Dear Editor
SO a decent, successful gold miner for over quarter of a century decides to take up the cause of the abused and oppressed women in the mining industry. For this she was ostracised and arrested in this our country of Guyana. She came to prominence through the diligence of the United States of America. She joined forces with the then opposition and campaigned for a change in Government, promising the people of Guyana that they would work to make a different and better Guyana.
She was appointed minister within the Labour Department, and in six months the poor and the needy and the oppressed workers found no better advocate; no, not for the past 23 years, if not longer. They rejoiced for the change in government, and for this minister whom God had sent to help them. Many a testimony was made by these grateful citizens of Guyana at the Ministry of Labour, as we witnessed daily in the papers. And so, powerful people in powerful places with powerful interests, who could no longer treat the Guyanese workers with contempt, if not as slaves, conspired to have her removed from Labour. This Labour Ministry has now returned to hibernation since her departure, but I digress.

Nevertheless, the President, trying to appease the powerful and not offend the populace, transferred her to the Ministry of Natural Resources, where her experience, he said, would be an asset to the Government. It is this experience that is now to be the source of controversy, this huge conflict of interest. As we are now told, because she was a gold miner all her adult life, she should not be the minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, which is in charge of gold mining. And the heart surgeon for 25 years should no longer perform heart surgery, while the musician all his life should stop singing his tune.

Ha! Ha! What nonsense! Laughable! Ohh what tangled web we weave, when we plot deceive. And yet, she has been quietly toiling within the Ministry of Natural Resources, correcting the injustices suffered by many small miners who had, and continue to have, their rights and properties taken from them by the well-connected and the wealthy through the corrupt at GGMC, especially in the Land Management Unit.

And so, my fellow Guyanese, here we are. Should the Minister, who abides by the law, helps the poor and needy, and does not take a reward to pervert justice, be sidelined? Yes, this is the Guyana that was ruled by one party for 23 years, including 10 years by a quasi-dictator; who did as they pleased and abused whom they pleased, and destroyed whom they pleased, and took what they pleased, and nobody dared say a word; who are now the righteous judges.

They are now leading the charge with their comrades with whom they shared the assets of Guyana exclusively. But again, I digress.

How can this minister, who defends the cause of the poor and needy against the rich and powerful, be forced to defend herself from these vultures?

Again she is cast into the spotlight. They will not cease trying to have her removed from office. She went as far as giving up her assets to her kids, but it is not enough. What must she do next? Let the people of Guyana answer that one.

But, my fellow Guyanese, they will yet fail, because she shall not be moved. They will still have to contend with her, because whom Jehovah blesses let no Man curse. And if she chooses to leave the Government, then they and the Government will have to contend with her, because “she stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy,” and that pleases the Almighty Father. So to God be the Glory in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Regards,
M. BLAIR