Dear Editor,
A letter writer (July 20) painted a rosy picture of agriculture and the performance of that Ministry. The writer did not address critical issues about shortages and price increases of basic foods. Aren’t imported foods cheaper than domestic products? If truth be told, hasn’t agriculture production of rice, fruits, and vegetables decreased since 2020? Isn’t Guyana importing sugar, fruits, and vegetables? Isn’t there a shortage of rice to meet domestic demand?
Restaurants are complaining about difficulty in procuring rice and sugar. Aren’t imported fruits cheaper than local produce? Isn’t imported mangos and bananas cheaper than our local ones? Isn’t cost of living beyond reach of the poor? Isn’t rampant corruption the most prominent feature in agriculture and across other sectors (mining, infrastructure, housing, GPL) of the government over the last four years? If not, why is the US pulling in Ministers, PS, business persons for questioning on corruption and money laundering?
Is the letter writer on the payroll to do propaganda work? He disputes experts, buyers, and market vendors on rising cost of living. Cost of living is more than 300 percent of what it was in early 2020. Writers on the series on cost of living pen that prices are three times what they were over the last three years. Yet the writer claims all is well with the economy and that peoples’ lives have been getting better. Which country is he living in? Only psychotics write that way – see the worst of a situation and calls it the best.
The letter writer has been like a political football, being kicked around. He jumped from party to party. He was with PPP. Then he joined AFC, becoming a Councillor. He was a ranking functionary of the AFC and was a GuySuCo worker. He promised farmers the moon and stars when campaigning to win votes, but he and the AFC failed to deliver on promises. After 2020, he left AFC and returned to PPP; the ruling party is now destroying the sugar and rice industry. Sugar production is a quarter of what it was in 2020, and rice crops have been destroyed over the last three years.
The letter writer is a known propagandist. Readers no longer have value for his letters. He should desist from spreading propaganda in support of a failing Ministry and the government in general. He should make peace with his maker instead of engaging in lies.
Yours truly,
Lincoln Chase
