KINDLY publish this letter in your newspaper which is truly the voice of national interest and development in this country. I am convinced that based on my past experience, that Kaieteur News and the Stabroek News will not publish any of my letters that are deemed to be pro-government in nature.
Remember the Past
In my previous letters, I had comprehensively dealt with the fact that the ‘budget cuts’ are unconscionable and unconstitutional’ and the fact that the modus operandi of the ‘unholy alliance’ is to make our country ungovernable

so that the duly elected PPP/C Government is forced to relinquish office, resulting in us being catapulted into the “black holes” era. That was the time when our people were jailed and property seized just because they wanted basic food items such as flour, onion, garlic and split peas. It was a time when “white mouth” and malnutrition were the only affordable items. It was the time when an empty sardine tin was worse than an empty cartridge shell! It was the time when our daughters  and sons could not have graduated from the University of Guyana without suffering the indignity of enduring one of the PNC’s “black holes”- the Guyana National Service. It was the time when anarchy and poverty reigned supreme. It was during that time that the great “Exodus” began and corruption became the order of the day. No wonder the PNC/APNU had to walk out of the corruption debate!
Those of us who had grown up in this era need not be reminded, since I do not believe that such a “black era” will be forgotten so easily, for it should have indelibly scarred our very psyche. Furthermore, it should be a stark reminder to our young generation.
However, many PNC members and supporters benefited immensely. Some of the “big businesses” in Berbice that I know were the sole distributors of the “scarce items.” They were the kings then and the people, the slaves who had to join the never-ending lines (Guylines) in order to fill the empty stomachs of their children and themselves! The members of the opposition would like us to suffer severe amnesia while they are busy re-writing the infamous past to erase their dirty handiwork being aided and abetted by the AFC.

‘Slo Fyah Mo Fyah’ tactics

The joint opposition-APNU/AFC-has stepped up the ungovernable accelerator. They have moved from ‘scissorsing’ projects which are vitally important for national development to blocking a bill which is so vital for our local and international trade and livelihoods. They are wickedly bent on their ungovernable campaign started by the PNC. They want Guyanese to cease to benefit from international trade which is so vital for national development, that without it the wheels of industry will come to a grinding halt; also, our international image will be tarnished just like countries that are promoting and funding terrorism.
The APNU/AFC  combination has now refused to support the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism(Amendment) Bill and has been making a host of ridiculous excuses so that the impending deadline to pass the said Bill can be missed. However, as expected, the AFC has gone a step further. They have now resorted to “political blackmail”. They can find no fault with this vitally important Bill except that a six-week time span is not enough to evaluate a couple of pages. But they then dropped the bombshell- they want to force the President to assent to two bills which includes the Former Presidents (Facilities and Other Benefits) Bill. Now here is the anomaly – the Bill that they have inadequate time to study can be passed if those two bills are assented to! There will then be no time constraint! The government has supplied valid reasons why the President cannot assent to those Bills, but the billion dollar ‘cutting’ question is: have the AFC given any valid reason why they refused to support the Anti-Money and Countering the Financing Bill? Is this not the “lil boy” attitude of the opposition that has now characterised the supreme law- making body of this land?
How can the development of an entire nation be held hostage just because a few “big boys” in the AFC have a fixation on Jagdeo’s pension entitlement?
How can our entire nation be held hostage because Kaieteur News did not get a radio licence? How can our entire nation be held hostage because the Marriott Hotel will compete with Badal’s Pegasus? How can our entire nation be held hostage because the AFC Leader’s client was not awarded the contract to build the Specialty Hospital? How can our entire nation be held hostage because the government wants to help the PNC-crippled GPL? I could go on and on! It is not about national development;it is about gaining power by all means possible, legal or illegal, but in this case more illegal than legal! If this is not “political blackmail” and “extortion” then I don’t know what is! The AFC is making all the ‘wrong turns’!

Negative Effects
Our people need to understand fully the negative effects that the refusal to pass this important Bill-the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Terrorism Bill, will have on our country. I will try to state the facts as simply as possible.
Guyana is a signatory to many treaties that make it clear that such a piece of legislation should be implemented in order for those treaties to be of any substance. Therefore, if Guyana does not pass such a Bill, then it will renege on those treaties. This will cause our country to be “blacklisted” by OECD countries such as the USA and Canada. This means that:
– There will be no financial support from financial institutions and their bilateral partners.It will be difficult to negotiate loans from these entities;
– Next, the movement of money in and out of Guyana will be intensely scrutinised since many restrictions, terms and conditions will be put in place to ensure that such monies are not from drugs and they are not used for the funding of terrorism;
– Money transfers will be more costly and time consuming- our relatives abroad sending money  to us, will have to go through numerous time consuming procedures and restrictions and this will send the cost up substantially- they will spend more time and money to do a simple  MoneyGram transaction;
– Investors will no longer be willing to invest in our country, since they will have to abide with any sanctions taken against our country ( APNU has deceptively stated that there will be no such sanctions-they are experts in sanctions);
– We will be unable to easily invest in other countries since foreign countries will be suspicious about the source of the money- whether it is from drugs or whether the business will be used to finance terrorism. No one will want investors from a “blacklisted”country to invest in their country.

Conclusion
The negative effects of not passing this Bill are enough to systematically erase all the economic progress that our country has made in the past 20 years. These effects together with the illegal budget cuts spearheaded by the AFC (ALLIANCE FOR CUTS) are enough to make this country ungovernable and to once again plunge this nation into poverty, hunger and lawlessness. But will the good people of this nation stand idly and allow this to happen? I will not! And from responses of numerous AFC members and supporters, they will not! In their wildest dreams (or nightmares) they did not envisage such irrational and spiteful attitudes from the AFC leaders or that the AFC will aid and abet the PNC in their quest to make this nation ungovernable.
The Leader of the AFC cannot bluff this nation by saying that the AFC is ready for a snap election. With the current state of affairs the AFC will not survive such an event. If this is the AFC’s “swan song”, then let it sing on happily! It is not too late to indeed make “the right turn” –the AFC’s campaign mantra!