Dear Editor,
I am alarmed when I look at our politics today and find it very similar to ‘knock and knock back‘ and ‘no one wants to take the last lick‘ game that many kids play. This has me thinking. Are we in child’s play? What were the opposition parties thinking as they sat helpless in the opposition for the past twenty years? What were they seeing? What were they beating themselves about, thinking that they could do better to help our country develop?
After the twenty-eight years of PNC rule Guyanese of all ethnicities were so fed up that the PPP was given a lot of goodwill to move this country forward in 1992. Yet, well before the 1997 elections that goodwill evaporated and the masses were again filled with animosity, mainly because the PPP were not mature enough to let bygones be bygones and concentrate on moving the country forward.
The PPP, in their lack of wisdom, looked under every stone to see who owned what and who did what. Many persons ran out of the country. That approach set the society back until the results of November 28, 2011 brought some sanity to the situation.
But alas, are we recapturing the past? As I look at our politicians at work today are we going to allow history to repeat itself?
Except for the AFC, I am not satisfied with what I am seeing at play in our politics. The PPP seems incapable of understanding that they are operating under an entirely new paradigm. The APNU behave like kids with a sophisticated new toy with no idea how it works. It makes me wonder. What were these politicians planning in relation to the development of our country if the chance was given to them? When they look back at the PNC’s twenty-eight year rule and the PPP/C’s nineteen plus, what it is they see that is lacking in Guyana? What is holding up our progress? Is it something the politicians can fix, or better still finance?
A golden opportunity was given to our politicians by the electorate six months ago. When that happened I told myself that the opposition majority in parliament had at least five years to work on the most important things that are stymieing our progress. With six months gone I am not that hopeful right now. Merely trying to ‘knock’ back government to show the power of the opposition does not impress me very much. I know how much the government was knocking a lot of persons. But what would impress me would be politicians trying to put policies in place that will ensure no government ‘knocks’ the small man. I would be impressed if time is taken to put policies in place that will help the small people help themselves.
I would be impressed if there is a bipartisan approach to vetting and approving foreign investment in Guyana. There should be no one person as the ‘go to‘ person. There should be transparency and the opposition should use their present majority to set that in stone. For an example: Recently a delegation from a Malaysian logging company met with the President. Where was the bipartisan approach to the vetting?
I would also want to see that every potential investor contribute something tangible to the development of the country before they get a chance to invest. For instance, Rusal and others are mining at Aroaima and still no all weather road to Kwakwani? That road should have been a prerequisite. I also noticed Bosai conveying bauxite ore over an existing road just beyond the ‘Four Corner’ in downtown Linden. Why no new roads just for moving ore? If those companies pull out tomorrow there will be nothing to claim that they were there.
Don’t tell me companies will not do that. From what I am hearing, and I have some personal experience in this, a few persons are benefiting considerably from these projects. Unless it is the intention of opposition politicians to also benefit – and that would be a travesty in itself – I think the emphasis should be on closing this loophole and not allowing this to happen again.
I firmly believe that with private investment the Amaila Falls project can be done more cheaply. I also know some investors who would build the Linden to Kwakwani road free if they are given the right or opportunity to mine Block 37. If Bosai is made to build the road before they get the permission to expand I would be satisfied.
Lastly, the biggest thing the opposition majority could ensure the government does for the Guyanese people is to make the country prime for investment. The major obstacle is crime and justice. Here is an opportunity for the Leader of the Opposition to work with the Home Affairs Minister and get to the bottom of this. Tourists and investors must be able to move around the country freely. That is important to bettering people’s lives. The politicians must be able to make the population understand this.
By the way, the Leader of the Opposition is not showing a lot of tact.There could never be a majority leader of the opposition without the AFC. An arrangement should be made to have a deputy leader of the opposition coming from the AFC and these persons should represent the opposition together moving forward. Further, I say not.
Yours faithfully,
F Skinner
