Dear Editor,
The unending political strife which shows itself up in subtle attacks and counter attacks along racial divides needs a more radical solution than the proposals for power sharing that have been advanced for several years, with no apparent approach at implementation. For one, no one as yet seems to be sure what form of power sharing will work for Guyana. Yet we seem to stick to discussing varying models of this elusive idea as a possible solution to Guyana’s political problems.
It is obvious that when one reaches a situation like this that one should think out of the box and look for other answers. At the bottom of it all the long run solution of the problem is to rid this country of the triumphal reign of the two political parties, PNC and PPP. I have no political affiliation and allegiance, and nothing personal against the men and women who have answered the call to political office and are exercising their duties through offices in these parties. Under existing circumstances someone has to carry out these duties. However, history seems to have tainted the acronyms, PNC, PPP and the connotations which they suggest for political and interracial relations in Guyana.
We need a population policy. This is not a new idea. Under current conditions, Guyana’s population density and spatial distribution cause electricity and water supply costs per capita to be exceedingly high. The costs of supplying roads and other infrastructure for such a small population relative to land mass and economic activity is naturally very high.
But, the most urgent reason for a population policy which actively seeks to increase Guyana’s population through immigration is this recurring political strife and violence with racial overtones, which deters investors, causes more emigration and strangles growth.
Import a third neutral population into Guyana, that can dilute the racial focus of these two parties that hang as an albatross around the neck of every Guyanese here or abroad. Several countries in the world, among them USA, Canada, the UK have seen adequate reason for importing different nationalities into their countries for varying purposes, ranging from the need to bring in skills, the need to simply enhance their population size, in relation to land mass. Canada comes readily to mind. Canada has approximately the same land mass as Brazil and the USA(9M sq miles) and yet its population is 33 million, against 301 million for the USA and 188 million for Brazil.
Canada undoubtedly recognizes the futility of such a small population in the midst of such large land space and natural resources, and is importing people from all over the world once they meet minimum conditions. Guyana is roughly the same size as the United Kingdom, and yet the UK’s 2007 population was 61 million, while Guyana’s population is less than 1 million.
Economic potential can only be realized if we have a larger population and all the benefits which this will bring. It is true that neither country size, population size nor resources by themselves guarantee development, but Canada is a resource rich country which proves that resource abundance can be a blessing and not a curse if there are skills and capital to develop them.
The population which we import must be neutral and be inclined to vote along neutral lines, and could be Chinese, Brazilian or other neutral nationalities, or ethnicities. A plan has to be developed in terms of how many per year the country will import and absorb and how we could work with the respective Governments to attract people here.
The two political parties which collectively dictate our lives will have to find much more to campaign on than race, and indeed third forces such as the AFC will have a greater chance to drum up votes.
There are several other ways Guyana can benefit from systematic and well planned importation of people:
Defence of our borders: this meagre population can hardly defend our borders adequately and the country has become a haven for drug and gun trafficking.
Skills for development. According to the last census of 2002, 1.8 % of Guyana’s population has Bachelor’s Degree, surely not good news in the current global marketplace where knowledge and skills drive development, and not necessarily resource endowment. Even worse still is the supply of skills at technical and vocational levels. We should be targeting persons with at least some level of vocational skills or entrepreneurial talent.
Entrepreneurial talent. It could be questioned that if the current environment for business is not producing enough jobs, that importing persons may create a greater unemployment problem. But this need not be. Several immigrants will find opportunities for trading Guyana’s goods with their country of origin and as Chinese and Brazilians have shown they are more than capable of creating business and employment of their own. Imagine 300,000 Brazilians and 300,000 Chinese actively trading Guyanese goods with their relatives, friends and business associates in their home country.
According to the UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, international migration is increasingly being perceived as a development tool and a main source of capital for developing countries, rather than a failure of development.
As such, the world must put migration at the centre of the global development agenda and mainstream population policy. It follows that Guyana must have a deliberately conceived population plan, which must include a plan to attract more people to live in this relatively large land mass.
Its time for the men and women in the PPP and PNC to recognize that the time for a new order is at hand. They have a duty to this generation and the next to collectively admit that its time for a totally approach, and new ways of thinking to solving the racial and political problem in Guyana, or this country may be on its way to doom.
Yours faithfully,
Joycelyn Williams
