Dear Editor,
Just when I thought hope for saving Guyana was fading fast, up came retired Major General, Mr. Joseph Singh, in his eloquently articulated but very arresting missive, `We should rededicate ourselves to building a nation and society of which we can all be proud,’ (SN, February 2). While the recent brazen and disturbing gun-toting home invasion and physical attacks on PNC General Secretary, Mr. Oscar Clarke and his family, spurred the letter, Mr. Singh also linked the act to a host of other social ills afflicting the Guyanese society, which weeps silently for concerted efforts at speedy resolutions, especially in light of the fact that, in three years, we will be 50 years old as an independent nation.
This spiraling decline in our nation’s social and moral standards did not happen suddenly. To me, it can be traced back to the era of the denial of Guyanese constitutional and human rights and freedoms during the PNC era, and which decline was further exacerbated by the era of pervasive corruption, lawlessness, vindictiveness and sporadic symptoms of autocracy during the Bharrat Jagdeo era.
Basically, since Independence, or between the PNC and PPP, Guyana’s social decay has worsened to the point where ‘spiritual renewals’ and ‘moral revivals’ and ‘social revolutions’ have become worn out clichés to impress the distressed and depressed. And it makes no sense for any of us to even think we can simply blame the PNC and PPP without taking blame as a nation, because the PNC and PPP could not exist and do what they did without support from the very people who are now victims of our own social decadence. Yes, we have, by our choices and decisions, privately and publicly, contributed to this quagmire.
And we certainly simply cannot leave it to the PPP government to take the lead role in the call for change because that is where a major part of the dilemma exists. Mr. Singh, for his part, succinctly captured for us what is wrong and even provided an antidote when he wrote, “Fissures in the fabric of our society along the fault lines of politics and ethnicity continue to fuel the perception, rightly or wrongly, that political alignments, ethnicity and social standing are factors that influence decisions relating to equity, access, security and justice.”
If we are to change this perception then one systemic change I proffer, is to harness the potential of the youth men and women who are falling out of the formal society and embrace them, counsel, guide and train them to be proud and productive Guyanese, realising their true potential.“I believe such an initiative, planned and implemented through creative partnerships, will garner support and traction. We need to fashion an enabling environment, not of garrisons, gated communities and gaols, but one where we the people feel motivated to empower ourselves to pursue our vocations, display our talents, entrepreneurial skills, patriotism, and good neighbourliness.”
If Mr. Singh genuinely believes that creative partnerships can result in ‘harnessing the potential of youth men and women who are falling out of the formal society’, then the next step is to give structure and substance to this belief. Can Mr. Singh or anyone else in or out of Guyana, who is deeply bothered by Guyana’s social decline enough to want to help effect change, come up with ideas and not mere clichés?
Based on my diagnosis, the prognosis does not look good, so I would suggest we need a revival of something like the Guyanese Association for Reform and Democracy (GUARD), not so much as a quasi-political organization seeking to determine who helps form the government of the day, but as a vehicle that would help take Guyana from social decadence status to social development status, by pushing for better democratic practices that do not treat social enhancement and economic development as mutually exclusive, but mutually dependent. For while many are hailing signs of so-called development with the rash of high-rise buildings and booming businesses, others are decrying pervasive corruption in government and social decay, and that is like mixing water with oil, because as sure as the oil will float atop the water, development will rest on a broken society; a collapse is inevitable.
Now, if the Joe Singhs of Guyana truly believe ‘fissures in the fabric of our society along the fault lines of politics and ethnicity continue to fuel the perception, rightly or wrongly, that political alignments, ethnicity and social standing are factors that influence decisions relating to equity, access, security and justice’, then pressure must be placed on the government to start respecting people’s constitutional and human rights, because democracy is never limited to the ballot box, but extended to include, among other things, election of local government leaders and genuine social development. If only at least a few other good and caring men (and women) of national prominence and social influence in Guyana would stand up, speak up and dare to do something, rather than pen letters and talk about crimes and the environment in formal or informal gatherings, I believe our beloved native land can finally come into its full potential for the benefit of its people.
We have the vision, all we need now is a vehicle to help get us where we want to go; otherwise we will be talking about where we want to go without getting there. Once again, thank you Mr. Joseph Singh, for reviving my fading hope, and I eagerly await the launching of the Joe Singh Creative Partnerships Initiative.
Yours faithfully,
Emile Mervin
