Dear Editor,
Like many Berbicians who were fed up and disappointed with the performance of the PPP government during their twenty-three years in power and the many allegations of corruption, nepotism and poor governance, I welcomed the change in government in the last general election. Even the present leader of the opposition, Mr Jagdeo, admitted that arrogance and complacency cost the PPP the last election. He mentioned the attitude of many people at different levels of government, even at the lowest level, who became arrogant and lost connection with the people. He was so right because many of us could attest to that and by the time the 2015 elections were held many of us knew that it was a foregone conclusion that the PPP would lose the May 11 general and regional elections.
The coalition APNU+AFC government took the reins of power with lots of goodwill, hope and expectations from both sides of the ethnic divide, especially from the Indians, who were eagerly looking forward to good governance and accountability and an end to corruption and nepotism. But alas, that was not to be. After close to a year it is the same old same old. The coalition government is doing the exact same thing the PPP was accused of. Poor governance, no accountability, nepotism, arrogance and a lost connnection with the people, especially the Indians of this country. To say that the Indians in Berbice are disappointed is an understatement. The recent local government elections should be an eye-opener for this government. In many of the predominantly Indian villages and housing schemes where the coalition got a substantial number of votes at the last general election, they were crushed at the local government elections. The PPP won 90-95% of the votes. Many people went back to the PPP or did not bother to vote.
This is a wake-up call to this government: they should get off their high horses and out of their ivory towers and put their house in order, or come the next general election they will be languishing on the opposition benches again. Let’s have good governance, holding people accountable for their actions, and where there are failures heads must roll. They should stamp out nepotism and arrogance, reach out to the people and lift them out of poverty by attracting massive investments and creating job opportunities. Finally they should have a vision for this country that by the time the next general election comes around in four years, Guyana would be a better place than when they took over in May 2015; a country with a higher standard of living and a Guyana we would all be proud of.
Yours faithfully,
Imtiaz Baccus
