PLEASE permit me to respond to a letter by Dr. Randy Persaud entitled “Note to the Diaspora” (GC October 6, 2009).

While Dr. Persaud’s intent is sincere and honest, I respectfully wish to point out a few items, which if acted upon, could also be persuasive in encouraging people in the Diaspora to visit and support the on-going development in Guyana.

1. In one of my prior letters, I encouraged the Guyana Government that it is critical for Guyana to tap into its unlimited resources inherent in its Diapora population, residing in North America and Europe, among other countries. To date, I have not seen any positive step in that direction. Hopefully, Dr. Persaud will strive to make the Guyana Diaspora’s involvement more meaningful.

2. I personally know many of my colleagues who, similar to Dr. Persaud, have been successful here in North America and were willing to provide their expertise to Guyana, at times at no cost to the Guyana Government. Contacts (both verbal and written) were made to the Guyana Government but years later, there has been no positive step made by the Guyana Government to forge a partnership with the Guyanese Diaspora.

3. In the past, the proposal was made to the Guyana Government to establish an Office in the Ministry of External Affairs that will address and quickly act on support offered by members in the Guyana Diaspora. So far, I have not seen any progress made in that direction.

4. I urged the Guyana Government to develop a model similar to India’s Parvasi Bharatiya Divas, a yearly forum where Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIO) meet to discuss means to assist India achieve its Millennium Development Goals and provide investment to accelerate the development of India. So far, no progress has been made in this regard.

5. I would encourage Dr. Persaud to initiate a “mini Parvasi Bharatiya Divas” to be held in Guyana every year.

6. Based on conversations with many Guyanese who would like to re-migrate or start up a business in Guyana, the red tape is still inhibitive.

As Dr. Persaud rightly noted, it would appear that the mission of some sections of the media is to nit-pick and find fault with the Government while they offer no solution to the major issues.

One columnist, a so-called University Lecturer, in one of the dailies uses his poisonous pen daily not to write objectively about events, but to write about the “gloom and doom” about Guyana. He chooses to be oblivious of any positive developments. The Guyanese people are smart enough to ignore elements in our society whose primary objective is to see a destructive Guyana rather than a unified and developing Guyana for all the races.

One wonders how a University Lecturer can lack impartiality and genuine academic scholarship in his reporting. It may be fair to say that he probably fails students who maintain objective views of events. Obviously, he has no fortitude to run for office himself but daily casts stones at others who are struggling to make a better Guyana for our future generations.

During my many visits to Guyana, I have seen that it is no fallacy that Guyana is on the move, both in terms of infra-structure development and economic development. To many Guyanese, Guyana will always be home despite many years of living abroad.

I trust that Dr. Persaud is extending an olive branch to the Diaspora. The ball is in his court now to act.
SHIV MAHARAJ PhD