Your Eyewitness had always wondered whether it was because of this Christmas distraction the condition dubbed “Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder” (ADHD) is commemorated this entire month!! You don’t know what’s ADHD??
Well, if you’re unable to sit still, especially in calm or quiet surroundings; you’re constantly fidgeting; unable to concentrate on tasks; move around unnecessarily; engage in excessive physical movement; talk too much; unable to wait your turn; acting without thinking and always interrupting conversations – then you’ve got ADHD, Budday!! But since that describes most Guyanese, it could just be that all Guyanese have ADHD!! This would explain why we can never get anything completed – we just can’t focus our attention for any sustained period!!
From your Eyewitness’ (unfortunate) visits to government departments and bureaucracies, it’s clear to him that a higher level of ADHD is a prime criterion for their employment!! Have you EVER reached a “Civil Servant” – a contradiction in terms if there ever was one!! – who took care of your issue without taking a break?? Well, it seems that Pressie has realized the challenge such a predisposition poses to a successful second term!! He’s added a new department to deal with increasing governmental efficiency – Zulfikar Ally, with private sector experience, is now Minister of Public Service, Government Efficiency and Implementation!!
But October was chosen as “Agriculture Month”!! Yep…agriculture – which demands the patience of Job and then some!! Take even growing a grass like rice – much less a tree like coffee. You gotta prepare the land by ploughing and “raking” so the fields are level like a billiard table; flood it with water of a particular depth; broadcast the paddy seeds that have been soaked to germination point; control the water levels as they grow; get rid of pests and diseases; broadcast fertilizers; after three months reap with combines and take the paddy to mills. Then wait for a year to be paid an amount that doesn’t even cover your costs!!
But let’s face it…agriculture’s the reason we’re all here – excepting for our Indigenous brothers and sisters! And agriculture’s our future. As your Eyewitness has been emphasizing, while oil doan spoil, ours’ gonna last 30 years max – and then what? Suck salt like Trinidad? No Siree Bob!! The government’s doing the right thing by identifying all sorts of new opportunities to make a living for a century – by feeding the region and beyond!!
Soya was just shipped to be milled!!

…political ruckus?
It was on October 5 that democracy was returned back in 1992. The PNC under Burnham – and then Hoyte – had flagrantly and blatantly rigged elections in 1968, 1973, 1978, , and 1985 in which they gave themselves increasing majorities. He even rigged a referendum in 1980 to prevent a referendum on his new constitution giving him dictatorial powers – as was required by law!! Democracy became a sham and the country was wrecked because Burnham didn’t even pretend to be a benign dictator.
Violence was unleashed on anyone or any group that dared to challenge the system – even to the point of murder. This was sooo completely outside the democratic order we’d been promised during the centuries of colonial rule!! Ironically, after democracy was returned, the PNC returned to violent confrontation to make their political demands when Hoyte launched his “mo fyaah; slow fyaah” strategy – after refusing to accept their loss in the 1997 elections.
With the PNC now reduced to a third-rate party maybe we’re over that??

…seat
Have you wondered why all the fighting and drama for that one leftover seat in Parliament?? It’s certainly ain’t to “serve the people”!! Think about the two duty-free cars per term – and the bonanza made on selling them!!