Government’s approach is contradictory to achieving SDGs

Dear Editor,

President Granger is back on the podium soliciting help for this and that, border here, political cooperation there. For once it’s not Nagamootoo; the last time he begged it was for Chinese help in resolving the Venezuela border controversy. But when Nagamootoo begs, it leaves many indifferent, for how can such a man even presume to be taken seriously given his repeated betrayals and sneakiness committed throughout his political career, to his fellow partisans and now his electorate?

When President Granger begs however, one’s ears perk up, due to his prolonged absence from the political scene since he was elected to presidency. This time, he speaks of high levels of political commitment needed in attaining Sustainable Development Goals, another invention of the (not so united) United Nations to keep the developing world busy as it is being toyed with by the West.

What is rather amusing, is the conviction with which President Granger spoke, again alluding to this PNC and coalition catch word “unity”. Does President Granger and this PNC-led Government actually think that Guyanese do not know that “unity” cannot be materialized overnight or in five years? Do they not know that there is no “unity” in geopolitics, there is only national interest? If they don’t, then at least a good number of Guyanese who are still alive to tell the tale know it. They also know that a President who speaks of national unity while he conducted one of the greatest witch hunts witnessed in Guyana, and which targeted a grand majority of Amerindians and East Indians, cannot possibly be taken seriously. They know that a President who allows his Government to ruin the rice market because of exaggerated and misplaced pride cannot be taken seriously.

What the President and the Government seem not to know, is that this false and arrogant pride which has cost us the rice market, is not “national” pride, because the people do not share this peacock pompous attitude. Rice farmers have not sacrificed their lands and families’ wellbeing for “national” pride. There is no “unity” when the people do not have their say in how this country is run. There is no “unity” when people are fired without prior notice, when boards are dismissed even in a struggling rice industry. There is no “social cohesion” no “national unity” if the five and more people who compose Guyana’s rich cultural and ethnic diversity aren’t heard and respected. Absolutely not.

So as President Granger stands in front of his international counterparts, he should revise the fundamentals of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, where one of the founding principles require people to rally in support of the decisions made by the Government. Has President Granger been among the Essequibians recently, a county which gave significant support to the AFC, to listen to what they have to say? For the sake of his enlightenment as he is busy traveling the world while rice farmers are on the verge of starving, many are half seriously joking about how welcomed the Venezuelan ID would be. Has President Granger heard this yet?

Sustainable Development Goals would never be attained without the support and cooperation of every single segment of the Guyanese population. They would never be achieved if the right economic policies are not implemented. Yet, President Granger instead of looking inward, is calling on the international actors to help Guyana in this challenge. Surely, he must have very little confidence in the competency of his administration.

Sincerely,

Stacy Cheong