There will be little disputing that President Jagdeo’s descent on Buxton represented one of the most undisguised acts of political opportunism in recent times. Yet, as he has argued, he is the President of all of Guyana and has a right to go wherever he pleases and chooses. It still however does not adequately explain why his first visit to Buxton came in the 11th year of his presidency and its real purpose. While it is clear that the President could not risk his safety by visiting during the height of the criminal infiltration of Buxton 2002-6 there were lengthy periods before and after which offered ample opportunities for the President to ground with the villagers as he did last month. That he didn’t deign to visit before speaks of the unwritten divide that many of our leaders and politicians create and observe when they need to.
There should be no inference that it is a responsibility of the President to visit every single village and community across the country but it would surely not be unreasonable to expect that given its history, its virtual takeover by criminals and the bloody toll on its villagers and their psyche that President Jagdeo would have long graced its passageways to gauge the extent of the trauma and do assess first-hand how his government could ameliorate the conditions of the village. It was not to be until last month.
If the President’s visit reeked of politicking, the reaction by several prominent Buxtonions, most noticeably Dr David Hinds, was excessive and misplaced. In a statement dealing with the President’s visit and in strong and emotive language, Dr Hinds referred among other things to the “accommodationist attitude being promoted by some African Guyanese leaders”. He also linked the visit to what he believed to be the President’s aspirations for a third term charging “Despite the President’s plea that he was not looking for votes, it is an open secret that the government is desperate to show it has the support of African Guyanese. It is one of the tactics to continue the resistance to share power with African Guyanese representatives. It is one of the tactics to secure a third term for President Jagdeo – he will argue he is the only PPP leader who can win African Guyanese votes”
Dr Hinds’ arguments in the main revealed angst that Buxtonions could be easily swayed by the blandishments of the government and there was also apparent concern that the President had the gumption to steam into what had hitherto been considered turf that was unwelcoming and an opposition stronghold.
Amid the verbal salvoes and the voluminous arguments that entered the debate on either side, Buxtonions could have been forgiven for believing that they were once again the subject of a tug-of-war this time purely political and of absolutely no value to their lives.
This is what was most irksome about the exchanges between the two sides. Buxton, like many, many other communities in this country has urgent and pressing needs which have been neglected for too long. Its people are no doubt weary of the privations that have been visited upon them and their own inability to break out of this vicious cycle. What they need least is useless chatter getting in the way of moving ahead.
President Jagdeo and his advisor Mr Lumumba must be acutely aware that no matter how many dinners are arranged at State House for select villagers, what contributions are made to certain causes and the warm welcome accorded to them on the day that they visited that Buxtonions will not be gulled. After the pleasantries are exchanged and the preliminaries disposed of the people of the village will set about expressing their views and needs in a manner that demands and earns respect from the presidential team notwithstanding the clumsy remark by the President that while there were many things that the government was willing to fund in the village, Buxtonions “have to want this too as badly as we do.” The President should provide evidence of how badly his government has wanted to help Buxton and Buxtonions since he assumed office in 1999.
There was hardly the need for Dr Hinds paternalistic warnings that “Eight years later the village is in tatters and the facilitators of the gunmen are nowhere to be seen. Now we are welcoming a new set of saviours” and again “I predict the outcome will be of a different cloth but the same smell”.
Neither side must lose sight of the real reason why the invective is flowing and the rhetoric is high: Buxton and its people need help to regain lost opportunities and glories. While the president’s entry had a speculator’s feel it could have been easily disarmed at the next go around without the need for the harsh words from Dr Hinds that conveyed that he and other villagers seemed to have aggrandized to themselves the right to vet any proposal from the government for assistance to the community. It is the people of Buxton and the representatives they choose who should make these decisions and set out to the President and his team their needs and the manner in which they would like these addressed all the while preserving their dignity and pride.
Overlooked in all of this is the fact that Buxton is only one of a myriad of depressed communities that need to have their fundamental problems addressed in an organized manner. Aside from the abysmal failure to convene local government elections, the government has defaulted on its obligations to advance the growth of communities in a comprehensive manner. It has engaged in a hodge-podge of infrastructural and other projects without the overarching vision that communities thrive when all of their needs are taken together. Moreover, many neighbouring and nearby communities such as Annandale and Lusignan can do with this type of attention as opposed to the customary handouts.
If there is seriousness about aiding communities like Buxton then this government must set out what it proposes to do in these final months of its administration and submit these plans to the people of the village for them to consider. This will test the government’s sincerity and also provide an opening for other communities seeking similar relief to lift them out of poverty and squalor.
