We must not let the killing of George Bacchus overshadow or obfuscate the growing and glowing injustices that continue to bedevil this society. And while we must stress on the implications the Bacchus murder has for the future of a stable Guyana, opinion-makers must focus on the entrenched backwardness that so characterise this country.

One is forced to ask at all times; what has the PPP learnt from history? This is a party that was founded in historical circumstances, grew up in an innovative period in history and hobnobbed with some of the great figures of history.

Yet after more than twelve years in power in control over the destiny of a tragic nation, a nation that needs visionary leadership, the PPP limps on without any outstanding achievement that the next generation could build upon.

Under the PPP, of course, we have had momentous changes that make our constitution one of the most democratic in the world. We just need to point to one such landscape – the Caribbean Court of Justice. But did the PPP give us that moment? No! It was a joint CARICOM endeavour.

The energizing and optimistic adaptations in our constitution came about because of political rivalry that threatened political stability. They were not born out of PPP’s avant-garde political thinking

Looking back over the twelve years, the record of historic changes is almost empty. I can think of one outstanding break with the old, with the past, that can be laid at the doorstep of the PPP and that is the Abortion Bill. It is true to say it was a bold and novel move for which the PPP must have our acknowledgement. But what after that?

Surely, we cannot use new infrastructural facilities as signs of great thinking. Whether it is the PPP, the PNC or any other party, this country will one day have streetlights throughout the East Coast, West Coast and East Bank Demerara. Someday, a Berbice Bridge will be there. These are things all countries pursue and they can hardly be put down to the ingenious planning of any particular party.

Is it that the leadership of the PPP has become intellectually dormant and therefore, there are no dreams of changing history? It is my deep felt belief that once a person takes control of their country, a sense of purpose takes over and that person wants to lift the country out of its ordinary league and make it a territory for tomorrow’s children where their names (the leaders that is) will be indelibly carved.

I believe that Burnham had such a vision but he failed to realise this due to his prodigious psychological shortcomings.

What confuses me is the widening gulf between the leadership of the country and its people. No matter how economically stagnant the country has been and is, the Guyanese psyche is a highly active one. This is a survivalist country where people are forced to think and invent in order to survive, and they have inherited this from a previous generation that was brilliant, innovative and precocious.

Whatever criticism an analyst has of Caribbean society, Guyana as part of that milieu has not been a banal, listless culture.

You could understand the failure of the PPP to dream if it were a military government living in a sea of hostility and just hoping for acceptance. But the PPP is an elected government that has strong connections with large constituencies in Guyana and with cemented relationships with other constituencies in the Diaspora, yet this is so ordinary a government without any signs of wanting to change history.

It is possible that the PPP Government sees itself as a beleaguered government, so bogged down with fears and insecurities that it can no longer shape its perspective on where to take Guyana. If that is so, it is indeed sad.

If this is not the case, then as the PPP moves into its 14th year of government, it should plan for the removal of the ossified institutions this country has inherited and which undermines our ability to project ourselves into the future. I can start with one area of backwardness that the PPP can move against – the retirement age. I have written on this, editors have agonised on it and people in general in this country have shown tremendous dislike for it.

Why retire people at the athletic age of 55. This is economic madness. This is twisted logic. This is human indecency to the highest extent. This makes absolutely no sense in a country facing extinction because of one of the fastest migration rates in the world.

During a conversation I once had with President Jagdeo, he was softly and mildly critical of the economists at UG. I don’t want to say more. But surely the President as an economist must have comprehended a long time ago that Guyana is in no position to retire people at 55.

One suspects that this may be a political problem for the PPP because it has a traditional paranoia about the public service but think of the benefits the economy can gain from the continued utilisation of those skilled Guyanese. But more importantly, this can be a springboard to launch a political rapprochement with GPSU leaders.

It is only a poisonous mind beyond redemption that would refuse to see that as a historic move.

The second horizon that I can point the PPP to is the rich potential waiting to be tapped out of the Georgetown seawall. Look at that land by the Luckhoo Swimming Pool. How long more are we going to let valued real estate lie untouched like that? This place has been a bushy den for more than a generation.

Guyana is moving into the area of non-traditional tourism. Why then are we letting this land remain idle for another hundred years to come? I am saying that in no poor country as Guyana is, will the government let precious land like that remain economically stagnant.

The present generation of Guyanese has grown up not knowing that part of Georgetown, and the PPP will go down in history, just as Burnham did with the Linden Highway if and when it makes something out of the Atlantic Ocean at Kingston.

Finally, I return to a theme of mine captured in one of my Kaieteur News columns a few weeks ago. We are not going to see a beautiful economy in this country for a long time to come. The statistics tell the sad but naked truth. It is time we refocus the University of Guyana into a small specialist university dealing in science and technology only or merge with it UWI. The time has come for the PPP to start changing history.