Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, March 13-19, 2020
By Moses Bhagwan &
Eusi Kwayana
We write as two Guyanese
who have come out
of the leadership of both
major parties, who have
lived through the violence
of the 1960s, and who
have been following with
deep sadness and alarm
the news of the outbreak
of conflict following a
mainly peaceful electoral
campaign and voting
process in our beloved
country. People’s lives
have been disrupted in the
past week, and a sense of
fear and mistrust is rapidly
taking over our communities.
History teaches
us that mistrust can lead
to violence, if it is not
nipped in the bud. As we
have already witnessed,
it is the most vulnerable
among us who will suffer
the most. Irresponsible
leadership very rarely gets
affected by the disputes
they consciously sow. A
very dangerous situation
is fast approaching.
We add our voice to
statements of concern
already made, and ask
political leaders to come
together and issue a joint
statement to all of their
supporters and all Guyanese,
calling for peace
and for an end to violence
or the threat of violence
and intimidation.
Further, we call on the
two major political leaders
and parties to put the
interest of Guyana on the
table, to surrender their
narrow goals, and to use
the division of spoils as
the basis of an immediate
agreement of a joint
government, based on
the verified results of the
2020 elections. We underline
the need for everyone
involved in the elections
machinery to fully abide
by the spirit and direction
of the Representation of
The People’s Act.
It is fortunate that the
international observers
are present. This makes it
possible for them to evaluate
any claims of evidence
of illegality in the elections
process and to bring
these to light. Illegalities
in elections must be condemned
by umpires.
At the same time, we
also condemn all attempts
by participants who speak
about the rule of law, while
they engage in disruptive
tactics to enforce their
will. All these actions, as
well as alleged misconduct
by authorized officials,
contribute to divisions
and chaos in the
society.
Divided nation
In such a deeply divided
nation, it remains possible
for the leaders of
the major parties to deescalate
the situation by
finding a mutually agreeable
solution. This can be
done irrespective of the
outcome in the courts,
irrespective of the final
declaration of results by
GECOM, irrespective of
local, regional and international
observers finally
signing off on a credible
election result. If nothing
else, the events of the
past week have underlined
forcefully that regardless
of who wins under this
current winner take all
system, Guyana as a whole
loses.
A seat one way or the
other, a margin of victory
one way or the other, will
not solve this dilemma.
We simply cannot continue
to kick the can down
the road for yet another
five years. Postponing the
problem will not make it
disappear. We cannot continue
to accept the reluctance
of the two main
political parties that have
brought us to this point,
a reluctance that so far
seems totally oblivious
to the consequences that
have played out in such
predictable and devastating
ways this past week.
The security of the supporters
of one major party
cannot be premised on the
insecurity of the supporters
of the other. It is a system
that guarantees that
most Guyanese, starting
with those most vulnerable
among us, will always
be shut out.
To The Editor
Ever heard the expression, Go
Jump In a Lake. Go Jump in a
Pool? What if I threw my A-Level
Economic textbooks into our big
fat pitch lake at La Brea? Because
this Pitch Lake seems to defy
some fundamental laws of our
Economics textbook. The more
pitch you mine, the more it produces.
It seems to defy the laws
of scarcity, demand and supply.
An insurmountable, inexhaustible
fount of pitch, asphalt. What
a thing!
Yet, most of our secondary
roads are as pitted and plastered
and pot-holed as a Guanapo
quarry or sandpit. Guanapo is
an ancient town of the Arawaks
which has been mined in the
modern age for every manner
of rock, stone, sand aggregate.
And don’t talk about the Arima
to Blanchicheusse Main Road.
We live in an island of potholes
galore, once you are not on the
major highways, in an island
of a wellspring of asphalt. The
cost to shocks, steering, tyres,
velocity joints, and gas must be
astronomical. Driving on these
roads is an exercise of preservation,
consternation and longsuffering!
We have an inexhaustible supply
of fresh water. It is called
floods. This has been hearkened
the more by the melting of glaciers
and icecaps. There is more
precipitation in the global system.
More extreme water events.
Landslides, sea rise, flooding.
Fresh water everywhere, yet our
Water and Sewerage Authority
is busting. And sometimes our
pipes run dry. And we desalinate
like crazy, paying a large bill for
this enterprise. But water runs
off our large patchwork community
roof up and down our East-
West Corridor, in settlement,
schemes, housing plants, runs
off our concreted compounds,
onto our roads and concreted
drains, into the ever-rising sea.
We have an inexhaustible supply
of sun. Islands, we say of
sand, sea and sun. No charge
from the sun. Once again defying
the laws of Economics. Yet
our Prime Minister takes bouff
from President Trump. Scuttling
Dragon and the Loran Manatee
collaborative projects with President
Maduro and Venezuela.
And is running off everywhere
to find energy. Sun, sun everywhere.
Protonic and photonic
culture and technology everywhere.
Yet, not a solar or wind
farm in sight! The gas price at
Point Lisas Industrial Estate is
coming under increasing pressure,
and the LNG trains too. We
are no longer globally competitive
in the fossil fuels game. And
T&TEC, the Trinidad and Tobago
Electricity Commission, is busting
big!
And we have a refinery. Petrotrin.
And we mine between thirty
and fifty thousand barrels of oil
per day. And whilst this refinery
lies mothballed, tankers line up
on the Beetham Highway each
morning, waiting for imported
gas. Imported kerosene. For our
planes, trucks, cars, vans, heavy
construction equipment, our
gas-guzzling SUV’s. Using up
our valuable foreign exchange.
What will the price of gas be
in the face of external shocks,
wars, virus, economic wars and
sanctions?
We possess water on all sides,
fertile lands on our plains, valleys,
coasts and hillsides and yet
our fish and agricultural stocks
and production are declining. In
OP-EDS
To the leaders
of APNU-AFC
and the PPP,
we ask you
to hold your
heads high and
operate with
integrity and
humility.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed care of this newspaper to the Editor,
Caribbean-Life Publications, 1 MetroTech Center North, Brooklyn, New York 11201, or sent via e-mail to caribbeanlife@
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address and telephone number included. Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the
name will be published or withheld on request. No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves
the right to edit all submissions.
Continued on Page 11
Continued on Page 11
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Whoever wins this election,
all of Guyana loses: A call
for a gov’t of national unity
Letter to Guyana
/schnepsmedia.com