By GHK Lall-It is good that there has been a sighting of Excellency Ali and the Hon. Bharrat Jagdeo. I looked long and hard, and encountered unimaginable difficulty in locating honourable men and women in Guyana. Drs. Ali and Jagdeo are among the last standing Guyanese men of honour, so they are precious, to be treasured. I ask citizens not to make any association with these two Guyanese men of honour, and the term as used in a Sicilian context.
It is fitting that these Guyanese kingpins turned up in New York: big boys in the Big Apple dealing in big matters. There is some symmetry there that eludes me currently; when I get that eureka moment, all Guyanese will be kept in the information loop. What is not so symmetrical is this whole New York, New York affair. After all, though a sitting president and a standing-over-the shoulder former president, they are in Manhattan for serious business, so it shouldn’t be seen as Breakfast at Tiffany.
Whether health tourism or political junket or election fundraiser, these two stars from Guyana’s political blueblood caste must bear in mind that they stop and shop on the tax dollars of shorthanded locals. When they stop and sample the wares of Fifth Avenue (they can afford them), I respectfully urge them to remember the poor people they left back home, those gasping for breath.
The mention of gasping for breath reminds me that there are whispers of a health checkup in the good ole USA for our favourite sons, at least one of the two. May I be forgiven for being brazen, and ask what happened to Guyana’s world class healthcare system of which so much has been heard about from Excellency Ali himself? My thinking is that what is sold to the world as world class by President Ali and others, and as good for Guyanese, should be good enough for the president and all of his cabinet. Do I hear any objections?
Oh, and it is now publicly known that there is a doctor on 24/7 attendance in the house of Ali and Jagdeo. Hotel suite, more accurately. Regular citizens would be delighted to be thought of, cared for, in such extraordinary terms. Who would not want to get sick in Guyana? A doctor on fulltime standby in New York! Blimey! Absolutely marvelous, isn’t it? Even more marvelous is that US$1000 a day stay for lodgings in Donald Trump’s running grounds.
Well, well, the Upper East Side is the happening place. Brothers Ali and Jagdeo are commended for their splendid choice of lodgings. Yeah, US$1000 a night for a suite for each of these two Guyanese superstars should make poor Guyanese think. How the rich and famous of Guyana live; and how the poor here are forced to drag on their already scarred bottoms. Daily dragging does that quickly.
I mean US$1000 by 4 days multiplied by 2 to account for both local political geniuses, and two million Guyana is within spitting distance. Add in the entourage, throw in well-wishers and donors and PPP, undercover operators plus food and travel (and entertainment) and ho, ho, ho, Guyana’s taxpayers are going to need a bottle of rum to numb their senses.
The final bill is going to be like a battering ram. Bad optics, and bad economics. So that all are on the same page, there is no expectation on my part that these two Guyanese polymaths lodge at the nearest YMCA. No Guyanese should quibble over the hospitality choices of illustrious political figures like Drs. Ali and Jagdeo. I certainly don’t expect them to travel cargo class, but in the front of Concordes.
The same goes for hotels, with one defining condition: they must remember how there is a mass of people in Guyana often struggling to put a meal before their children. It’s not-a-once-in-a-while reality, but an everyday grind. Caring leaders contemplate choices carefully, so that the right messages are transmitted back to the homeland. Callous leaders don’t have a care, nor do they have a clue, sometimes. It is on these occasions that the wind changes the direction of the fan (and the stuff dripping from it).
With iconic American hospitality names like Marriott and Hilton rolling off the tongues of PPP Government officials like nectar from heaven, the least that Guyanese should expect from their leaders (spending taxpayer money) is that they set an example. I do.
Did they even think of names that are here, have an interest in opening doors here, in selecting pricy lodgings? Whether those present here are independents, or still part of those brands. I am interested in leaders travelling well. By my definition that does not mean living it high on the hog. Not when there are citizens in this oil rich Atlantis that are hungry, losing hope daily.
This is revealing. Secrecy in movement, and why I am trying to figure out. Now there is splendor in living high in the lap of luxury in Manhattan, with total indifference to the domestic pains of Guyanese. Oil money does have its uses. I wish that I could have said the same for those Guyanese always hurting.
