The President should have met with jobless sugar workers

Dear Editor,
I recognised through the media, President David Granger continuing the tradition that begun with his predecessors to distribute kites to children of several communities. It is a good gesture, especially at this time when parents are finding it difficult to put food on their tables, let alone to purchase kites for their children. Social media, I recognise, was abuzz with the ‘Presidential kite’ which featured the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change ‘green and yellow’ and a portrait of the President himself. I recall His Excellency speaking about partisanship recently and I cannot help but wonder whether the kites he was sharing out does not contradict what he was saying.
But important as that is, I recognised that the President visited several communities along the Corentyne coast which are reeling from the repercussions of mass retrenchment following the closure of estates. The President, I noted for instance, had a kite distribution exercise at Republic Square, Corriverton. Certainly, His Excellency could have gone to see the jobless sugar workers residing nearby. Similarly, he could have visited those of Canje and elsewhere during his trip to Berbice. This is the second time in a matter of weeks the President has visited Berbice and has not seen it fit to visit the distressed and depressed now jobless ex-sugar workers. President Granger, please, I urge you, once again, to live up to your promise to be a “good President for all the people.”

Yours sincerely,
Liebert Alleyne