GIVEN  the  delirious outbursts from the political opposition and their allies this past week over President Bharrat Jagdeo’s recent visit to Buxton, and the warm welcome he received from the villagers, it was not surprising that there would, eventually have been a response from the government.

It came, first, from Dr Roger Luncheon, Head of the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday and, a day later, from President Jagdeo himself.
Irked by the unmistakable campaign to engage in divisive politics, with hopes of diverting attention from the internal dissension they face, both the PNCR and AFC, along with their expedient “friends”, have been virtually competing to exploit propaganda advantages in attacking the President’s visit to Buxton to discuss problems affecting Buxtonians.
Some have gone as far to actually question the President’s’ right to engage in dialogue in Buxton, ignoring that the Head of State has been involved in various activities concerning the welfare of Buxtonians, without being physically present in Buxton.
Currently involved in the latest of an ongoing series of “Cabinet Outreach” to learn, at first hand, problems and challenges affecting various communities, the President was blunt in declaring Friday that “no one can deny my right to visit Buxton or any other community in this nation”.
In a report carried in the Chronicle,  President Jagdeo was quoted as saying: “Somehow they (the opposition) feel that the people of Buxton must  remain in their state so that they can use it to criticise the government….
“First, they were saying that we were not doing enough, now they are saying that we are playing politics….But we think the (Buxton) community is recovering from its bad past and residents are trying to regenerate economic activities…”
For his part, Dr Luncheon was to cast a wider net in  his assessment last Thursday, warning that the government was “ready to rumble” in the fight against opposition parties and elements who were bent on maintaining or fomenting divisions in communities for narrow political objectives..
In an expansive and evident angry mood, the Cabinet Secretary had emphasised: “It is clear as day that we have many who are prepared to preserve existing situations, not only in communities beset by negatives and violence; but they are prepared to preserve current situations and they also go to extraordinary lengths to justify what exists…”
Worse, he noted, “they even go to more extraordinary lengths to fight against initiatives to change and address what’s taking place…”
It was in this context that Dr Luncheon warned against the politics of divisions being fomented by frustrated parties and political elements:
“If they are going to remain in that mindset”, he said, “and they are going to be consumed with that mentality, then I can assure them that they would have lots of other examples and opportunities to exercise their minds in that type of behaviour…”
As we see it, since one hand can’t clap, it is certainly most desirable that there be more consistent and vigorous inter-actions between representatives of the government and the people of the many communities along the coastal belt, the riverine and other far-flung areas of this nation.
The opposition parties will do themselves a favour and Guyanese in general should they cease nurturing the politics of division and hate and, instead, engage, with honesty and commitment, in new approaches to spread some positive messages to villages and communities across the country.