Bhabendra Chandrashakar, businessman,
“For the New Year, I’m hoping for the economy and the cost of living to be better because to me it dropped. The average man’s day pay $3,500. If he has a family and small children, $20,000 is not enough in the supermarket to buy grocery, pampers and other things. The country should get better with oil. But we don’t know how soon that would happen. My expectations are that the government would lower the tax for the small businesspeople and give us better options in terms of marketing. I would also expect to see lower utility bills. I live in Tuschen Scheme and the streets here are terrible and really need fixing. You can’t even drive in some of them. Most of all, I hope for a prosperous and blessed New Year for my family and everyone else.”
Floyd Cameron, minibus owner,
“Well, my hopes and expectations are that we have a peaceful country, live a peaceful life and have a peaceful elections and everybody live in oneness. About the oil and whatever else is to come, I think God has something good for us and we are looking forward to it. Whatever is planned we will enjoy it to the max. But I look on to see before I can make any further comment.”
Nadia Pyle, self-employed,
“My expectations for the New Year is that I would get my house lot to build my house. I applied for a long time and every time I go in to the Vreed-en-Hoop office the girl there is giving me a hard time. Every time she sees me it’s a problem. That’s why I won’t be voting for anybody. I hope for betterment in Guyana; not for everybody else coming and benefiting off of us and we are here struggling. We can’t get through (with house lot) and they coming and get through. That is not fair. And for my children, I am hoping that the education system would be better and that the teachers won’t have favouritism. They find oil, but next five years everything would wash away so why are they digging up what God put there? I hope that the government can help single parents and help to stop the violence against women and men too.”
Rishi Samtani, businessman,
“My hope for the New Year is for happiness for all. We are bound for happiness but everything around us, like elections, is causing disunity. I don’t even want to talk about elections because there is no hope in the government. There is no hope for the people. Those in authorities are just running after money and wealth and they don’t care about others. My views would always differ, but for me, happiness is what I’m after. However I’m going to get that… I’m not putting my trust in anybody for it. We have to live, we have to survive.”
Nazim Ali, vendor,
“So far money is not circulating and you can see that the people are not spending. I expect things to get worse because there is no job creation. I am hoping for the best though. In this country, too much lawlessness going on. The kind of vulgar music that are playing and the atmosphere that is developing around, is not nice for this country. My expectations are that the vulgar music they play in public transportation would stop and the moral standards of people would be raised. When that happens then people would start to love one another.
Shameeza Khan, vendor,
“I hope that the New Year can bring happiness and good things for me and my family. My expectations are that my children would be successful in their studies. We are doing a little business to maintain ourselves and I would like it to prosper. Right now it is a little rough but I am not complaining. I am hoping that the country would get better and the cost of living would go down and everyone can live in comfort and have stress-free lives.”
Winston Stephenson, pensioner,
“I would like to see betterment in the New Year and wish that everything can go well with myself and family and with everybody. I am a pensioner and I am glad to know that I can live my life at a certain standard. I am hoping that the economy would be better so that I can do more spending with the little money that I’m getting. At least a new year coming and you would like to know that you are surviving. If they can do more for the pensioners I would accept and bless. For us to live comfortably, the government would have to reduce the bills for water and electricity. It is not nice that we are not getting much money and we have to pay all these bills.”
Natasha Raghubeer, sales woman,
“My hopes for the New Year is to see Guyana as a better country as it used to be. I also expect a better future for me and my family and for everything to go well with us. I hope that we would have better jobs and that there would be improvements in our lives. I also hope for the same for everybody else. I expect that the economy would be better so that the little money that we earn would be enough to maintain ourselves. My hopes and expectations are also for the country to be peaceful, especially in this election year, for everybody to live in unity and have better communication with each other.”
Andre Hunter, gold miner,
“I am from Kamarang and my hopes and expectations for the New Year are to mine more gold, minerals and diamonds. I expect to work harder so that I can take care of my family better. I have three children so far and I hope to put more money towards their education. I also want to see my children in good health in the New Year. Right now I brought them out to the coast and all of them got the cold and fever. I hope that they would be in good health in the New Year. I am also expecting a good health care system in Kamarang, where the government can see to certain things, like an ultrasound machine and a proper lab for the hospital.
We also need a better electricity system. The government did their part by providing us with a generator and maintain it with part of the fuel. We are only getting electricity from 6 am to 10 pm. The community used to come together and see that the generator work for the rest of the time but that is not happening now. Otherwise, we have a well organized community and I hope that this year there would be improvements. I also hope for a successful year for everyone. Kamarang is the main area for Region Seven and it is very beautiful. We have the airport there.”
Chandra Jagmohan, housekeeper,
“In 2019, there were a lot of fatal accidents, fires, murders and other crimes. So my hopes and expectations are that all of this would stop or ease up in the new year and that the country would be peaceful and quiet. I hope that the drivers take more care in using the road and value other people’s lives. I would also like to see the police doing more to solve the crimes. In my scheme at Cornelia Ida, some youths would pounce on people when they are walking late in the long street, and rob them. So far the police have not caught them. I also expect all the citizens of this country to live in peace, love and unity, even during the elections period. Personally, I hope to have a bright and prosperous year in good health and for a lot of good things to happen in my life.”
