Dear Editor,
Is President Jagdeo playing power games with the Barama situation? This country has not seen any significant investment capable of putting large numbers of our tiny population to work, and now we hear of the President steaming off at Barama.
If the President really wants to see his people properly and meaningfully employed, he must do much more to facilitate local and foreign investors, making it easier for them to do business.
We often hear of and talk to persons who have encountered miles of red tape and other cumbersome obstacles, which prevent them from doing business here easily.
Guyanese do not want hand-outs; that is not what we elect governments for. We want them to facilitate the creation of the necessary infrastructure and the people will do the rest.
While the Barama drama needs to be dealt with, we must not let these presidential outbursts fog up our vision of what the real problem is. Making a few workers computer literate is admirable, but the core of the issue is much larger. We need a serious government, not one that reacts to every little situation to give the impression that something is being done in our interest.
Yes, government must deal with Barama, but they must also deal with fundamental causes. When one company closes its doors and employment is threatened, there should be other employment choices, instead of government creating jobs at taxpayers’ expense.
Elections are coming, so expect more situations of this kind; we must be vigilant and not be fooled much longer. The people must make some noise, or we will find ourselves once again signing blank cheques at elections time.
Yours faithfully,
Bernard Ramsay
Is President Jagdeo playing games
with the Barama situation?
Dear Editor,
Is President Jagdeo playing power games with the Barama situation? This country has not seen any significant investment capable of putting large numbers of our tiny population to work, and now we hear of the President steaming off at Barama.
If the President really wants to see his people properly and meaningfully employed, he must do much more to facilitate local and foreign investors, making it easier for them to do business.
We often hear of and talk to persons who have encountered miles of red tape and other cumbersome obstacles, which prevent them from doing business here easily.
Guyanese do not want hand-outs; that is not what we elect governments for. We want them to facilitate the creation of the necessary infrastructure and the people will do the rest.
While the Barama drama needs to be dealt with, we must not let these presidential outbursts fog up our vision of what the real problem is. Making a few workers computer literate is admirable, but the core of the issue is much larger. We need a serious government, not one that reacts to every little situation to give the impression that something is being done in our interest.
Yes, government must deal with Barama, but they must also deal with fundamental causes. When one company closes its doors and employment is threatened, there should be other employment choices, instead of government creating jobs at taxpayers’ expense.
Elections are coming, so expect more situations of this kind; we must be vigilant and not be fooled much longer. The people must make some noise, or we will find ourselves once again signing blank cheques at elections time.
Yours faithfully,
Bernard Ramsay
