by Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine
This month Guyana celebrates its 30th anniversary of Independence. But we may ask, what is there to celebrate? After 30 years of sending massa back to his country the administrative leaders are nothing short of another variety of massa - only their colors are different. Another quite revealing question. Is the Guyanese nation better off in its social structures and economic achievements? The answer is an undeniable NO.
Today Guyana's foreign debt stands at around US$ 2.2B. This translates to an individual debt of around G$40O,000.00 meaning, in simplistic terms, that every individual - man, woman and child, owes this sum to the world's lending institutions like the IMF, CDB, IDB and countries like Trinidad and Tobago, America, England and Canada.
Monthly earnings in 1965 was around G$200.00, an equivalent then of US$100. Today it is about $12,000.00, an equivalent of US$80. Thus, in terms of real earnings the average pubic service employee get less than his counterpart 30 years ago. In other words he gets more paper money but less purchasing power.
Never in Guyana's history has there been so many unsolvable murders and so high a crime rate. Before Independence there was no backtrack, cocaine and gangster style murders. Offering or receiving a bribe was a serious offence, however this debased phenomenon has been practised so often in Guyana that it has now become a way of life - an integral part of Guyana's culture. If a person is allowed one word from the dictionary to describe the country, that word must be corruption.
There were no kick-down-door bandits prior to the lowering of the Union Jack and police officers were respected, as was the same with teachers and civil servants. Today respect goes to the big time smugglers, back track operators, drug kingpins and those with connections in high places who 'get things done'.
So perverse and disintegrated has the society become that Queen Elizabeth II can only look upon her former colony with pity and sorrow.
In the Burnham years, untold numbers flocked to the exit points of Timehri airport and Port Springlands. Numerous lines proliferated for basic foodstuff and kerosene, an unheard of occurrence before Independence. In post colonial Guyana many longed for a return of the white man as Independence became a weapon in the hands of the PNC Government to ride roughshod over the populace whilst, at the same time, gabbing handfuls from the State's coffers.
It must also be said that Independence provided a platform for the launching of the egos of the two top political leaders of the era, Burnham and Jagan, While Burnham was busy providing jobs for unskilled blacks, Jagan was busy prescribing Socialism as the panacea for the country's woes. Later in 1975, he gave critical support to Burnham after the rigged 1973 elections as he was ordered to do from his master in Moscow.
Nevertheless, it was he, Dr . Cheddi Jagan, who led the fight f o r Independence which was later handed on a platter to Burnham (to quote Jagan) through the fiddled electoral process of 1964. In fact, it was Jagan who gave to Burnham the necessary votes in Parliament to nationalise the main industries - a colossal blunder derived from an ill-fated ideology.
Today Guyana's economy is ruled by the IF and its prescription for the country's ills - the Economic Recovery Programme, (ERP). The country has, over the last 15 years depended largely on loans and grants to survive, in the process of getting ensnared with a choking debt burden. Much of this (about 25%.) is owed to Trinidad for oil and other fuel supplied during the Burnham era. A little insight into this transaction will reveal that Eric Williams, the then P.M. of Trinidad and Tobago, along with his CARICOM colleagues deliberately propped up their fellow black leader. And why not? CARICOM had 13 member states all with black heads of states. So when one refers to racial white colonial policies one must be honest enough to admit to black racist policies as well. Apartheid was not only prevalent in Sooth Africa but in the front yard of the West Indian leaders. The introduction of National Service prevented many students from receiving their degrees (certificates ) even though they had passed their final examinations at the University of Guyana.
Today Guyana has a democratic ally elected government but the same shortcomings still prevail. In the same manner that the press was controlled in the pre-colonial era, both the PPP and the PNC are guilty of maligning press freedom. The Chronicle under its editor Christopher (Kit) Nacimento (a capitalist who turned socialist then somersaulted back to a capitalist, not to mention his obscure ethnic identity) published in the early 1960's highly volatile articles meant to invite violence against PPP supporters. The same happened under the PNC under the person of Carl Blackman, Adam Harris and company. Today it can be said that the Chronicle newspaper is still a political football under the boot of the PPP Government. As one philosopher pointed out: "The more things change the more they remain the same."
Racial strife exists today as it did in 1964, for though there is little racial violence the tensions are high and hidden. The looting of the Indian stores by blacks thugs on October 5, 1992 is testimony to this fact.
No one can honestly be satisfied with the achievements of Independence, no wonder therefore that nearly half of the country's population live overseas. The once richest country in the British Commonwealth, and the richest in the Caribbean is now the second poorest in the Western Hemisphere, after Haiti. The country is more dependent than ever on foreign assistance.
Its currency has declined astronomically from a G$2 to US$1 exchange rate in 1966 to a floating rate of around G$ 142 to US$ 1 - a decrease of 7000%! Added to this the bauxite and calcine production are precipitously low, moreover the alumina plant was shutdown years ago. Rice and sugar production which peaked in the early 70's, both declined the last days of the PNC dictatorship such that sugar was imported from Guatemala and Belize.
A comparison to a sister CARICOM country, Bahamas, produces a disappointing scenario. For the less than US$ 700 per capita income a Guyanese earns his compatriot receives some US$ 12,000 - 17 times the amount! Trinidadians rec ceive 6 times, Barbadians 10 times and Jamaicans twice as much. To compound this, the population has not increased in 30 years of independence so it is obvious beyond contradiction that Guyanese do not desire to take root even in their own country; even the President's son and daughter lived a number of years in the United States.
Where do we go from here? Firstly we must acknowledge the racial problems in Guyana and award jobs on more meritorious grounds rather thank on race and political affiliation. Secondly investment capital so desperately needed can he sourced from our own Guyanese abroad, providing the climate is productive and the bureaucracy non-existent.
Crime is a major deterrent to investment and the re-appointment of Laurie Lewis does not augur well in this arena. Next Dr. Cheddi Jagan must he bold and forthright and de clares that he no longer supports Communism, Marxism, Leninism and all the other jargons he labeled himself with. The Constitution is an impediment to progress and is far cry from the Declaration of Independence. We the people must come first, before we the leaders.
Above all else Guyanese must realize that the future of Guyana is in our hands, to nurture or to destroy, for we all suffered through the aftermath of Independence.