The Bharrat Jagdeo and Irfaan Ali twosome is wreaking havoc not only on the nation’s body politics and national symbols but also our greenery and the people’s quest for peace, harmony, equity, and equality.
Even the palm tree, that is indigenous to this country, has become a symbol of division, an enemy to the Jagdeo/Ali regime.
In an era of sustainable development when Guyana is pursuing carbon credits, these people are actively destroying trees that are in the public space. In Anna Regina they have destroyed the palm trees planted during the coalition administration, likewise the ones planted at the Joe Vieira Park, and there are similar such stories around the country.
How much more divisive can we become when there is effort to destroy, not maintain and build upon, when we transfer hate to the environment, national symbols, etc. that have contributed to our sense of self, identity and sovereignty, only because they were put in place by a political rival.
If the powerless palm tree, an object of beautification and serving a purpose in our ecosystem, not only here but around the world can be targeted for destruction much less human beings. And these are the people who are talking about carbon credits. They have also moved to destroy the plants
A country like Guyana, which is part of the Amazon-the world’s largest tropical rainforest-and the recipient of a minimum of US$750 million from Hess Corporation as carbon credit payments and hundreds of millions of US dollars from Norway to limit greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, the palm tree is not safe. The palm trees are an endangered species under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and this is only because the tree is the symbol of their political rival, the People’s National Congress (PNC).
They are also trying to replace the national motto with symbols of ‘one Guyana’ all over the place instead of uplifting One People, One Nation, One Destiny.
The Jagdeo/Ali intense disdain for Forbes Burnham has intensified in its ridiculousness. Not content to trample on the rights of some, as enshrined in what they derisively refer to as the ‘Burnham constitution,’ they are now pursuing, with vengeance, the destruction of the national motto, the palm tree, and other institutions and symbols that have given constructive meaning to our existence and nationhood.
Society knows when the PPP is in office how they will treat some areas with their petty and vindictiveness.
For instance, the 1763 Monument and its immediate environs, a symbol of national pride, begs for attention. The twosome sees Cuffy as a symbol of those they consider their nemesis. They do not see Cuffy as a symbol of struggle against oppression; a brutish, evil and the world’s most dehumanising system called chattel slavery.
Cuffy represents an inspiration for resistant and anti-oppressive struggle, and even though centuries ago the rebellion occurred Jagdeo and Ali feel threatened to honour a former slave whose record of resistance is chronicled in World History.
Look at the D’Urban Park, not far from the Cuffy Monument. The area is overrun by the homeless, animals and weeds. The Park is also within the vicinity of Office of the President, an area trafficked by public officials and foreign dignitaries, but Jagdeo/Ali doesn’t see the disrepair and squalor around them as a negative reflection of the Office and Guyana.
In their simplistic and hate-filled minds those are symbols of a group of people that they are determined to relegate to the margins of society, to deny their contributions to society’s development, and to eliminate from history. What is more disturbing is that the Black leaders around them appear devoid of any sense of decency and pride in the contributions of the African community to stand up and say, ‘it is unacceptable.’ It is a shame that they see their only role in the regime is that of being the utensil of the evil one and fetching the twosome chalice of miasmic mess.
