Dear Editor,
I read two recent developments, and I think to myself when, if ever, will we get things right. I wonder about the kind of thinking that goes on here, if it can be called that, and how such is believed to benefit the citizens of this struggling country. I chose two in the hope of laying the table and enlightening, not to embarrass or insult, but that some listening and adjusting will come.
The news of our detained fishermen is known by almost all Guyanese, in what rose to the level of a national concern. The longer they were held, the deeper this nation’s uncertainties across the board. Then, they were released and came home late last week. That is the good news, and all parties from the Hon. Foreign Minister, and Guyana’s and Venezuela’s leaders, must be appreciated for their continuous efforts to bring about a healthy conclusion to what threatened to become a ballooning impasse. I so appreciate them. But I am somewhat taken aback that when the released fishermen returned, there were no dignitaries, no political leaders (‘big ones’) to welcome them and embrace them. ‘Glad to have you back; we are as one with you.’
I think that such a moment would have meant something, conveyed the right messages, reflected deep commitment to working for peaceful solutions to our thorny border controversy, and reassured all Guyanese. Reassure that we are all in this together, and that we are grateful to have our brothers back. I did not see any of that when they arrived. If I missed what actually did occur, then I quickly apologize. I believe that that might have been asking too much for the president himself; but I think that the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation should have been there, along with others of his stature. Again, I could be wrong, and I readily withdraw what might be inaccurate, if it is so.
Then there was what I would term a clear abomination involving land and money and comrades. I read of a plot of land valued at GY$5 billion, which was sold for a fraction of that huge amount. It is not for any fraction, but of a minute one, as in single digit percentage of that valuation. How do we ever get to places like these? If that valuation is accurate, and the price paid is on the money, what does it say of the kinds of stewards that we have or had in place to make such repulsive and costly things occur? I compare such a bonanza of a giveaway in the clandestine corridors of what passes for governance to that of our ordinary citizens lining up and waiting at the Providence Stadium and the Brickdam location of what I was made to understand is a Ministry of Housing office for a house lot. Most times they have to line up repeatedly, and then wait patiently, and it had better be quietly.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
