Dear Editor,
I have been following closely the whole exposure about the thirty-eight Indian nationals who came to Guyana to work at EKAA Quarry and ended up living and working under inhumane conditions. What came out is disturbing, shameful, and embarrassing for us as a country. If it was not for the bold move by the Leader of the Opposition, Azruddin Mohamed, this matter might have been swept quietly under the carpet, just like so many others before it.
Let us be honest with ourselves. This is not surprising under the People’s Progressive Party government. This is how the system has been working for a long time. Workers suffering, people being exploited, and the government looking the other way until public pressure becomes too loud to ignore. That’s why we must never move away form protesting against any Government.
I want to say this plainly to my Indo-Guyanese brothers and sisters: do not fool yourselves into thinking that the PPP will treat you better because of race or history. The same party that claims to represent you has shown, over and over, that it has no problem mistreating its own supporters. If they can allow foreign workers to be treated like this on Guyanese soil, imagine how easily they dismiss the struggles of ordinary Guyanese every day.
As for the Minister of Labour, Keoma Griffith, I do not expect much action. We have seen this pattern already. Plenty talk, little to no enforcement. The ministry that is supposed to protect workers seems powerless when big interests and political friends are involved. That is not accidental; that is how the PPP government operates.
This PPP government will punish even its own people if it means keeping control. They have shown time and time again that they lack respect for human life, dignity, and even the memory of those who suffered before us. If they have no respect for the living, they certainly will not respect the dead.
My sincere hope is that those thirty-eight Indian nationals can return safely to their homes and families. No one should leave their country seeking honest work and end up being treated worse than animals.
This is how colonialism worked—exploitation, silence, and abuse of power. The sad reality is that the PPP government is now practicing the very same thing for years, just under a different flag. And until Guyanese people wake up and demand better, the cycle will continue.
Yours truly,
Ubraj Narine, JP, COA
Former Staff Sgt. (GDF), Mayor
City of Georgetown
