Perhaps the worst event of this year and for which 2009 would long be remembered is the torture/burning of a teenage boy at the Leonora Police Station on October 28. A crime made more reprehensible by the fact that there was an apparent conspiracy to ‘close ranks’ and cover it up. Nevertheless its revelation forced the admission by the Guyana Police Force that other suspects held in connection with the same crime the teen was allegedly involved in – the murder of former Region Three Vice-chairman Ramenauth Bisram – had also been tortured to obtain confessions in order to lay charges against them. This, the once worst kept secret of the force, is finally admitted and out in the open and the powers that be have promised change. Today, the last day of the year, the country is yet to be presented with a plan or even an idea of how this change will come about. Tomorrow, perhaps?
2009 was also plagued with the usual negative issues. There was no letting up in drug trafficking and as usual the main characters continued to elude the law, with only some small mules being apprehended. Road fatalities, mostly the result of drunk driving and speeding also went on unabated throughout the year. There were armed robberies and murders, several of them unsolved, to add to the lists brought forward from years ago. One particularly mystifying event was the disappearance of the vessel Island Princess some time around September 26, with four sailors and the subsequent discoveries of three decomposing, disembowelled bodies believed to be three of them. The bodies found were identified by items found with them as those of Mahendra Singh, Ryan Chin and Titus Buckery Nascimento. The fourth man, Rickford Bannister, remains unaccounted for although the Island Princess was found by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in mid-October drifting off the coast of Grenada. The local police made several arrests, but appear to be at sea with regard to who committed the crime and why.
Incest, paedophilia, suicides and violent crime including rape and other sexual violence also impacted on the lives of Guyanese already dealing with the aftermath of the global financial crisis and the slowing down of the economy. In the midst of all this, also in October, the government allowed negotiations for a 4.9 million pounds sterling ($1.6 billion) security sector reform project with the United Kingdom to collapse, citing issues of sovereignty after the British announced that the proposed project was no longer on the cards. The British High Commission in Guyana had earlier indicated that protracted negotiations were delaying the agreement and implementation of what was seen as a much needed project here.
Before that, around mid-year, President Bharrat Jagdeo had launched his ambitious Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) followed by a series of consultations around the country involving a wide cross-section of Guyanese. The strategy, in theory, sees Guyana preserving its forests to mitigate global climate change, and in return receiving money for development from developed countries. So far, Norway has committed to handing over up to US$250 million ($51.7 billion) by 2015, for Guyana to preserve its forests. However, before the ink touches the first cheque, Guyana has to meet stringent criteria which include but are not limited to creating low-carbon employment and investment opportunities in Guyana, sustained efforts to avoid deforestation and forest degradation, strengthening open, transparent forest governance, and establishing an international monitoring, reporting, and verification system for its forests. In addition, the huge fillip the President hoped to receive for his LCDS at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen earlier this month, was as flat as a week-old uncorked soda given that the conference itself did not have its hoped-for impact.
The end of the year is when we tend to do a lot of introspection and projection and the outlook as 2009 ebbs is bleak. The optimists among us will be hoping the New Year brings with it positive change and improvements on all fronts. The realists will be looking for a Plan B and hoping to be surprised. The pessimists know what they know.
