By Nigel Williams
It is a familiar sight in many depressed urban communities and increasingly in rural areas as well: idle young men sitting at street corners all day. It is these groups, observers believe, that churn out Guyana’s ever-growing criminal class. Facing hopelessness in a social and political system that offers little opportunity, most start out by begging and eventually graduate – some to petty crime, others to drugs, guns and unspeakable violence. And observers’ views vary only slightly on the path that takes them there.
Is it an indictment on the present administration, as some observers argue, that in the 16 years it has been in office, it has “raised” a number of teen killers? Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand, disagreed. Urging that the plight of teenagers who turned to guns not be politicized, she stated that although some of the criminals today had been born under the present regime their lives had been influenced by what occurred several years before. Manickchand admitted that her ministry may not be able to reach the 14-year-old boy aback of Buxton or Agricola to steer him away from a life of crime, but noted that those closest to such a child should equally share the responsibility of offering him hope.
