APNU must be held accountable for the government not delivering on the Linden agreements

Dear Editor,

“What we came away with from the Office of the President was the embracing of a position that is reflective of the will and wishes of the people of Linden and Region 10,” Solomon told Kaieteur News. “We haven’t signed the agreement; we initialled it. Tomorrow [today] we want to go to the one-month anniversary meeting to say to the people that their struggles were not in vain; the struggles and sacrifices they made resulted in them acquiring the things that were denied to them for quite some time; which include the TV station and the Land Selection Committee.” The above quote was published in KN’s edition of August, 18, 2012 in a report captioned ‘Linden crisis… Cautious optimism as Govt, Region 10 officials reach consensus.”

We are now in late December 2012 and not a single agreement signed to by the PPP/C and Region 10 officials has been honoured. The people of Linden minus Region 10 officials would have known that the PPP/C will not honour any agreement coming out of the Linden struggle. As I write this letter on Christmas Day as a result of some information received from Linden, it is imperative for me to make a few things clear. I wish to make it clear to the people of Linden that their elected representatives in the APNU must be held accountable for government’s unwillingness to honour those agreements made. It is my view that the APNU had no intention from the inception of genuinely supporting or representing any post 18 of July protest demands of Lindeners.  What Lindeners must do is march in protest on Congress Place and demand of the APNU real representation that will yield positive results in the interest of Linden. We cannot elect them to represent us and they fail on every count to secure any results in the interest of the much needed development of our community.

Do I think we should sit down and accept government’s oppression? No! I think that if we are going into the struggle we must know who is alongside us. Sharma Solomon is an APNU representative. He cannot lead any successful struggles without the full support and direct involvement of his political bosses. Mr Solomon demonstrates clearly the capacity to be a national leader who can navigate his country and the downtrodden people of his country into the waters of prosperity. He cannot reach his full potential if as a Regional Chairman he cannot command the respect and support of his bosses. His ultimate test lies in how he handles the post July 18 failure to secure results. Will he publicly challenge the ineptitude of the APNU? Will he take the side of the people walking with them in the gutters and trenches as an independent who has their support? Can Sharma emerge as a national figure outside the bosom of his political party? He has now gone quiet in challenging his party’s ineptitude and questionable stance on many important issues to do with Linden. Why? What I know is that Sharma Solomon is respected by Lindeners and the people of Region Ten. He can make a call that resonates. He must now make a call that delivers. The PPP has overlooked and disrespected him. They may have managed to have a few of his bosses persuade him to be a good boy. I ask again, was the Linden struggle a damp squid? That question should be answered by holding our representatives accountable. It must be answered by rejecting those amongst us whose only purpose is to make us feel that we are not failing and there is hope. We must reject them. We must chase any whose duty it is to represent us but who cannot deliver.
Yours faithfully,
Norman Browne