Businessmen, chambers of commerce and groups such as the Forest Products Association (FPA) have thrown their support behind a call for a shutdown of the country to send a message to political parties over the crime wave.
Organisers of the shutdown yesterday steadfastly declined to be named despite growing public concern that they should come out in the open.
With the exception of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry all chambers of commerce have come out in support of the "shutdown of the country tomorrow.
However, the Private Sector Commission and the Guyana Trades Union Congress as umbrella organisation will not be taking part in the one-day activity.
Meanwhile, the PPP/C, the party in government, has said that it respects the right of the business community to make a firm statement against crime but cautioned that any and all actions should be well considered as some can serve to defeat "the very purpose we are seeking to address."
A Private Sector Commission (PSC) source last night told Stabroek News that the PSC could not support the shutdown because of the current role it is playing within the Social Partners Initiative as a mediator between the political parties.
The source said that due to the crime situation the Social Partners took on board a technical team of experts which included Major General (rtd) Joe Singh, former police commissioner Laurie Lewis and Brigadier (rtd) Norman McLean to assess and make recommendations to deal with the current crime situation in a document `The prevailing security environment'. The Social Partners met with the PNCR on Friday and are due to meet with the PPP/C today and with the government tomorrow. Because the initiative was the only one of its kind on the cards at the moment, the source said that it would be unwise when mediating between the government and the opposition to support the shutdown.
Even though the GCCI yesterday did not state its position on the shutdown a number of its members are in support of the action and have been funding paid advertisements in some sections of the local media.
The idea of the shutdown originated at a meeting of regional chambers of commerce in Berbice on September 29, President of the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, David Subnauth told Stabroek News yesterday.
At that meeting Subnauth said that the chambers of commerce of New Amsterdam, the West Berbice and Upper Corentyne were present. Also present at that meeting was the President of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Ramdial Bhookmohan who supported the idea and was asked to communicate with other chambers the decision taken by the regional chambers to hold a day of protest on October 9.
Subnauth said that because of the crime situation people in Berbice were suffering more than most other Guyanese because lorries carrying goods to and from the city were not travelling because of the fear of passing the village of Buxton. He noted that just a few days ago, the Corentyne buried two of its citizens who died at the hands of bandits outside of Buxton. The government needs to wake up from its slumber, he added.
There are nine chambers of commerce. Apart from the three in Berbice, the Linden Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Development issued a statement in support of the shutdown.
In a release yesterday, the chamber said that its support was an expression of concern over the deteriorating crime/security situation in Guyana in general and in Linden in particular.
In another release, the West Berbice Chamber of Industry and Commerce said the organisation met with various businesspersons along with the West Berbice Lions Club and the mini-bus association.
In an invited comment, the chamber's President Muntaz Ali said that businesses were being affected and Berbicians were afraid to travel to the city because of the daily unrest.
The West Berbice Chambers release said that those in attendance at the meeting said they were dissatisfied with the performance of the government and the silence of the opposition parties. The release said that 93% of the population voted for the parties yet nothing was being done by them to assist in the current crisis in Guyana.
Expressing amazement that the government was still promoting the planned New Amsterdam Town Day and putting people's lives at risk, considering the robberies and killings take place, Ali was quoted as saying that now was not the time for celebration but the government needs to put every effort and resource into the fight against crime.
The West Berbice chamber noted that inspite of meetings between the National Association of Chambers of Commerce and President Bharrat Jagdeo and the association and Opposition Leader Desmond Hoyte, there was no tangible effort made by the two leaders to go back to dialogue or any form of discussion.
Commenting on Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manzoor Nadir's statement in the October 6, Sunday Stabroek that there should be dialogue with the government before action such as the shutting down of the country, the release said that the West Berbice Cham-ber has made the Region Six Regional Democratic Council (RDC) its honorary member. The release said that so far the Regional Chairman Harrinarine Baldeo had never responded or attended any meetings.
FPA Executive Director Mona Bynoe yesterday told Stabroek News that the association supported the one-day shutdown. This decision, she said was taken at a meeting of the association held last Thursday.
In a statement issued yesterday, the FPA said that the association deplored the current situation in which its members have been both kidnapped and murdered in their beds. Personal security was a major threat and theft of equipment, a daily occurrence.
The support, the FPA said, was to demonstrate in a peaceful way the frustration and impotence felt by the community over the malaise generated by the political leadership. It called for law and order to be restored in Guyana, corruption dealt with expeditiously and crime and its root causes addressed in a forceful manner.
The Guyana Indian Heritage Association (GIHA) welcomed the move by the business community initially for one day. GIHA said that the event will send a clear and strong signal to the government and the main opposition party, the PNC/R, that the business community will no longer operate in an environment where there was inadequate and ineffective national security brought about by political immaturity.
GIHA said that the Indian business sector was the main contributor to the country's development and growth and suffered significantly over the last eight months due to brutal criminality and political idiocy.
GIHA President Ryhaan Shah said that since last February, more than $50 million has been stolen from mainly Indian homes and businesses in addition to hundreds of millions more because of lost business. She said that the recent surge of terror that has rendered the business community unprotected will certainly threaten the development of Guyana while negatively impacting on investment prospects.
The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) said that even though the GTUC will not be taking part it still thinks that it will be for a just cause.
GTUC President Carvil Duncan yesterday told this newspaper that the shutdown will send a message to the administration that something was wrong and something ought to be done because in the current situation everyone's security was threatened.
Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) President Sydney Murdock, yesterday told Stabroek News that executives of the GTU had been approached by those organising the day of protest. He said that neither he nor the executives could take a unilateral position on the issue. He said the union's policy was one in which the executives would take the recommendations to the general council, the second highest after the conference. He said that time was too short to go through the process.
In its release the PPP/C said that it shares the deep concern of the business community and all Guyanese over the crime situation and has welcomed President Jagdeo's assurance that "the fight against crime was the number one priority of his administration."
Noting the party's call for a national consensus on crime, the party said the call was made "in the context of the PNC/R('s) lack of unconditional support for the law enforcement agencies in the crime fighting activities and the PNC/R elements' links with known criminals and other lawless individuals."