Dear Editor,
I decided to present readers with a New Year gift. It is in the form of a puzzle. Please try to guess who made the following statements, all referring to Guyana and the Guyanese situation, and when. Here they are:
- “The policies of the current regime have created a deadening of the national soul, a deepening cynicism, an entrenchment of apathy, a legacy of mediocrity.”
- “The Indians, because of their control of sugar and rice and other vital areas, have been able, in a sense, to inflict a great deal of damage on society.”
- “If one political party can so hold a country in thrall for thirty years or even twenty years, then it means the people of that country cease to be men and women of knowledge, understanding, intellect, strength , or courage.”
- “A state sector that once controlled 80 per cent of the economy, with the worst possible reputation earned by its sheer ignorance in managing the assets of the society”
- “A ruling political culture which is authoritarian that crushes independence of honest enterprise; which encourages obedience, subservience, toadyism, self-censorship, self-promotion, and emasculation.”
- “A social situation which is breaking down all around us: crime, madness, homelessness, uncaring individualism.”
- “What has brought us to this low level of development? In one word – maladministration – or, put another way – mismanagement on a gigantic scale… all the wrong people were put in the wrong jobs – misfits and they are still there.”
- “All of us are responsible for that. All of us. We sat by and allowed these people to do as they like. Now ladies and gentlemen, liberty, freedom, and democracy have to be fought for, we must fight for it, and we all stood by and allowed them to take away our birthright. We did absolutely nothing about it, so now is the time to do something. And that something is tangible. And this is where the upcoming elections are critical, crucial.”
- “If we don’t take advantage of the marketplace, then we are all wasting our time, and the Guyana which we are all proud to be a part of will be a distant figment of the imagination. Our children’s children and posterity will say, ‘What the heck did this generation do? Absolutely nothing to correct the problems that we have.’”
- “I don’t think anyone can doubt that there is a profound lack of credibility when it comes to the current government in Guyana.
I don’t think anyone can dismiss the claims of the rank and file Guyanese about this poor administration that currently holds sway in Guyana.”
- From the presentations here and from the general discussions, you know that Guyanese have a tremendous capacity for eloquence. In 21 years in Guyana, I have not been able to detect a serious movement towards dialogue and consensus and consensus building. Groups which are alike speak to each other, and they speak past groups that they are not on terms with, so that the groups are in discussions with themselves. That is one of the challenges that the groups, particularly the political parties , will have to confront. We have to find a way of beginning to talk to each other in a way which can sustain itself.”
- “Unduly wide income disparity, with little or no relation to merit, application, or efficient work is a social time bomb waiting to explode.”
- “The existing Guyana Constitution will need to be amended and rewritten. The current version has many flaws, the principal one being the undue amount of political power it confers on the president of Guyana. Our multi-ethnic political reality cries out for a better dispersion of power throughout the society…”
- “Opposition political groups in the country, however, do not share this concern…Put differently, the opposition insists on ballots before bread! As a consequence, their every action is oriented toward obtaining power at all costs. The position adopted by the opposition is wholly incorrect, dangerous to Guyana’s well-being, and unpatriotic…For the opposition groups in this country to oppose the government in office is to undermine, discredit, and destroy everything the government advocates. Efforts by the government to bring about and sustain development, racial unity, peace, and economic betterment for all must be blocked, countered, or frustrated. The opposition does not distinguish between opposing a government and destroying the nation. This is sad for our society.”
All the statements have been taken from the proceedings at a conference held at the University of Miami on November 1, 1991. The speakers were as follows: 1. Professor Festus Brotherson; 2. Dr. Selwyn Ryan, eminent sociologist of Trinidad; 3. Mr Jailall Kissoon, Minister of Health, PNC Government; 4. Dr Rupert Roopnaraine; 5. and 6. Dr Rupert Roopnaraine; 7,8 and 9. Mr Yesu Persaud; 10. Dr Roger Luncheon, Executive Committee, PPP; 11. Dr Byron Blake, Caricom Secretariat; 12. and 13. Pat Thompson; 14. PNC (quoted by Dr Selwyn Ryan from Stabroek News of September 30, 1990).
Yes, the regularly heard plaintive wail of the PPP about opposition elements wanting to take away their plaything comes straight out of the PNC playbook.
The theme of the conference was ‘Guyana at the Crossroads.’ In 2015 Guyana finds itself at the crossroads again. It appears to be the selfsame one. The main difference after 23 years, appears to be that we are looking at it downwards, from a sharper incline, and without parliamentary brakes.
Does anyone have any idea of the probability of avoiding it in 2038? Is it cyclical?
Yours faithfully,
Frederick W A Collins
