Time to end the curse of Third World nations

Dear Editor,
This question has been on the lips of all of us since the dawn of time, and that is, why are Third World countries so rich in natural resources but yet still they grovel in abject poverty? The answer comes back in clear clarion tones – because they have “corrupt Governments.” In fact, the situation is so severe when you realise that some of these countries have been burdened by these repressive regimes that keep suppressing the people year after year with no end in sight. This has been the curse of the Third World ever since.
Now, Guyana is no different from the rest of the Third World, in that, they too have been blessed with an abundance of these natural resources, but up to the present time, we are still talking and behaving like mendicants, with the very same curse factor reasons being the root cause, corrupt Governments or governance thereof, who believes that they have no responsibility to the people who put them there. This is the true story of the present Granger Administration from its inception.
Well, I must pause here to temper my statements with the following corrections, Guyana did see prosperity under the PPP/C regime during the period 1992-2015, when this country saw massive transformation and development. Guyana was dragged out of abject poverty and brought right up to a status position of Developing Third World country. It was a herculean task that the Government of the day took upon itself and quite frankly, I must say, admirably addressed. They brought Guyana from a highly indebted poor country (HIPC) to one of a middle-income status.
Some may want to dispute this analysis on the grounds that it was narco-wealth and development which buoyed-up a select few from the racial divide while the majority suffered. But if we are to accept that as facts, the reality on the ground tells a totally different story because thousands of the lower end of the scale benefited from the wealth that flowed as a result of good transparent and accountable Government. Guyana became a place where the poor were lifted out of poverty. Even the international community bear record of those achievements, reports which show a cost of living that remained low while the standard of living shored to all-time highs – in fact, the best since freedom from colonial rule.
However, some are still not yet convinced of the development I am talking about and are of the opinion that if the PPP/C were so transparent and successful then why are they in the Opposition? Well, I will address that forthwith to say that it was the present Government who made those remarks about corruption which somehow took root in the minds of the populace to vote them out but here’s the question, was the present Government honest and truthful in their assessment of the PPP/C and were those allegations ever proven? For starters, the PNC-led coalition took the former Government officials to court through the State apparatus SOCU and SARA and grilled them bare, and may I ask what were the results? The answer, they were all vindicated.
Now, some are still not convinced of this shocking fact, so I must then ask the question must we go on unsubstantiated rumours or on verified facts? The truth of the matter is we must go on facts and that settles the argument.
Then it behoves me to pen the next question – can this PNC-led coalition withstand the acid test like the PPP/C did? The answer is no, because from the present scheme of things, the situation seems glum, in fact, Guyana is saddled with scandal after scandal and bare-faced thievery at every governmental level. The facts are there to show that we have a Government who has, as it were, “institutionalised corruption” as its mantra. Someone rightly said we have returned to the 28 years of the retrograde PNC. And with good reason, that statement was made because everything has seen a turn for the worse in Guyana today. With the coming of sovereign oil wealth, we are no closer to coming out of poverty as the situation gets worse; the Government gets more entrenched in their acts of corruption.
And this has been our experience with this party ever since the days of the PNC. Take for example, Burnham brought the oil exploration company Home Oil to our shores, no one knew what transpired during that oil deal until the company left. We are nowhere close to knowing what happened during those years and will never know. This has been the curse of our shameful existence as Third World nations, secret underhand transactions with billions of dollars siphoned off into private accounts with no accountability to the people of that country whatsoever. It is a situation where you have the cats watching the pigeons for Government.
In this scenario, no good can come to those economies, no sovereign wealth and development will flow to the greater masses out there. This is what we have been talking about for ages now, corrupt public officials, corrupt Governments and to think of it, these are the ones who shout about corruption when they are the fountain from which such activities flow.
I must close here by saying, we have had four years (2011-2015) of negative activity of a backward combined Opposition, followed by a further 5 years more (2015-2020) of that very same coalition, it is high time we get rid of them. March 2 is the time for us to put an end to this retrogression. I rest my case.

Respectfully,
Neil Adams