…genocide?
Lincoln Lewis earned his trade union spurs in the bauxite industry, and no one can accuse him of not representing bauxite workers above and beyond the call of duty. As General Secretary of the TUC, he accused the PPP of committing “economic genocide” against the bauxite workers after 1992, even though the industry had been brought to its knees by the PNC after they nationalised it in 1970. Just before the PNC demitted office in 1992, it had split the Linden operations from the Berbice ones in preparation for an IMF-mandated privatisation programme.
The African-Guyanese bauxite workers were the mirror image of the mostly Indian-Guyanese sugar workers in their political support — respectively PNC and PPP — and went to the extent of even naming their town after Burnham (“Linden”). In 1992, as the PNC started firing workers at Linden, Lewis successfully negotiated a “retrenchment” package for them.
But after the PPP took over the privatisation programme, Lewis specifically identified the bauxite workers as “Africans,” and introduced a racial slant to his accusations of “genocide”. This became even more incendiary after ethnic violence broke out between 1998 and 2008. There’s no question the bauxite workers were hard hit by the firings of private entities that were brought in; but the PPP did administer a multi-billion-dollar Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP), funded by the EU, that was designed to make the fired bauxite workers independent.
LEAP worked with CIDA, GO-Invest etc to foster new economic opportunities and create a revolving credit fund — LEAF. By 2009 when the LEAP programme ran out, the PPP government funded and launched its own Demerara Enterprises (DEN) to continue LEAP’s activities. Yet, Lewis kept up his “economic genocide” accusations.
The shoe, of course, is now on the other foot with sugar. The PNC-led government didn’t even follow its CoI’s recommendation to wait 3 years to privatise the troubled industry, and then have the new owners do the firings. They unilaterally sacked 5700 mostly Indian-Guyanese workers, but WITHOUT ANY PROVISION OF ALTERNATIVE EMPLOYMENT!
Two fired workers have already committed suicide, and social despair has overwhelmed Wales – closed a year ago. But your Eyewitness has a question for Lincoln Lewis, the alpha trade unionist. While, to his credit, he’s pointed out and criticised the PNC-led government for their callousness towards sugar workers — and even pointed out the POLITICAL implications — he’s studiously avoided labelling the firings as ECONOMIC GENOCIDE.
But yet, from his OWN statements about the PPP and bauxite workers, a far stronger case can be made for so describing the tragedy in the sugar belt.
Isn’t “genocide” for the (Indian-Guyanese) goose the same as “genocide” for (African-Guyanese) gander?
…giveaway rationale?
Guyanese are slowly, but surely, waking up to the enormity of the sell-out of their oil patrimony by Raphael Trotman. Today, an economist who can’t be accused of being “PPP” — in fact, he played a key role in bringing about the APNU-AFC wedding — calculated that Guyana should’ve received a bonus of US$238 million, rather than the paltry US$18 million. This is almost a QUARTER OF A BILLION IN US GREENBACKS that was lost to Guyana’s development!!
More to the point: a fraction of this could’ve been used to stabilise the sugar industry, while a more humane exit plan was designed and implemented to save the tragedy unfolding in the lives of sugar workers. After all, that’s what a bonus in the oil and gas industry is all about; it’s an accepted method to get revenues up front. Which could’ve been available even before the closure of Wales.
But the PNC wouldn’t have passed up on a bigger bonus just to destroy the PPP’s base, would they?
…conundrum
Chris Ram, a most qualified analyst, lawyer and accountant, commenting on the oil contract signed (you can’t call taking dictation “negotiation”!) by Trotman, said new announcements of oil discoveries should make us “weep, not rejoice”.
We’re just reminded how Trotman pimped away our wealth!