Dear Editor,
As I intimated in my last letter to SN, the PPP/C is fast going along a path to destruction and is not seeing it. They are down a road similar to our former rulers the PNC by not heeding the warning signals that are screaming so loudly for them to stop and take and inventory, but they will not. They are oblivious to the fact that they are not fixing the glaring problems and for this they are paying the price. They do not see it, and do not want to see it because they are absorbed in themselves and suffer from the ‘we know it all’ syndrome.
No wonder the present imbroglio over the budget cuts has left them asking why? Why would the opposition make huge cuts in a budget that is people friendly and geared to the good and upliftment of the people? Why? The Finance Minister posed the question and then answered it: “It is the opposition’s assault on the people.” It is not an opposition assault, rather it is the government’s failure to do its homework which caused the opposition to have relevance in making those cuts. It is the people, whom the PPP/C failed to consult who granted the opposition permission to straighten out a “corrupt government,” even if it causes them much discomfort in the long run.
Therefore, the opposition is doing just that. If the government had heeded the people’s warnings we would not have arrived at this juncture, but they failed the test and the people do not mind if the entire boat is capsized now because they have been treated with scant regard.
A case in point is the Skeldon factory, a project in which the government has messed up big time. They have not made any statement or apology in relation to the mistakes made there. Skeldon is the largest investment made by this administration, and millions of dollars have been wasted on this ‘experiment’ with no tangible returns to show. Yet for all of this the PPP/C had the gall to go to the Corentyne without even offering an explanation about Skeldon and lambaste Nagamootoo. Yet Nagamootoo garnered enough votes to cause them a lot of discomfort in parliament. The people who were so affected did just what they wanted to do; that is, place a man in parliament who they believe listens to them and champions their cause.
So there you have it, one of the glaring problems that the government failed to fix. At the present moment they have hired the South Africans whom they should have consulted in the first place before fiddling around with the costly Chinese experiment. But this is a change that has come five years too late. But more important is the government’s failure to level with the people. Shouldn’t they be honest with the people and save themselves the ignominy and shame? A responsible government would have readily come out and accepted failure in the management of taxpayers’ monies. Instead, they have made the very same mistake as the PNC in behaving as if they do not owe the people an explanation. Well, they are so wrong; at the end of the day they are answerable to the people, something they are finding very difficult to swallow.
Yours faithfully,
Neil Adams
