Dear Editor,
Guyana is a nation where half the people live outside the country. In the age of the Internet and daily passenger and cargo flights, etc, these technologies have closed the physical spaces. It is one integrated nation whether you live in Australia, Oman or Guyana. And Guyanese are now highly motivated and energized about their nation. An estimated 30,000 Guyanese were expected to gather in Brooklyn, New York yesterday for a rally, and President Granger and Mayor Di Blasio were expected to appear.
The emphasis should not be on ethnic representations, but on issues. When you build a bridge or a koker, such infrastructure is for the benefit of all the people of that village, not one ethnic group only.
Let thinkers and writers form groups wherever they settle, meet monthly to discuss issues and write short/long papers to Ministry of the Presidency (or such office as designated by the President). There must be two-way interaction on these issues. Let there be think-tanks and pressure groups to lobby the government to transform these ideas into policies. Government must encourage and engage these think tanks.
Some ideas
(a) 75% of UG’s intake should comprise engineering, science and technology students. Only 25% for liberal arts. Let’s debate this one. (Liberal arts graduates do not develop nations.)
(b) Adopt the US dollar as the country’s national currency. Phase out and eliminate the Guyana dollar. Consider the advantages of having an internationally accepted currency. All companies earning revenues in US$ must be required to pay their employees in US$. US-dollarize the economy. Let’s debate this one.
(c) Because of global warming and higher average annual rainfalls, let’s double/triple the storage capacities of coastland conservancies, and build canals and trenches for quick and easy run-off of rain and tidewater. No debate on this one. Just do it.
(d) Build back the East Coast and West Coast railways, the world’s cheapest form of mass transportation. So little in the way of fossil fuels required and little maintenance. Too many vehicles and no highways in the country lead to untold road carnage. Use Norway’s $50 million a year to build the railway. Let’s debate this one and if there is a consensus, pressure the government to adopt and implement it.
(e) Bring China to the table. Renegotiate the forest deals. Raw logs cannot be shipped out of the country. All logs (or at least 80%) must be processed into finished products in Guyana. China moved one million Chinese into Africa − 80% are engaged in petty merchandizing trades with many running street stalls. End this practice in Guyana. If we don’t end this practice, Chinese will eventually own all the low-end as well as high-end retail businesses in Georgetown.
(f) There is need for a new education policy to raise the standards and reduce primary and high school drop-outs. If the public school system is made to work, the private, bottom-house school system will be phased out. I plan to do a paper on this subject. The problem with this project is that the previous government, I believe, promptly threw any written suggestions in the garbage. Never, the courtesy of an acknowledgement. They killed off any would-be think tanks.
(g) Send a team of a dozen graduates to Singapore to study their systems of public administration and government and draw out their best ideas. Adapt and implement them to help Guyana become a developed place like Singapore. Ask the Government of Singapore to sponsor the study group.
(h) Begin the transition to a more diversified sugar sector. Do what you have to do to bring down the cost of producing each ton of sugar.
(i) Bring down the crime rate. For immediate results, deploy patrols of army and police in the commercial districts. Adopt Stop and Frisk as a deterrent crime policy. Loiterers and folks doing stake-outs outside stores and banks must be arrested or asked to move out of the area. Ask the British government to renew their offer to help rebuild and reform the police force. The court system needs to be reformed to dispense justice quickly. Hire and train more judges. Ask the Mayor of NYC for advisory help in crime prevention and detection.
Let’s do papers on these ideas and many more. If they have merit, build a consensus and pressure the government to adapt and adopt as a policy. And do the enabling legislation to make it happen.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Persaud
