Dear Editor,
The press reported this past week that the President handed over twenty computers and a steel band to Buxton as part of his promise to aid development in the village. The President should be congratulated for keeping his promise. One of the Buxton leaders present went two steps further – he/she hailed the President’s gesture as an example of good governance. These people continue to sell themselves and their village short. Instead of asking the President to tell his people to stop portraying Buxtonians as helpless beggars, they tie themselves tighter to the partisan political narrative.
Some Buxtonians who support my stance have contacted me. They want to organize separately. I advised them against it – at least for now. I advised them to work with the Buxton 170th committee. They reluctantly agreed but the committee is nowhere to be found. They have not spoken to the village. Some people raised questions about the projects and asked me to comment on them. I have made some suggestions to the leaders of the New York Chapter.
So as a concerned Buxtonian, albeit one who has been left behind by the ‘new’ Buxton, I have a few questions for the Buxton leaders. Now that the government has done its part, what are you doing? Where are the computers being housed? How will the ordinary Buxtonian, who doesn’t belong to the clubs and churches involved, benefit from these computers? What is the plan to make these computers part of the overall development of the village? Will the computers be used for training? Will they be used to provide services to the village? Will they be used for research by students? Will they be used for profit? Have the leaders consulted the villagers on how the computers should be used? Is there a development plan? What about the steel band – is it just for use of the Toucan Club? How will it aid the development that was much talked about?
Let’s move to the Tipperary Hall project. The government is giving over $50 million. Which firm is getting the contract to do the construction? Is it a PPP-connected contractor? Is it a Buxtonian contractor? Is it stipulated that Buxtonians will be given first preference at employment? Was the Tipperary Committee involved in negotiating the arrangement with the President? Did the Tipperary Committee give the Buxton leaders the authority to negotiate on its behalf? Now to the loans that are being made available to the women. Have the leaders organized for suitable lawyers, accountants and economists to sit down with the women and go through the fine print with them? Are the women being given the proper professional advice on how best to utilize the loans?
Can the Buxton leaders say how many jobs will be created by the President’s initiatives? How many households will benefit from these ventures? Will these initiatives put a dent on poverty? Why were none of the job generating projects presented to us by Mr George Abrams not put on the table during the discussions with the President? Why nothing about the secondary school which was unanimously endorsed by the participants? Where are those voices that hailed the President’s visit as part of a new day? Don’t you know that computers, steel bands and halls are not development on their own? What are you doing to make them work for the village?
After hailing the President’s visit as historic and posing for the cameras where is the follow up work? None. It was nice PR to organize the President’s outreach but where is the outreach to Buxtonians by the 170th Committee? None. Where are the villagers in all of this? Where are the meetings at Buxton Backdam Side and Brusche Dam and Friendship Front? Has the Buxton 170th committee gone to the people with a plan as we agreed at the meeting at the church on Friendship Middle Walk? Why must Buxtonians read about plans for and about them in the national media? The New York Chapter of 170th Committee called a public meeting in New York. Nobody from the general public attended. That was unfortunate but perhaps it’s a sign of how popular their outreach in Buxton is among diasporans.
Much is being made about this Buxton venture. But no development plan in Buxton will succeed outside of a larger African Guyanese and Guyanese Development plan. The government must sit down with the opposition, village leaders and people knowledgeable about the rural political economy and come up with a plan for village renewal. This piecemeal Buxton thing could bring some minimal relief to Buxton if handled properly, but in the long run Buxton will develop only if Guyana in general develops and if the African Guyanese economy is pulled from the margins.
Yours faithfully,
David Hinds
