Dear Editor,
My friend Suresh said, “Imagine if all those people were protesting for oil renegotiation, how that could change our country dramatically in a big way and solve poverty. Instead, they use it to brutalize our Indo-Guyanese.” The worst crime was not the evil of the looters, but the failures of the Police Department, the Home Affairs Minister, and the PPP Government which seem unable to protect Indians in its “votes farm” whenever it is in Government. The Mon Repos Market riots was “amateur hour” at its finest for the Police and Government side. A blogger L. Hunte said, “How could you march from Vigilance to Mon Repos rob people, run and ride plus walked back and not one person was stopped, arrested or caught – #police wasonlunch?”
I had written after West Berbice that the Government should make burning and blocking of roads a “terrorist act” in a country where there is one main road where all traffic must pass, and people must be able to get to hospitals, airports, embassies, and carry on their emergency and urgent business. It should be criminal to block main roads in Guyana. (“New Parliament must pass law against blocking of roads during protests,” September 8, 2020, Chronicle). We are not like America where there are hundreds of bypass roads. Just recently, the UK passed such a law. See “Queen’s Speech: Road-blocking protestors could be jailed for a year under harsh new UK law (https://www.euronews.com/green/ 2022/05/10/road-blocking-protestors-could-be-jailed-for-a-year-under-harsh-new-uk-law). Blocking roads carry a maximum prison sentence of 12 months and an unlimited fine. But this PPP Government listens only to its own voice and that of its business class. Their Minister is quick to send police officers with lightning speed to harass the Stabroek News about where it got information from but could not intervene with lightning speed to stop the rioters and offer protection to the market people before they were brutalised. When it comes to solid policy making and proper development planning, they fail. They are in a reactive, “random acts” mode all the time.
The President said he will seek a motion in parliament to condemn violence. Is that what is needed? Is that a root cause solution? Compensation to the poor vendors who lost goods and property is a good thing, but is not a substitute for new laws, and solid policies and practices to make sure the recurring issues of the “Indian Security Dilemma” are addressed in a context of national security for all. Government must move steadily to accomplish diversity in the security forces, and all government and public agencies. Mon Repos shows that Government must do more quickly. Arresting 16 people for riotous behavior is a start. Will those who were seen riding away with loot, and those who destroyed vehicles and stole vendors’ property be charged? We are watching with 2025 in mind!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall
