…from Granger
After his foray into Linden last week, Granger took his show to Berbice – the Corentyne more precisely. At Linden, he’d announced “We are born to rule Guyana”, which unleashed a slew of speculation about who exactly was “we”! Was it only PNC members since he was addressing a PNC rally? This would’ve dovetailed with PNC Chairman Volda Lawrence, who’d unabashedly announced that all her friends were PNC and they’d be the ones she’d hire!
He’d assured his Linden audience they were principled folks, unlike “Charrandas (the “Judas”) who wasn’t from Linden”. But Charrandas was from Berbice…so was Granger going to take a bold leap and visit the land of betrayers to embrace them into his party? Well, Granger didn’t go to any old village in Berbice – he went to Number 53 or Union village where he’d visited in 2018 and again this year to participate in Emancipation celebrations. Even though he didn’t actually say it, Granger might have as well announced: “Charrandas is not from Union!”
The “we” is now very clear… it’s the PNC’s “traditional” constituency, since he could’ve chosen any one of the villages “Charrandases” might be found. Like Black Bush Polder behind Union. He’d obviously prepared the ground well on his previous jaunts, for the majority of the audience were school kids who must’ve jumped at the chance to have a day off. Especially since they might’ve hoped to be given more of the bicycles Granger had doled out in 2018. They didn’t get more bicycles but they did get to see Granger’s helicopter landing and taking off – always a clincher for kids.
Granger’s message was that the folks of Union shouldn’t “get drunk on oil”…they should focus on agriculture and agro-processing which would outlast the oil. But this was just more of the BS that Granger has become famous for: BS according to the distinction made by the philosopher Harry Frankfurt, in contrast to just lying. The liar, says Frankfurt, knows the truth but lies just to fool his audience. The bullshitter, on the other hand, just don’t give a damn about what he says: he’s just looking at the effect he’ll have and will say whatever comes to his head.
Of course, agro-processing would be good not only for Union, but for all Berbice. But if Granger wasn’t bullshitting before closing Skeldon and Rose Hall estates, he could’ve arranged for the land to be leased to Berbicians of all persuasions to grow identified crops that would’ve been processed in factories established by invited entrepreneurs to satisfy markets in Caricom and a food-deficient world.
The folks of Union should ask themselves if even ONE of the promises Granger made to them since 2018 has been kept!!
…on the “troubles”
Once again, there are calls from ACDA for “justice for the hundreds of young African-Guyanese men executed by the PPP’s state-sponsored phantom squads”. Now when the Walter Rodney CoI was being established – starting in 2005 – the PNC had objected when it was proposed by the PPP as a “CoI into the assassination of Walter Rodney”. They pointed out that the name itself assumed an “assassination” had taken place. “Assassination” was eventually changed to “death”.
Your Eyewitness has the same problem with the wording of ACDA’s call…the name assumes a conclusion, so why an Inquiry?!! And that’s why he’s categorising the call as BS. If ACDA weren’t just playing to the gallery, why leave out the ethnic origin of others who were also killed during what Granger called “the troubles”??
Shouldn’t they join the PPP and demand an Inquiry into the entire 1998-2008 killing fields?? And let the chips fall where they may??
But more germanely, why haven’t they protested to caretaker President Granger?
He’s the one who establishes these CoI’s!!
…and the road to hell
Early in his life, your Eyewitness learnt the truth embedded in the statement – the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
He recommends it to the fella launching some new “citizenship” initiative.