THE society has devolved to the extent that those who are creative in the art of deception are the ones who are assumed to be credible and thus can convincingly and successfully appeal to all the justice systems.
The really decent and law-abiding citizens are not versed in aggressively pursuing their own causes and thus can rarely achieve the supreme feat of accessing fair and impartial adjudication that would guarantee them their rights enshrined in Guyana’s constitutional framework.
Even the high-priced lawyers often do not provide the services to their clients that they are paid for because they have either greedily taken on more cases than they can handle, or else they are reluctant to tread on someone’s corn; or, as in the case of a very prominent politician cum attorney-at-law, they have joined with the other party to defraud their own clients.
A case that comes readily to mind is one involving two businessmen, both very prominent within Guyana’s entrepreneurial framework. One (whom we will call Mr. Smith, who is not an Afro-Guyanese) was born with a silver spoon and then opportunistically clawed and manoeuvred his way into hierarchal landscapes, while the other (whom we will call Mr. Ram) worked diligently, untiringly – but always with a great degree of honesty and integrity to establish his business, which started from humble beginnings but, because of his trustworthiness and consequential support from the business world, expanded over the years to become a hugely-successful entity.
Mr. Ram never lost his humility and decency, but continued to contribute to the community in equal measure with his success, while Mr. Smith indulged in orgies and a personal lifestyle that, while one should concede is no-one’s business but his own, one cannot because it is intrusive and disruptive to the life and the business of his neighbour Mr. Ram.
What is even more disgusting is that when Mr. Smith was encountering difficulties of both a personal and financial nature Mr. Ram was very accommodating and supportive until Mr. Smith turned his life around then, when the latter had firmly grasped success within his hands he began a campaign to destabilize the business and demolish the credibility, peace, and peace of mind of Mr. Ram.
And one wonders where are the administrators of the city who readily demolish the illegal structures of a poor man, but who have no qualms in allowing the worse infringements to the city’s by-laws by rich, powerful and influential persons.
Mr. Smith currently has a huge generator located in a spot that is not allowed under the city’s by-laws; his very raucous, drunken, and abusive clients often block Mr. Ram’s entrance to his premises without redress to Mr. Ram; while there should be a 4-ft clearance of all structures from Mr. Ram’s fence Mr. Smith instead has his structures overlapping – with a complete overhang of the guttering, into Mr. Ram’s property; Mr. Smith’s electrical posts are located inside Mr. Ram’s property, to mention a few of the many intrusions a social maverick is allowed to get away with because of his bully-boy tactics.
However, Mr. Ram, being the very nice and accommodating neighbour that he is, says that for the sake of peace he is willing to overlook all the intrusions into his personal space, except for the disruptive music played at all hours, with speakers strategically-located to amplify the sounds at its loudest in every direction, which denies Mr. Ram his right to a peaceful and quiet life within the sanctuary of his own home; and the effective pursuit of his business ventures.
Mr. Smith is so confident of his power that, instead of adopting a conciliatory approach to Mr. Ram, who has the right of many legal sanctions against the former, attacks his neighbour verbally, through the media, and by way of highly-vituperative letters, leading to the conclusion that the city’s by-laws are only applicable to be enforced against some, while some have proven themselves to be absolutely untouchable.
The syndrome of self pursuits has transcended ethics in the socio-political and economic landscape of Guyana as the good and decent are trampled into obscurity, while the unethical but powerful hypocrites and fraudsters prevail.