Dear Editor
I run the risk of repeating myself, however fundamental issues about good governance should never be considered tiresome.
Last week the media published a statement allegedly emanating from our modern-day oracle and patriarch of the famous Uitvlugt, to the effect that he with majestic pomp will do nothing to relieve the embattled ministers from their office until the commission of inquiry into the Barima tragedy, submits their report. Others have dealt with what appears to be an incomplete statement since by inference it leaves the two honourable ministers in office, with all the complexities and improprieties of having ministerial responsibility during whatever inquiry or probe the COI may wish to conduct. This pronouncement comes on the heels of a published statement allegedly made by one of the president’s top advisors, a friend of ours, to the effect that Captain Price of the ill-fated MV Barima and two others are responsible for the July 18, unfortunate occurrence.
But dear editor and citizens, be that as it may, we expect some level of consistency from persons who, as I noted earlier, are the puppeteers pulling all of the strings of the puppets preforming on stage. As rational beings, we must share, as I do, the contention, and the argument, that we should await the determination of the Barima commission of inquiry before taking any punitive action. The logic and wisdom of this stance and position is unassailable and flawless, given the above Captain Price and the two others should have the capital offense of murder charges withdrawn immediately.
As tears flowed from Captain Price and others like myself, I could not avoid observing that this action took place during the month that Captain Price and the descendants of manumitted Africans was celebrating emancipation. It is clear that not enough of us appreciate the significance of the struggle for freedom, from the most brutal acts of slavery known to modern-mankind. I make this nexus because those in the fore-front of the abomination, of this murder charge, their fore-parents came here in 1835 during the period our erstwhile masters referred to as apprenticeship from 1834 to 1838. They did not come to toil in the unfavourable conditions of the sugar and cotton plantations, but to replace the void being created by the departing European mercantile community.
Perhaps the statement “out of evil cometh good”, may be applicable to the Barima event. Post July 18, we must note machinations of the State apparatus, and here I pause to thank and praise the leader of the opposition and others, for exposing and bringing to the fore-front the massive estate owned by a single individual, better than any in the Caribbean and on par with large establishments in North America.
The sweetheart deals and the wishing away of our magnificent natural recourses are all troubling, while the majority of citizens still struggle to make ends met. Our new masters inferred that a reason for the increased cost of living is due to more persons shopping in supermarkets, and eating out at restaurants, troubling, very troubling.
As emancipation month comes to an end, it must serve as a driving force to help all of us to understand our history, and to know that history has a puckish way of repeating itself. Further, that the conditions in Guyana are now driven by the same greed and disregard for the lives and well-being of those at the bottom of the ladder, attitudes and beliefs which the slaves fought against relentlessly sacrificing their lives to be free.
As is the case in Guyana today, we have non-Afro-Guyanese who are in the struggle against the sad, sorry, sordid state of affairs that is taking over the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. Recall the likes of British gentlemen Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, Fowell Buxton, and John Newton, who fought against the evil of the slave trade, which led to the overthrow of colonial slavery. Today we must share events that created the Guyana of today. There were missteps and acts of bravery along the way, there were moments that were damned and others that were glorious.
As we survey Guyana today, we must be prepared, within the confines of the law, to speak up and demonstrate, to make it clear that we will not surrender to the disparities between the new very rich and the very poor. In coming days, I will seek to engage the leaders of our political parties, some religious organisations and Guyanese patriots on the situation in Guyana today, the overarching message will be, “we will be better together”.
Yours truly,
Elder Hamilton Green
