Dear Editor,
Coming quickly on the heels of breaking news that China’s Ambassador to Guyana, Cui Jianchun, wants to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the area of developing “a strong engineering corps at the GDF, so they can make a bigger contribution to infrastructure development in this country”, I would like to offer a perspective.
Before I do, however, I must say that, despite my misgiving of the Chinese and their ‘economic invasion’ of several third world countries, I strongly believe that China should be giving back to those very third world countries they have been ravaging and exploiting to satisfy China’s own economic demands and global political aspirations to become the alternate world superpower.
As a Guyanese, I have witnessed Guyana’s political and socioeconomic decline ever since the British left in 1966. Actually, in the first decade since 1966, a sense of hope and dream of prosperity for Guyanese were evident given our vast untapped natural resources. By the 1980s, however, that sense of hope and dream of prosperity gave way to a sense of despair as the Independence generation began looking forward to migration in search of a missed dream.
Between the 1990s and now, another generation has grown up without any sense of hope, and were it not for a combination of the underground economy, easy cross-border and cross-ocean migration, foreign remittances and systemic corruption as escape valves, Guyana could easily have imploded. The issue of development has long been a talking point by various political leaders, but true development with benefits trickling down to Guyanese never fully materialized, even though politicians, who always spoke loudly about promoting the working class or ordinary man, usually come out socioeconomically better than when they first got elected or appointed, and they, too, migrate.
What does all that have to do with the strengthening of the local army engineering corps to benefit Guyana? Well, I know I run the risk of being attacked for encouraging Guyanese to copycat another American system, but I have been reading stories and seeing accompanying pictures of Guyanese who migrated to America, joined the US military and began drawing down on the benefits, and it set to me thinking that the GDF, which is primarily about national defence, can become a catalyst for both personal and national development, but especially for Guyana’s youths who are a big chunk of the highest unemployment rate in the Caribbean and a big chunk of the local prison population.
I am not saying the US military was or is a perfect institution, but the GDF, as a similar defence institution, is capable of providing the type of discipline and structure many youths need. The GDF can be re-oriented, with incentive-laden opportunities, to help Guyana’s youths lead disciplined and structured lives, starting while still in school via a youth corps, then easily transitioning to the road to personal development and academic achievements. And besides either becoming reservists or active members, these members of the army should have an advantage among candidates seeking employment with any government agency.
Provisions should also be made for such members to obtain scholarships to technical vocational and tertiary level educational institutions at home or even abroad, but the types of studies they pursue should be tailored to meet Guyana’s development needs. Now, to aid in this process, government should seriously consider allocating budgeted funds to a restructured GDF Engineering Corps for several construction, rehabilitation and development projects that are normally awarded to private contractors, who are also among public bidders for state projects.
By also allocating public funds to the Engineering Corps for various rehabilitation or development projects, the opportunity will be provided for youths who join the army to be gainfully employed while contributing to the very infrastructure development the Chinese Ambassador adverted to in his meeting with President David Granger, on Wednesday.
Like the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), a federal agency under the Department of Defense made up of some 37,000 civilian and military personnel, the GDF Engineering Corps can contribute to public engineering, design, dams, beach nourishment, dredging for waterway navigation canals or rivers, flood protection, outdoor recreation opportunities and construction management agencies, and all of that while leading full compliance with environmental regulation and ecosystem restoration.
In closing, it could make for inspirational reading, perhaps emulation, if we have stories of Guyanese who migrated to America and served or are serving in the US military to show the benefits of such a decision. I am not delusional to think all related stories will make for riveting reading, but since the focus is on Guyana and the need for inspiring hope in today’s youths by coming up with ideas for their gainful employment and development, I have no doubt that the stories we read might be helpful. Additionally, at some point, Guyanese who served in the US military may also be tapped for ideas or contributions to their native land.
Yours faithfully,
Emile Mervin
