GUYANA has now become the holding area for professional doubters and serial pessimists. These folks have a well established record of lashing out at any sign of progress. It has become so bizarre that the very people who benefit from development of major projects are at the front lines of saying ‘it can’t be done’. Opposition elements are expected to offer criticisms of government , including government projects and policies. It happens all over the world, including the big USA. You have no doubt noticed that President Obama has been severely criticised for his health care plan. Some call it socialism; others call it fascism. Guyanese in Toronto will no doubt recall the aggressive criticisms launched against the City of Toronto government when the Toronto Dome was being built. The Don Valley Parkway had gone through the same thing decades before.
In Guyana, we have our fair share of naysayers, as the Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh has aptly dubbed them.
When the Berbice Bridge was proposed the professional pessimists were up in arms. They cried about its financial non-viability. Some said it was being built in the wrong place. The Bridge was built and the same critics can be seen enjoying the ride over. The cynical among us may very well ask them not to take the Bridge. They should go to Blairmont and struggle over with the pontoon boat.
One critic who uses words like fascism and elected dictatorship did not give up. After the Berbice Bridge was built he looked around and came up with the pathetic notion that the Bridge is ugly.
You can all remember the professional pessimists hard at work when the Providence Stadium was proposed and when it was being built. The naysayers were in the press and on TV every day crying (suskaying is more appropriate) about the viability of the Stadium. Those very folks now can be seen in the stands and booths jumping up and down at sporting events. Watch out for them later this month. If those critics have any decency they should stay home and watch the games on TV. Many people would gladly take the tickets.
How about the LCDS? Here the professional pessimists came from all angles and from all pedigrees. Some have doctoral degrees, while others became experts on economic development and environmental matters overnight. They said it won’t work; they said no one would give us money. President Jagdeo and his PPP administration demonstrated otherwise. The professional pessimists were wrong again.
With all these failures you would think that the professional pessimists would develop some modesty and greater care in their utterances. Not here my friend; not in Guyana.
The Takutu Bridge came around and the naysayers were at it again. They cried and complained, and patted each other on the back for their individual accomplishments at whining. They sent letters to the editor dreaming all kind of fanciful Jimmy-Cack-and-Ram-Goat stories of doom. They said the Bridge won’t make a difference. They should go tell that to the people of Lethem and surrounding areas. They should try telling that to the 50 Brazilian business people who came to Guyana looking to start up economic undertakings made possible by the Takutu River Bridge.
Now the professional doomsday pessimists are up in arms again. Some of these folks know nothing about economics but sit around with their AFC supporters and whoever else and say – the Amalia Falls Hydro project won’t work. Some have never read a book on finance, or themselves financed a cake-shop, but they want to tell President Jagdeo and his administration what they should and should not do.
You have been hearing these folks for years. They have always been wrong, but they are getting louder and louder still. Their new motto is no hydro-power for Guyana. They will complain every time there is a blackout (and they should), but they would rather suffer the blackouts than see another successful project completed in this country.
The time has come for Guyanese to ask these folks ‘to stick a pin’; to relax themselves a little; to be more honest, or at least more careful with what they say. These are not easy things to ask of professional pessimists, but we must try. In the meantime, I hope the critics are enjoying all of the benefits that have come out of the projects already completed. See you later this month at the Providence Stadium. My guess is that critics will be in the lines to make sure they get in first.