Something must be horribly wrong with the planning process in Guyana. Generally, people plan because they want to see that works go as expected. A man sets out to build a house so he gets an estimated cost. He gets estimates of the material and every other factor that goes into the construction process. He knows where his house would be located; he knows its boundaries and every other factor.
When the government set out to build Heroes Highway one would have assumed that it did a study. It knew the road alignment and the impact the road would have on communities. Along the way, the government contended that some of the houses at Mocha Arcadia would be in the path of the road. There were offers to the settlers for them to be relocated. Some had been living there for decades, had livestock and had really settled in.
Early last year, it would seem that some of the residents refused the offer of resettlement on the grounds that the money offered could not rebuild a home. Some said that the government had not taken into consideration their livestock. The result was that the government sent in heavy duty equipment to smash the homes. There were reports that livestock were killed. One man who operated a small shop saw his equipment and his stock destroyed.
People representing the evicted people claimed that the land was not government property. The government ignored the claim. They demonstrated that the buildings were not in the path of the roadway. The government said nothing. The road was completed. It turned out that the homes were never in the path of the roadway. Then something strange happened. The government set about allocating the very lands to people closely connected to the People’s Progressive Party or were people of Indian ancestry.
The people whose homes were demolished were of African ancestry. Needless to say, the government was accused of blatant racism. The government has refused to answer questions about this new development. No one can recall bids for the land, neither was there any notice of the allocations. No one knows how the new occupiers were selected, how much they paid for the land or who they are. All people know is that constructions began to appear on the land. Some people have gone to court but the matter seems to be going nowhere in the courts.
The discrimination continues. There is the lingering question of whether the government is specifically targeting Black people for discrimination and punishment.
It is already known that Black contractors are largely ignored. In one instance a contractor recruited out of Trinidad was awarded a contract for a road leading from Conversation Tree to Heaven knows where. The contractor failed to deliver despite numerous extensions of the deadline. In the end, one can only assume that the contractor felt that he has had enough money to walk away. The government took back the contract and claimed that it had seized $115 million worth of equipment. There is no evidence of such seizure.
It is the same with the Cemetery Road contract. That programme has been granted countless extensions, the last expiring this week. The contractor has not been removed. Instead, the government has added new contractors to the job. There are other such unfinished contracts.
The International Monetary Fund has concluded that some 60 per cent of the budget is wasted. It merely means that for every $100 spent, sixty dollars end up in some unknown corner. In the National Assembly on Friday, the government was grilled on the expenditure on the electricity sector. Prime Minister Mark Phillips told the House that Guyana Power and Light was buying foreign currency at the road rate.
The Bank of Guyana is the reservoir of foreign currency in Guyana. And Guyana has been earning a lot from oil. The Bank of Guyana is trading the US dollar at $208 for the dollar.
One would have expected Guyana Power and Light to requisition money through the Bank of Guyana. Instead, somehow and from some source, the power company is paying $215 for a US dollar. How is this possible? How is the government allowing this travesty?
A lot of money that could have gone toward reducing the cost of living is being siphoned off to some cambio dealer. When asked about this Prime Minister Mark Phillips said that it is above his pay grade to question the purchasing methods adopted by the power company. And he is the person who holds responsibility for the power company. A similar situation exists in the sugar industry. For the year the Guyana Sugar Corporation has produced a mere six per cent of its anticipated annual target. However, it had gone back to the National Assembly for more money.
And the Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, has the audacity to say that the corporation would be close to producing the remaining 94,000 tonnes during the remaining four months of the year.
Guyana must be a nation of fools.
Minister Juan Edghill said on Friday that Transport and Harbours Department has added more vessels to the riverine service. These vessels are playing a major role in bringing out crops from the hinterland region, he told the House. The reality is that food prices are higher than they were. And no relief is in sight. Money is disappearing and people are getting immensely rich by the day.
A long time I read a book that featured an article by a Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy. It was captioned ‘How much land does a man need?’ It tells the story of a man who was taken to the top of a hill and told to measure as much land as he could before the sun went down. He started running. The more he ran the richer the land was. He then turned in another direction and kept running. He noticed the sun slowly going down, so he turned again not bothering to measure a square.
Then he turned the final corner because he could see the sun was still shining on the hill top. He sprinted to make it to the top before the sun went down. He collapsed before he could complete the plot of land he had marked. He died. Then came the question “How much land does a man need?” The answer was simple. Six feet from head to toe.
For those who are grabbing money there is the question, “How much money does a man need?” All the money grabbing while the people are suffering will be meaningless. They can’t take it with them.
