Dear Editor,
I was at the Square of the Revolution on August 1, and part of the motorcade to Linden, staying throughout the ceremony until night fell to say farewell to the Linden shooting victims.
First, I wish to congratulate the Regional Chairman, Mr Sharma Solomon for his principled stand of objecting to the Private Sector delegation being at a meeting with the Head of State.
Nevertheless, all of us need recognize that the brutal action by the servants of the state which took the lives of Allan Lewis, Ron Somerset and Shemroy Bouyea on July 18, has catapulted the Linden protest into a serious national issue, and it must therefore be treated as such by putting all factors into perspective to achieve impact and success. I suggest that Lindeners consider July being designated Martyrs Month which would allow for educational programmes, religious observances and other events to involve and educate our young people.
I urge all concerned that this is not the time to seek individual glory or to tolerate indiscipline and breaches of time-honoured rules and protocol (we saw evidence of the latter at the funeral service where only a few obeyed the Chairperson’s request to speak for two minutes). They say little things mean a lot.
We must must face the situation with courage and pursue a menu of articulated measures for Lindeners and other communities. It is important to note that other communities must no longer hear only the PPP side of the story from state-controlled radio and television. Stations such as Channels 9 and 6, in particular, should immediately be allowed to have their signals available to Lindeners and citizens in the eastern, western and southern extremes of the country. Procrastination by the Head of State where this is concerned must not be allowed. After all, the free flow of information is cardinal to democracy. This should be non-negotiable.
Next, economic programmes must not be ‘band aid’ type programmes or palliatives orchestrated by the state; the people of Linden and all patriots of Guyana must not lose this opportunity.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green JP
