Dear Editor,
I visited Guyana on strictly personal business from October 21 to 26 and deliberately opted to spend my sparse spare time engaging in unbiased observations of areas I visited and then making comparisons to what I had observed during my previous visit in 1997.
My report card shows a mixture of positives and negatives, but definitely two distinct classes of Guyanese have emerged: on the one hand, there’s a small group of the ruling class and the ‘haves’, and on the other hand, there’s a massive group of the ‘have-nots.’
After deplaning at Guyana’s primary port of entry, CJIA, I can say without reservation that I welcome the Chinese providing assistance in upgrading the CJIA runway. However, I am still concerned about the manner in which the secretive deal to upgrade was reached because, like many Guyanese, I still don’t know the details of the deal.
En route to Georgetown, I think the government must be commended for ongoing Herculean efforts to widen the East Bank public road, including use of eminent domain rules to acquire properties situated along the route to be incorporated into the right of way, and the creative filling of canals along parts of the East Bank public road to later become part of a four-lane roadway.
On the other hand, there seem to be way too many vehicles in Guyana for the existing roads. There should be either a moratorium on or, at least, a reduction in, the importation of vehicles until the heavily trafficked roads in Guyana are upgraded or new roads are built. I drove on roads in the capital that would be expected in farm lands trafficked by heavy duty agricultural machinery.
And while there are traffic lights that work periodically – perhaps because they rely on solar energy – the lack of visible traffic signs and signals are an invitation for Guyana-based drivers to become risk-takers or accident makers, and they are a definite death trap for visiting Guyanese and foreigners who opt to rent vehicles and will not look down on the rough road surface for painted traffic signs while driving.
While my concern here is about the safety of Guyanese – home-based or visiting – I do recommend that if government is serious about tourism, that it immediately addresses traffic signs and signal problems. Erect conspicuous stop signs. Attach traffic regulation and information signs (visible to drivers from a reasonable distance) to overhead traffic lights indicating lanes for straight-ahead driving and left or right turn bays or lanes. Don’t wait until upgrades are completed.
In Georgetown, there are many multistoried commercial buildings going up, and while some may interpret this as progress and development, these appear to be consumer-based investments that add to the prevailing reality that Guyana is more a consumer-based than a producer-based economy. How many of these high rises will be selling Guyanese-produced items? And can the drainage infrastructure adequately handle increased waste disposal from the increased number of multistoried buildings?
Additionally, it is a contradiction of sorts to notice all these new, nice-looking buildings going up alongside or in close proximity to obviously derelict or condemned buildings. A fire outbreak in these derelicts can threaten the existence of new structures. Hello? Another contradiction is that commercial structures are going up in Georgetown, which is an environmental mess – clogged drains, homeless/vagrants on parapets, etc. It’s like pouring new wine into old wine skin.
And while I am on new high-rise buildings, I want to suggest that the owners of the attractive-looking multistoried Foot Steps on Regent and Camp Streets take steps immediately to level or grade the elevated concrete sidewalk outside the property parallel to Regent Street. I almost fell, face forward. There is no standard safety sign painted in broad yellow and black stripes to warn pedestrians of a sudden drop on the sidewalk if they are walking east on Regent Street or of a sudden rise on the sidewalk if they are going west. In New York City, this would be a massive building violation and an invitation to multiple, massive injury-based lawsuits.
Overall, if Georgetown mirrors Guyana, it would appear to me that ‘things are happening in Guyana,’ albeit in favour of some and at the expense of most. Almost every basic consumer item – and then some – can be found, but the recurring problem is that there aren’t enough jobs, let alone well-paying jobs, that would allow Guyanese at home to purchase these and still take care of their other bills. This is where the importance of remittances and illicit activities (including money laundering) play a key role in propping up Guyanese consumers.
Adding to the influx of ‘foreign dollars’ are growing numbers of Brazilians who are said to be doing brisk precious minerals business in the south of Guyana and who are also a growing presence in Georgetown. With Brazil’s growing economy (projected to become the world’s fifth largest by year’s end), Guyana can only benefit if business-to-business structures are strengthened. We just need to keep them honest!
To my pleasant surprise, there were no blackouts while I was there, although I was told these infrequently happen, but the potable water supply gets cut off (at least where I stayed) some time between lunch and 5 o’clock.
Finally, I have to touch on Linden, my birthplace. I visited the burnt-out Linmine complex and the site of the shootings. All I can say is that I regret the day Demba was nationalized from Alcan, and the day Guyana attained independence from Britain. Of course, I will get heat for saying these things, but I don’t give a damn. When over half of the nation now lives overseas, with the bulk in the ‘white man countries,’ and the Chinese now own/operate the bauxite operations in Linden (the Russians now own/operate the bauxite operations in Berbice) then political independence and bauxite nationalizations are failures.
The only thing worse is that the PPP had 28 years to learn from the mistakes of the PNC, but has spent the last 20 years committing its own series of mistakes, claims of progress and development, notwithstanding. Guyana truly has the potential to become the economic beacon and breadbasket of the Caribbean, thanks to being blessed with untapped resources, but it seems cursed with politically myopic leaders. With visionary leadership after 20 years, Guyana should have been farther ahead on the socio-economic curve.
Yours faithfully,
Emile Mervin
