I wish to respond to a letter titled “Albouystown state of affairs”   that appeared in the Kaieteur News on Monday February 15, 2010. Strangely enough, from the comfort of a pseudonym the author sought to disparage my character and that of my family whilst claiming to be in support of the letter I earlier wrote. However, by adding my signature to the aforementioned letter instead of hiding under the cover of “Albouystown Resident”, I, unlike the author of that letter placed myself up for public scrutiny, hence, there is nothing here to hide. I challenge the writer to do the same and maybe we may have a real discussion in the letter pages of the various newspapers.
But rest assured, PPP lackey or not; Jason Abdulla was never before the courts, locally or overseas, was never charged with any sexual related offence, nor was he ever accused of being involved in a corrupt act, nor was he ever involved in the trafficking or transportation of any illegal substance. I have never used the circumstances of my community nor a fictitious organization to enhance my personal wealth or that of my family so to speak.
However, through the confusing and poorly written diatribe the author sought to convey the impression that the under-education and low salary of police ranks and the hopelessness and unemployment of youths of this predominantly Afro Guyanese area- which he/she attributed to “the hundreds of junkies flowing in and out of the area”- is to be blamed for the extortionist tactics of this ‘select few’ that were given the mandate to ‘serve and protect’. Strangely enough though, he/she failed to mention; poor parentage, the poor leadership on offer at the community level (something I’m sure the author will be very familiar with) and the political opportunism of those like the author who act as though they have a monopoly on people of a certain ethnic background, as contributory factors to all that he has mentioned above.
The author’s response is also a very poor attempt to make excuses for criminal behavior. It is even more evident that in measuring criminal behavior a different yardstick is used when allegations of criminality surface against government officials, while in cases such as that which I outlined in the earlier letter the political opportunists point to all sorts of exiguous circumstances instead of laying blame where it should truly be.
Of course the youths of communities such as ours will develop this ‘sense of hopelessness’, nonchalantly referred to by the author, after being fed on a daily basis with hatred, anti-government propaganda and dependency on the state rather than being taught to empower themselves through education, hard work, farming or  entrepreneurship . Of course this hopelessness will develop further as the state fails to ‘make-due’ after these youths were misguided into the belief that the government must provide their ‘tea, breakfast and dinner’. And as the mis-education of our youths continues these leaders who proffer themselves, as such, will lay blame here, there and everywhere in an effort to keep their support bases intact. On the other hand, I will not be part of the prostitution. I simply saw the need to raise an issue out of the concern for my fellow villagers. And the fact that I felt free to do so using my real name albeit runs in contradiction to the author’s claims of a prevailing hopelessness amongst Albouystown youths. If there was no hope why did I seek to bring the issue to the attention of the public? I used my real name; the author who responded cowered in fear behind the ‘Albouystown Resident’ label; where does the sense of hopelessness prevail?