Poachers and Poseurs

Poachers
FITUG came out swinging against the AFC’s cynical and transparent moves to exploit the problems in the sugar industry. It’s high time that they did. And all who care about creating a stable Guyana should join in their condemnation. As FITUG pointed out, our politics gestated in the sugar industry. This was because the contradiction between capital/ imperialism and labour were most stark during the colonial period.
But Cheddi Jagan kept his promise to sugar workers – even if Burnham turned his back on them – and in 1997 a Trade Union Recognition Act was passed. It offers a procedure for representing workers in industrial disputes – if you believe the union is not doing its job. Organise a new union if you think GAWU is not up to scratch! But the power hungry renegades in the AFC want to have their cake and eat it too. Nagamootoo wants to suck up to Komal Chand, even while the AFC undermines GAWU’s representation.
The AFC spent five years in Parliament and did absolutely nothing for sugar workers. It sat on the Economic Services Committee, but did it ever request an investigation of the conditions it is now protesting. Not on your life! It twiddled its thumbs and is now shedding crocodile tears for sugar workers. The AFC is a political party and political parties are given their forum in the political system to represent their constituency or even the country at large.
But to form a trade union would demand work. Work in the fields and in the backdams. Ramjattan and Nagamootoo would have to take off their suits and ties. They would have to be on the ‘order lines’ before the sun rises. But they’ll never do this. It’s easier to be rabblerousers and take advantage of the plight of the sugar workers. The sad truth is that it is not only the sugar workers who have their backs against the wall – it’s the entire industry. But all the AFC did was present airy-fairy proposals about co-gen and ethanol cogged from textbooks. And of course, stir up workers to exacerbate the troubles in the industry: ensuring there will be no jobs for them when sugar goes down the tubes. Real Carrion Crows!
Poseur
The Stabber News just featured a hagiography on AFC’s Ramaya as a “new parliamentarian”. We have had a longstanding challenge to this poseur to produce proof of all the degrees he claimed to have earned in the U. S. To no avail to no one’s surprise! So the Stabber repeats the hype: two undergraduate degrees – one in “international politics” (sic) and the other in “third world politics”. And that’s not all for this man who doesn’t know the difference between “is” and “are”: he also has a “master’s degree” (in what he didn’t say) and a PhD in psychology.
All of this and the man just dabbled in real estate in NY and Florida – and that’s another story. But forget all of that – he finally got into “alternative medicine” in his dotage. And he practises a real ‘alternative medicine’. He resents the label “bush doctor” – most likely because his “alternative medicine” of choice is “pee” not herbs. Yes, you got that right: that’s why he’s most well-known in the Corentyne as the “pee doctor”.
Country folks have a way with words. So what is the Stabber’s excuse for not demanding a peek at this polymath’s degrees?
Whingers
The government released three of the contracts the opposition has been clamouring for. But if you are to go by the reports in the Muckraker, the minister of finance has no reason for censuring the tone their criticism had taken. The minister’s ire stems from the unremitting allegations of fraud and scams in foreign investments. Must the minister be complacent when the nasty accusations certainly scared away some investors?
Poachers FITUG came out swinging against the AFC’s cynical and transparent moves to exploit the problems in the sugar industry. It’s high time that they did. And all who care about creating a stable Guyana should join in their condemnation. As FITUG pointed out, our politics gestated in the sugar industry. This was because the contradiction between capital/ imperialism and labour were most stark during the colonial period. But Cheddi Jagan kept his promise to sugar workers – even if Burnham turned his back on them – and in 1997 a Trade Union Recognition Act was passed. It offers a procedure for representing workers in industrial disputes – if you believe the union is not doing its job. Organise a new union if you think GAWU is not up to scratch! But the power hungry renegades in the AFC want to have their cake and eat it too. Nagamootoo wants to suck up to Komal Chand, even while the AFC undermines GAWU’s representation. The AFC spent five years in Parliament and did absolutely nothing for sugar workers. It sat on the Economic Services Committee, but did it ever request an investigation of the conditions it is now protesting. Not on your life! It twiddled its thumbs and is now shedding crocodile tears for sugar workers. The AFC is a political party and political parties are given their forum in the political system to represent their constituency or even the country at large. But to form a trade union would demand work. Work in the fields and in the backdams. Ramjattan and Nagamootoo would have to take off their suits and ties. They would have to be on the ‘order lines’ before the sun rises. But they’ll never do this. It’s easier to be rabblerousers and take advantage of the plight of the sugar workers. The sad truth is that it is not only the sugar workers who have their backs against the wall – it’s the entire industry. But all the AFC did was present airy-fairy proposals about co-gen and ethanol cogged from textbooks. And of course, stir up workers to exacerbate the troubles in the industry: ensuring there will be no jobs for them when sugar goes down the tubes. Real Carrion Crows! Poseur The Stabber News just featured a hagiography on AFC’s Ramaya as a “new parliamentarian”. We have had a longstanding challenge to this poseur to produce proof of all the degrees he claimed to have earned in the U. S. To no avail to no one’s surprise! So the Stabber repeats the hype: two undergraduate degrees – one in “international politics” (sic) and the other in “third world politics”. And that’s not all for this man who doesn’t know the difference between “is” and “are”: he also has a “master’s degree” (in what he didn’t say) and a PhD in psychology. All of this and the man just dabbled in real estate in NY and Florida – and that’s another story. But forget all of that – he finally got into “alternative medicine” in his dotage. And he practises a real ‘alternative medicine’. He resents the label “bush doctor” – most likely because his “alternative medicine” of choice is “pee” not herbs. Yes, you got that right: that’s why he’s most well-known in the Corentyne as the “pee doctor”. Country folks have a way with words. So what is the Stabber’s excuse for not demanding a peek at this polymath’s degrees?Whingers The government released three of the contracts the opposition has been clamouring for. But if you are to go by the reports in the Muckraker, the minister of finance has no reason for censuring the tone their criticism had taken. The minister’s ire stems from the unremitting allegations of fraud and scams in foreign investments. Must the minister be complacent when the nasty accusations certainly scared away some investors?