A new year has dawn. And there would be the screams and shouts of Happy New Year. In years gone by, Old Year’s Day would have seen the crowds in the streets full of people making their last minute shopping for the little things that would go into the midnight cook-up. Just about every Guyanese grew up hearing that the new year should not find your pot devoid of food.
Like Minister Susan Rodrigues’s grandmother my mother hustled to raise eight of us. I must say that she did a great job. She left this world four years ago without owning a palace but she left some children who did very well, children who would never be as poor as they were growing up.
Sadly, in these days of plenty there are many who, in increasing numbers, are scrambling to make ends meet. In many cases the ends simply cannot meet but life goes on.
From my little corner I have been following the happenings in the wider society. Already I have seen the evil. For starters, I have seen the lavish expenditures on the banquets hosted by the president and the Prime Minister while people are starving.
I have seen the upper echelons of the society having a whale of a time in restaurants and night clubs. At the same time, I have seen the dregs of the society being beaten by the police as was the case of the vagrant who was flogged on the streets of Georgetown.
There have been reports of people shunning the ATMs in certain locations because there were people waiting to relieve them of what they had withdrawn.
In South Sophia where many people make do with little, they are being forced to make do with even less this year. Some had to forego putting money in their phones because they had to choose between something to eat and making calls.
This should not have been happening. Instead there is a government that fills the air with meaningless speeches and promises. Sadly, more than half of the population, the international community says 58 percent, are so desperate that they hold on to these promises.
Then there are the lies. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has been referred to in some circles as King Liar. There are others. When Azruddin Mohamed called out Susan Rodrigues for her apparent massive wealth she proclaimed that she was born into money.
This was a far cry from her speech in the National Assembly when she said that she came from humble beginnings. She even said that her grandmother worked in a kitchen on Middle Street.
There was Indranie Chanderpal who built a massive house in Pradoville One from donations that arrived in barrels from overseas.
President Irfaan Ali enjoyed the labours of his parents. His mother was a teacher. He owns a big house at Leonora with a pool house that could be the envy of most Guyanese. It is said that he has a large chicken farm along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.Â
Bharrat Jagdeo started it. He built a most enviable property on the Plaisance foreshore. When the Late Khurshid Sattaur was asked to explain Jagdeo’s suddenly wealth he said that all people had to do was to do the Maths.
Sattaur was the head of the Guyana Revenue Authority. He could not go after Jagdeo for taxes because one does not investigate the power on the throne or behind the throne.Â
Zulfikar Mustapha, who until a few years ago was a regional chairman, has been able to build a huge house for himself and another for his son.
No one can cast his or her mind back to the days of the PNC to find anyone owning a mansion. Forbes Burnham was touted as the fifth richest man in the world but when one looks at his house at Belfield, one sees how insignificant that house is for a man who was the country’s first President and one touted to be so rich.
Dr Cheddi Jagan’s home was similarly unpretentious in Bel Air village. It stands as a museum to his humility. So humble was his family that his wife, the late Janet Jagan, refused to attend the house warming hosted by Mrs. Indranie Chanderpal.
She had gone to the location but when she saw the house she refused to enter. She did ask questions because she knew what Indranie and her husband, the late Navin Chanderpal, earned.
In those days before oil, the poverty level was just nearing 40 per cent. People led by the PPP in opposition proclaimed that Guyana was the second poorest country in the western hemisphere. David Granger’s government came in and the poverty level declined only to rise again with the discovery of oil.
It is obvious that money has not been shared with the bulk of the population. For example, the squibs and other explosives were not heard. That tells the story of the absence of disposable income.
When the new Year dawns it will be similarly quiet. At least the animals would not be as traumatized. People would be making resolutions. As is always the case, everyone would say that they are glad that this year has passed.
They will remember the hardships and hope for better in the new year. Sadly, better will not come easily because the leaders already have an impression of people. They know that the people are not far removed from mendicants and the best way to control people is to keep them poor.
From this side of the aisle I wish you better in the new year. I wish that you reduce your dependence on others and fend for yourselves. Above all, guide your children in this the new year.
