Preservation and perseverance By Raphael Trotman
Stabroek News
February 15, 2003

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Much emphasis is being placed on a return to normalcy in the functioning of the Parliament and rightly so. However, there is absolutely nothing normal about the politics of Guyana and neither is there anything normal about the functioning of the Parliament. That said, it must be understood that any return must honour both the letter and spirit of The St Lucia Statement and the Herdmanston Accord. An eventual return to normalcy must provide guarantees that these will be honoured not in the breach but the observance. Since the PNCR's decision to walk out of the hallowed Assembly in March 2002 events have overtaken some of the decisions which led to the boycott and it stands to reason that a mere return will not make right all of the wrongs which we are witnessing today. A resolution of the impasse will therefore require that the parties operate outside of the conventional matrix. Initiative, boldness and a deep sense of patriotism are the ingredients required with, of course, a dash of tenacity.

For a moment we need to shift our focus away from the Parliament and take stock of the situation of the people it is set up to represent. Beneath the veneer of the representative assembly, there is so much adversely affecting the lives of the ordinary citizen that I make brave to say that a simple return to its halls will not be the panacea for Guyana's crisis as some make it out to be. We have in the past few months entered into a phase of barbarity that is unprecedented and shows that daily, we are all losing all appreciation for the value and sanctity of human life. How many people are being killed and maimed by criminals, policemen, domestic violence issues, mini buses? Who is keeping count? Simply put, we are being bathed in blood. In this regard we urgently need to craft strategies to salvage what is left of our Guyana. Parliament is but one not too significant aspect of the very many-sided and complex mosaic of Guyana. It is pathetic to see the number of mentally impaired and street-children wandering at will in the city organizing their own existence and survival. What is more disturbing is that there is as far as we the citizens are aware, no plan whatsoever to address this and similar situations. Everyone including the government appears to have thrown up arms in despair and defeat.

Were we to examine any important social sector we find that we are failing. In education can we really boast that our students of this generation are being better prepared than the last? Do we really believe that with all the horror stories we hear about health care Guyanese live healthier lives than they did 15 years ago? Unemployment soars to new heights every day. Migration of our best teachers, nurses and professionals strips away our substance and future development. Again the question has to be asked. What is being done to deal with these urgent matters that have nothing to do with a Parliament?

This country is now in the belly of a beast that hatched years ago and its monstrous designs are now visible to the naked eye. It is not too late to recognize that the danger that tears and tosses us can still be abated if we act now! Without attempting to set out a blueprint for recovery, certainly a practical approach can include the following aspects:

*Commence an urgent programme of public works to provide jobs for the thousands who are idle and restless. Building a four-lane highway from Rosignol to Georgetown, and then to Timehri for example, would have a tremendous effect socially and economically. Peru recently commenced such a programme with great success. In this vein the suggestion made by the PNCR for an urgent relief package for Buxton was timely and ought to be listened to. Many other villages should be identified for similar relief but some strategy other than guns and bullets has to be developed to address these problems.

*Re-engineer the present National Service to make it more attractive to capture the imagination of the thousands of unemployed youths.

*Revamp our education curricula to take into account the disintegration of the moral fabric of the nation; ignorance and intolerance, ethnic tension and the pervasive sense of hopelessness. These scourges have to be met head on.

* Provide the skills and tools to confront the AIDS pandemic, and the perennial diseases which continue to afflict particularly the poor.

* Enhance the work of SIMAP and other organizations such as Food For The Poor to act as true safety-nets during this crucial period.

* Ensure a definite and substantial role for religious organizations to be involved in the rescue.

* Begin a process of identifying the comparative advantages Guyana possesses in terms of world trade. A friend was rightly able to point out to me recently that with the coming of the Gulf War, the prices of oil and gold will increase. If he an ordinary citizen knows this, what then is the government doing to prepare for its effects? Where are we positioned vis-à-vis the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) scheduled for 2005?

* Strengthen the efficacy and independence of the judiciary to stand as the guardian of the country before all is lost.

This list is by no means exhaustive and many would be expected to add their expert advice and opinions but as things stand we need to do something immediately. I firmly believe that the ball is in the government's court. As the representatives elected to govern the onus lies on them to make the first and definite move. I recommend for their consideration an international Bestseller: Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson MD. This little novel with a funny title is a giant on adapting to change.

The People of Guyana are dying not only physically but also in spirit. The things which mattered to us a few months ago no longer seem important for example the provision of legal aid service for the less fortunate or a home for battered women (thankfully Didco has provided a lifeline, albeit slender). We need to collectively search our consciences and ask whether this is the way we want to go.

Those of us who remain in Guyana by choice or involuntarily have to be preserved and must persevere to push back the wall that is crushing us.

Finger pointing and blame throwing is stagnating us and with each day we tie ourselves tighter into a Gordian knot from which it will soon be impossible to extricate ourselves.

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