Nomination Day was Monday and all things being equal Local Government Elections will be held on Monday, June 12, 2023. Many Guyanese want to know if it is worth it given the pervasive rancour and intolerance for the other side that have come to characterise the PPP’s politics in the post-Jagan period.
Although our motto was aimed to promote and build One People, One Nation and One Destiny we are divided; our communities are divided; many live in fear, and opportunities are presented to only a few. We must rise!
We must rise as one people and demand what is rightly ours- justice, equality, good governance, and equity in the distribution of resources. It does not matter your class, race or political association. It does not matter which group you belong to; you are no less entitled to equal treatment. All are no less entitled. We must rise and speak with one accord.
Local Government Elections come at a time when the livelihood of vendors-of a significant and important section of our society- is under threat. A threat to one is a threat to all. Of late, vendors are plying their trade under great stress and trauma. The street vendors are of us, are among us, and are part of the entrepreneurial class. These are small businesses, and managing a business, irrespective of size, entails some degree of ingenuity, and commitment.
Vendors are society’s contributors not nuisance, yet they continue to live in fear of Central Government overriding the local authorities that are responsible for vending. As they keep an eye on their stalls and serve their customers, their eyes and ears are alert for news that their livelihood could be interrupted once again. And even as Central Government seeks to undermine the democratic order of society, they have no plans and programmes in place, including access to economic resources for vendors to own businesses.
Central Government has repeatedly said vendors must get off the streets but has failed to tell us what plans they have in place for people to access small loans to open a business. They just want them off these streets. They see vendors as unnecessary, but they are vital to our society. They are the entry level for commerce and self-sufficiency.
We remember only too well efforts by Central Government last December to unceremoniously remove vendors from around the Georgetown Public Hospital, when Major Ubraj Narine placed his life on the line to defend the City’s by-laws and the vendors’ right to eke out a living. In what is among one of the worst moments in our history, the mayor and Member of Parliament, Sherod Duncan, were charged for standing in solidarity with the vendors.
Those vendors provide a service to visitors, patients and staff at the hospital. They recognise the need and the fact that they are flourishing there said there need exists for them. What Central Government should have been doing is work with the Mayor and Town Council to find ways and means to accommodate them, such as moveable stalls.
As one of the lawyers representing Messrs Narine and Duncan, during our interaction with the vendors, they told us Central Government wants them off the street but has not proposed a place where they must go, which is a problem. It is a demonstration of a complete lack of commitment to a unified Guyana, a complete lack of commitment to put in place a plan that will lift people up and provide them with an opportunity to continue to ply their trade and thrive.
The vendors’ issue is a struggle about justice, humanity, equality. And I speak not only of the vendors in Georgetown but of the vendors all around Guyana. This is a society governed by universal laws, a society whose people aspire under the motto One People One Nation One Destiny, yet there remain pervasive social, economic and political inequities. We must move beyond paying lip service to making these values and aspirations real.
According to a recent World Bank Report, approximately half the society lives in poverty. Data also suggests many of our children go to school without a meal, and many do not go to school because their parents cannot afford to put a meal on their tables. In the world’s fastest growing economy, many Guyanese are going through challenging economic circumstances.
We are living in two societies, where the gap between the haves and have-nots is ever widening. Some are beginning to feel they are doomed to a life of poverty, and it is only a few in Guyana and resource predators are reaping the bounty of this land.
In this beloved land many are made to feel they are unwanted and do not belong. It is beginning to feel like the experiences of other countries where ‘Jack don’t want us to bathe on our beach….Jack wants to kick us out of reach.’ We must tell the PPP ‘dat can’t happen here’ because every square inch of this land belongs to us, and we must be allowed to exercise the freedom to traverse it, to develop it, and to reap its bounty.
Our resources cannot serve others and not us. Whilst we must not be opposed to sharing our wealth with investors and developers, it must not be to the disadvantage of our country, our people, the majority of whom are either living in poverty or just above the poverty line. We want development that is sustainable, where every Guyanese can be involved and benefit from, whether directly or indirectly such as jobs, healthcare development, education.
The PPP government is failing to recognise the vendors, as lowly as some may feel them to be, recognise the feasibility in the area they chose economic opportunity, which for many is their only means for viability. Removing them willy nilly, without a proper programme and putting them in areas where they can’t ply their products not only lead to suffering and dissatisfaction but eventually, they migrate from the areas.
We need to look at the vendors’ issue through developmental lens and provide needed support to advance the person’s entrepreneurial interests, not hound them. Vendors are providing for households and building on their small resources. Their independence and willingness to eke out a decent living should be applauded, encouraged and not crushed. We need to create the environment for all to thrive.
This government is acting without care, compassion or interest in ensuring economic equity. There is a brazen and unconscionable disrespect for the people and the laws of this country. This issue is not about race, religion and party politics; it is about the people who are subjected to constant harassment and discrimination. We must show our solidarity to this group of fellow Guyanese. We must vow to create a new politics, a new Guyana, where all can thrive, live in peace and harmony.
Local Government Elections presents the opportunity for that needed new beginning. We must all vote and increase the A Partnership of National Unity representation in the local government authorities to check the PPP’s overreach and excesses. Our vote is one representation of our voice in action. Let’s vote!
