Well, you just gotta hand it to Prezzie…the man genuinely likes to press the flesh!! And it’s earning him and his party a whole lotta goodwill – and votes??! – as he spontaneously bounds into crowds to mix and mingle with ordinary folks. It’s a welcome change from his predecessor David Granger – who was so aloof you wouldn’t be faulted for thinking he was ALOFT!! And unlike even a people person like his party founder Jagan, he doesn’t interject political opinions into the bonding. Seems he mixes for the pure pleasure of meeting HIS people. Not like Burnham with his “Meet THE People Tours” – Pres Ali doesn’t have scripted interactions and just goes with the people’s flow of life even when he’s on official business.
So, here it was, he’d gone up to New York to receive the Legacy Award Class of 2024 for “leadership and vision” from the American Foundation for UWI’s 27th Annual Awards Gala – and took the opportunity to meet his peeps in what’s widely known in Guyanese circles as Region 11!! The youthful Head of State bounded over to Brooklyn – in street clothes to the surprise of one and all in the Big Apple – and ended up in Flatbush home to so many Guyanese. He ambled into the famous German Restaurant – which has its origin in our own Tiger Bay! – and had to try out the oxtail soup for which it’s famous. Maybe it was a quality control check to ensure the Guyanese recipe wasn’t being tampered with by adding “Yankee” touches?!!
He continued to Pam and Steve Bakery where he actually went with the owners into the kitchen to show them how to “clap” roti the good, old-fashioned way!! Like Prezzie, your Eyewitness was surprised to see that the Guyanese “in foreign” were simulating the process by putting the oiled and cooked roti into a can and shaking it vigorously!! Can’t have that, can we?? Prezzie promptly took over the job, turned a roti on the “taawa” and then clapped it with his hands. Voila!! GUYANESE roti!! He then tried it out and shared pieces with the crowd to their great delight!! He even cut hair in a Guyanese barbershop!!
Your Eyewitness has already recounted the consternation of the local haters – represented by Simone “Fried Rice” Broomes – who’d keep the Guyanese people apart. But the hater-in-chief from Brooklyn wasn’t to be left out. The CGID went ballistic and almost apoplectic as he screamed, “This is an egregious betrayal of Black people!! Their acquiescence to Ali and their refusal to demand accountability undermines the ongoing fight for justice!!”
He announced CGID’s intention to boycott Afro-Guyanese in the New York Diaspora who fail to stand against the Ali-Jagdeo regime’s injustices!!
Can’t stop the Ali juggernaut!!
…against Mad Maduro
The Government’s rolling back Mad Maduro’s aggression against our Essequibo. On the diplomatic front – after commitments of support from the US, the UK, Caricom, Commonwealth, etc – we secured a statement from the Security Council for there to be no further hostilities. But by now, we all know Mad Maduro ain’t gonna be persuaded of the errors of his ways through jawboning, don’t we??
So, while we know that we can’t beat Mad Maduro’s Russian armed military might, our Govt’s showing we ain’t gonna be no walkover!! This Jan, they approved $16B for the GDF to buy helicopters, drone systems, and an offshore patrol vessel. One US-built patrol vessel just sailed into Port Georgetown to join the four we already have. Then there’s the US$42 million military patrol vessel from French shipbuilder Ocea!
In the air, we’ve received the 2 Dorniers 228 from India. And we can’t forget those 5 drones Ramjattan bought from that start-up company, can we?? Where are they??
…against the odds
It ain’t easy for the Government to make its point that workers on the State’s payroll mustn’t allow themselves to be used as political pawns. Whatever our sympathies for teachers, they gotta concede their strike was politicized!
