Old friends

‘Cri de coeur’
Major General (retired) Joe Singh issued what can only be described as a ‘cri de coeur’ (cry from the heart) in the wake of the brutal attack on the long-serving general secretary of the PNC, Oscar Clarke. As he noted, Clarke “has been my colleague and friend for over four decades.” The 74-year-old Clarke was shot and robbed by four youths in his home in Sophia.
In many of the points that Singh made, he seemed to echo an editorial from the Kaieteur News of January 31. They both noted that crime had percolated all sections of the society and speculated whether the society has degenerated because youths are not finding employment or guidance. Specifically both focused on some recent stabbings in our school system as a symbol of our degeneracy.
In terms of where the country is at, Singh volunteered that “this situation is becoming unacceptably claustrophobic and debilitating,” while the KN posited, “Oscar Clarke’s shooting now begs the question of whether the society has collapsed to the point of no return.” But what was most interesting was how they viewed the fact that it was Oscar Clarke who was attacked and by whom he was attacked.
Singh opined that, “The youth men who intruded on his premises at Plum Park, Sophia, last Tuesday evening   seemed not to have known of the status and station of Mr Clarke? Or did they?”  The KN was more direct: “There is one other turn to the Oscar Clarke shooting. It occurred in a location where the people overwhelmingly support the political party to which Clarke belongs. The perpetrators come from that community; they come from the homes where they would have heard their parents sing adulation to the party.
“Did the perpetrators not know that the home was that of a person who served the party for which their parents walked the streets in protest? Have we reached the stage where crime knows no bounds?”
This last point seems to suggest that it was somehow beyond the pale that presumed supporters of the PNC should have attacked and rob Oscar Clarke. We are extremely troubled by the easy acceptance that it was somehow more acceptable to attack others but not Clarke. We would say that this sort of thinking – when we do not see ourselves as part of a common humanity – is at the base of what is happening in this country.
Whatever happened to “One People, One Nation, One Destiny”?
Russian bear
It was rather ironic that DIH, owned by Peter D’Aguiar, bottled Russian Bear rum – when he fought Jagan and the PPP to the death for the latter’s infatuation with Russia. But I guess the brand preceded the Jagans and suggests that Russia was in the Guyanese imagination for a long time.
All of this was prompted by the recent cancellation of the last remaining loan that the Russians (then part of the USSR) had made to Burnham – just before he passed away in 1985. In his usual inimitable style (and priorities) Burnham had used the loan to purchase three Mil Mi-8 helicopters for use by the Guyana Defence Force. These “attack and transport” helicopters could ferry some 24 soldiers to battle zones.
We wonder if Burnham had a back-up plan in case the ‘kick-down-the-door’ bandits didn’t intimidate the supporters of the PPP enough. But then again, by early 1985, Burnham couldn’t prance about on horseback – so maybe he wanted to move around in style with the entourage he’d gotten used to.
Anyhow, the helicopters couldn’t fly by 1991 – it’s not like we got any value from them. The only thing you couldn’t question was Burnham’s procurement policies, could you? Ahhhh… Those were the days!
GECOM efficiency
GECOM’s boss has read the riot act to his registration officers. Maybe he should have included his secretariat. He’ll have to clean that Augean Stable before the next elections.