Dear Editor,
One of the shortcomings with the appointments of non-traditional supporters of the PPP is their lack of authority to make decisions, allocate funds and recruit staff; in essence, these appointments incline towards being rubber stamps with perks, re: status, financial entitlements, duty-free concessions, VIP travel access and being invited to the glamour events hosted by the Government.
Malcolm X captured this window dressing well, when he said: “Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner.” It is vital that being appointed to Ministerial, Execu-tive or Board positions are not merely being given seats at the table. Leaders must not be compromised and condemned to the role of followers or yes-men; it is insulting not only to the individual, but also to Guyanese who look to the appointees for leadership, economic support and employment.
The sensitive issue of employment in the public sector and state-owned agencies has always been politicized by the domination of Party Paramountcy. The reality is that most of the traditional supporters of the PNC earn their livelihood in the Public Sector, this factor cannot be ignored. As recent as 1997 this issue was highlighted in the National Development Strategy.
Party Paramountcy ought not to be treated as having a higher value than cohesive nation building. The tendency to appoint party loyalists into the public sector and state-owned entities, as the overarching benchmark, is ruinous to good governance, especially given the division of employment between the public and private sector. It seems to me that a different approach is needed, which allows for non-traditional supporters to be treated with equity in the appointment process that is consistent with the statement of Cheddi Jagan in the 1997 National Development Strategy: “For me, democracy is the lifeblood of human development – democracy that is representative, consultative, participatory, and embraces the political, economic, industrial, cultural, and social spheres.”
On the issue of the replacement of employees in the state-run agencies and the public sector that is the prerogative of each new administration, I have recommended a policy that for every three terminations, two replacements should come from traditional employees in the public sector.
This is consistent with the reality as expressed on Pg. 41 of the 1997 National Development Strategy: “Afro-Guyanese dominate state-run agencies and public service – the targets of privatization and downsizing; Indo-Guyanese dominate agriculture and the private sector – the main beneficiaries of economic liberalization. Local actors better understand such structural realities.” A development strategy that promotes equity and sustainability as its chief aims, must be able to address these realities. This is the main rationale for a locally driven participatory effort.”
Because Government is not in the business of making terminations in the private sector and the agricultural industry; the new administration’s power to terminate is limited to the public sector and state-owned entities; thus, traditional supporters of the PNC are inevitably the targets for terminations, some understandable and some purely discriminatory. Regardless, the replacement policy should be non-negotiable re: Every three terminations in the public sector and state-owned entities should be followed by two replacements, to retain some semblance of national economic and employment balance, as identified in the 1997 National Development Strategy.
The absence of such a replacement policy, will lead to disruptions, confrontations and imbalances on the whole of Guyana economic and social infrastructure. While, economic opportunities, employment and preferential access to bank financing for the controlling forces in the private sector remain untouched and even expanded. The certainty of increased land allocation at peppercorn prices or easy access to bank capital or the deserved inter-generational benefits of entrepreneurship, will continue unhindered for traditional PPP supporters.
We successfully fought and sacrificed together for a democratic transition, let us not repeat past mistakes that have kept Guyana in the proverbial economic crab barrel and have trashed national economic and social development. Let us move away from platitudes and using individuals for window dressing and rubber stamping, instead, let us prioritize inclusivity with appropriate and tangible authority.
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Hinds
