.. the troops
Fresh from their “victory” on the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) (Amendment) Bill, the opposition parties are determined to press what they see to be their advantage. Never mind the country’s on the verge of an economic shutdown caused by their push for power. It must be they think the coming hardships on the average man-in-the-street will be blamed on the government… and they can milk the frustrations for their political gain.
Recent moves by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) support this contention. In the first sitting of Parliament after their courting of economic sanctions against Guyana, they passed a motion to form a commission to look into the state of Guyanese veterans.
Now this is nothing but cheap politicking – designed to stir up ethnic hostilities. It’s no secret that most of the members – past and present – of the disciplined forces are from APNU’s ethnic constituency.
In our ethnically fractured polity, this sort of action translates into the accusation that the government of the day, supported in the main by another ethic group, is neglecting APNU’s group. This is very incendiary… and is reminiscent of the tactics used to raise the temperature in Linden last year. We all know what damage was done to the country and, in the end, to the very people who were stirred up.
The government rightfully pointed out that in every area the opposition claimed neglect – education, pensions and employment, among others – the government has been very protective of the needs and rights of veterans. All programmes in all societies have to take into account, the needs of all members of the society. This will set Guyanese against Guyanese and can only bring the country down.
Hard on the heels of that move in Parliament, APNU then proceeded to lambast the government for offering a five per cent raise to public servants. This is higher than the projected rate of inflation of the country – and a full one per cent more than the offer to sugar workers.
Yet APNU was mum on the latter. Here again the ethnic breakdown of these two groups fall along the political cleavage. And APNU’s championing of one and not the other is sure to exacerbate ethnic tensions – which is exactly what the party wants.
The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has already called the public servants out on strike… selectively at this time. The union has demanded a whopping 25 per cent increase. The whole scenario is eerily (and frighteningly) reminiscent of 1999 when strikes by the public servants were made coincident with street protests by the People’s National Congress (PNC) in a move to bring down the government.
It looks like a hard rain’s about to fall.
… insularism
Just like the flu, ever so often we in the Caribbean seem to get infected with bouts of insularism. You know… when we lash out at others and just refuse to have anything to do with them. Even though we may be all “one family”. Take the case of Bajan Industry and International Business Minister Donville Inniss, who cussed out the Jamaica Gleaner for daring to suggest that the arrest of the Editor-in-Chief of the Barbados Nation Roy Morris might have a political nexus. “Keep your nose out of Bajan affairs and look after the rot in Jamaica!!”
Now what could’ve brought this on? Maybe the utter humiliation of the West Indies team by India plunged the Bajan minister into a blue funk? We don’t think so. More likely it’s that Bajan conviction of superiority to its fellow Caribbean citizens – especially from Jamaica and Guyana.
Ditto for the Trinidad and Tobago immigration agents who turned back 16 Jamaicans on one flight from Jamaica. All we’ll say to them is – “time longer than twine”.
… rice farmers
Now that we’ve surpassed the old production targets in rice and gone past 500,000 tonnes by far… it’s time for the mostly small rice farmers to take a bow. Maybe it points the way for the sugar industry… small is beautiful.