Dear Editor,
I REFER to Pastor WP Jeffrey’s letter: “It is difficult for overseas Guyanese offering skills to break into the inner circle of bureaucracy.” Like Pastor Jeffery, I have had a similar experience, but with the previous administration. I am a skilled professional, and so when I heard that there were shortages of my skill sets, I immediately offered to volunteer at a certain ministry.
The response I received was one of total dysfunction by senior government officials. This was unfortunate, considering that those needing help were ignored. My experience has made me realise that our governments are responsible for wrecking our country and driving us into turmoil. There is no question in my mind that this dynamic undoubtedly fuels the abnormally high suicide rate.
Pastor Jeffery is absolutely right that the APNU+AFC government is riding on the same dysfunctional trajectory as the previous administration. Also, it should not be ignored that the PNC (APNU) initially mapped out this trajectory and travelled it. The APNU+AFC government campaigned on a mantra of change, and so where is the change? It is no secret that our country desperately needs all kinds of skills to move it forward and to mitigate the pains of the poor. Sadly, however, our governments have been indifferent about engaging skilled professionals.
So what is driving its indifference? Well, job opportunities are scarce, and so our governments are hoarding them for their comrades (supporters, friends and family of government) as political payback and incentives (political spoils).
More often than not, their comrades lack the requisite credentials, which leads to high levels of inefficiency and undoubtedly ravages our country.
Editor, our entire nation is brimming with inefficiency. Government’s actions are deliberate. Government does not care. Government chastised the PPP/C for similar wrongdoings and this is a case of “the pot calling the kettle black.”
Despite government heartlessly firing us and shutting us out of development, it is bald- faced enough to call for our return from abroad. Such calls are empty and are nothing less than prevarication to bolster its image and to camouflage its shady actions. Take, for example, just within recent weeks, President Granger was calling on our students studying abroad to return home after the conclusion of their studies against a backdrop of his government firing innocent citizens along racial lines.
Who would respond to such impractical calls? Who would want to return to a country where citizens with requisite credentials are unable to penetrate the work force? Who would want to return to a country, where government is hoarding jobs for comrades? Who would want to return to a country where comrades lack knowledge, and any prospects moving the country forward would wind up in a stalemate? Who would want to return to a country to idle and twiddle our thumbs? This will only drive us into alcoholism, or suicide, or both. Who would want to return to a country, where corruption nullifies our hard work? Youths here at home are unable to find jobs, then how will government find jobs for those returning from abroad? Who would want to return to a country where our lives are not safe?
Government needs to be genuine. Government holds the trump card, and if it plays it fairly, it will unleash development. However, government is playing the game in its favour, and this will only anchor us deeper into poverty. Let us be frank: Our governments are more than happy to keep us at bay, so that they have the entire pie to themselves. Like it or not, we need to buckle up for an extended ride by the APNU+AFC government.
Heartbreakingly, the poor are too fragile to endure this. We should not be oblivious to the fact that a rogue government is in power. It has bullied us on several fronts already by putting its needs above those of our country and its people. This government not only rejects our skills, but also has the gall to bully a mega-salary increase and skew an already racially lopsided work force in its favour, which amounts to discrimination.
Government is unremorselessly trampling our human rights, throttling development, and destroying our country. This must end. We, the people, have the ultimate power to muzzle government. To this end, I will level a lawsuit against government, so as to force it to diversify the work force, even if it means that I have to eat dhal and rice to foot the bill. I can assure government that it will see a lawsuit if it does not diversify. The world is way too civilised to tolerate government’s unethical actions. A victory will be monumental for social cohesion and for the development of our country. Our country desperately needs to move forward. Government needs its power stripped, and momentum is building in this regard. Make no mistake: Guyana desperately needs a radically different government in terms of its philosophy and ideology for us to realise meaningful change.

Sincerely,
DR. CECIL DILIPKUMAR