–ignoring Buxton and denying opportunities to villages

THE much-anticipated Jubilee celebrations have come and gone, but some of the issues which arose from them are still dominating the news in the formal media, and the discussions on social media. To the surprise of some, the difficulties experienced in staging the official events have been used to question the Government’s overall competence. This is a very harsh evaluation of the Government, but, in our highly partisan environment, it is to be expected.

As I have pointed out before, given the dramatic circumstances under which the Government came to power last year, it is being held to a higher standard than the one it succeeded. One of the outcomes of the Jubilee celebrations that must make all of us uncomfortable is the fact that participation by the ordinary citizens was confined mostly to members of one of our ethnic groups. In particular, the general absence of the supporters of the Opposition PPP was most conspicuous. The responsibility for this cannot be placed at the doorstep of the Government or any single political party; it is a structural problem that has dogged Guyana for all of our independence experience.

But one cannot help but conclude that if the PPP had mobilized its constituency to participate in the events, the turnout by that constituency would have been much more significant. Given how quickly it translated into political capital the confusion surrounding the seating arrangements at the flag-raising ceremony, it is clear that that party was more concerned with embarrassing the Government than with genuinely participating in the event. This is really a sad commentary on the state of our politics. Is there not a moment when partisan politics takes a backseat to the national good? Even for a PPP that has shown nothing but hostility to the cause of national unity since losing office, this recent behaviour is scandalous. Clearly, the party of Cheddi Jagan is not interested in being a partner in the struggle for One Guyana.

Because of the PPP’s behaviour, one must wonder whether the Government tried hard enough on its own to mobilize the multiracial masses to participate in the events. Was it enough to just pitch the events in a general way, or should there have been outreaches aimed at the particular communities? Did the Government pay enough attention to the ethnic nature of the results of the just concluded Local Government Elections as it crafted its public relations strategy for the Jubilee events? These and other related questions should be considered, going forward.

The Government has to be much more pro-active in ensuring that participation in such national events reflects the country’s ethnic makeup. Yes, we have known that such participation had, in the past, been conditioned by which political party is in power, but that should not deter officialdom from making concerted efforts at social engineering and engaging in other forms of multi-ethnic mobilization. I am glad that African Guyanese participated in great numbers, but that is not good enough for the image of a multi-ethnic nation; the face of our country cannot be mono-ethnic, Guyana belongs to all of its ethnic groups, and that must be reflected especially on big symbolic occasions like the Jubilee.

As the make-up of the audiences at the Jubilee events shows, there is a lot of serious work that needs to be done. Clearly, the President was most insightful when he created a Ministry of Social Cohesion, but one must ask how involved that ministry was in the mobilization for the celebrations. As I understand it, the ministry’s primary task is to facilitate ethnic and other forms of cultural cohesion among our diverse peoples. Such an undertaking calls for creative imagination, which goes beyond general declarations of our aspirational motto.

At the least, the Ministry of Social Cohesion should be intimately involved in mobilization for such national events. In addition, the ministry needs to me more robust and frontal in tackling this problem of ethnic separateness. Social Cohesion cannot be confined to reaching out to the PPP and the traditional cultural stakeholders in the Indian Guyanese community. Those organizations have political axes to grind, and are never going to be serious about any lasting ethnic cohesion. Their usefulness is most effective at the political level, in particular in trying to arrive at constitutional and other political arrangements to settle the democratic distribution of power at the top.

Social cohesion also cannot be confined mostly to mobilization in communities that are friendly to the Government. Work has to be done at the level of the people in all communities. The Ministry of Social Cohesion, in collaboration with the ministries of Education and Communities, has to work the communities individually and together in a clearly defined programme that combines civic consciousness, patriotism, intra-ethnic pride and inter-ethnic respect. There is no other way out. This task requires the energies of all stakeholders, but especially those who have been working tirelessly on the matter of ethnic and racial unity in our various ethnic communities and the country at large. We cannot solve the problem of racial separateness by ignoring the essence of race and ethnicity. Over to you, Madam Minister of Social Cohesion.

GEORGE ABRAMS, BUXTON, VILLAGES AND THE GOVERNMENT
Last Sunday, Mr. George Abrams, an overseas-based Guyanese, formally declared open a sewing establishment in his village, Buxton. This small business — which already employs eleven workers, mostly from Buxton — is a reflection of Mr. Abrams’s commitment to the regeneration of the village economy in terms of providing much needed services, but critically in providing employment for villagers.

I salute Brother Abrams for taking this giant step, and hope that others with resources would invest in our villages. As I told the villagers at the opening ceremony, they must see the project as an inspiration to lift the community through self-activity, and the success of the venture requires the support and protection of all villagers.

I also hope that the Government, on its own or in partnership with community groups, would encourage the flowering of small businesses in the communities. I had, last year, begun work with a certain government ministry in this regard. I mobilized several communities, including Dartmouth; Buxton; Melanie; Plaisance; Ann’s Grove; Stanleytown and Sisters villages, WBD, to come up with projects to take advantage of an initiative which is housed in that ministry and is aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship in so-called depressed communities. To my utter amazement, not a single one of the communities was awarded any funds. And what is worse, none of those communities was told why their project was rejected, and nobody from the ministry sought to contact me with an explanation. Moreover, when members of some of the groups called the ministry, they were greeted with rude responses.

Here are poor people who organize themselves in their villages and come up with initiatives for small community businesses being unceremoniously rebuffed by their Government. What more must poor people do to get some respect? Mr. George Abrams invited four Government ministers to the opening of his business in Buxton; not one of them attended. There was an item on the programme for remarks by these dignitaries, but they were not there.

I have seen ministers socializing with the rich — attending their functions and gracing the opening of businesses — but Buxton and similar villages are off-limits, it seems. If any reminder is needed, Buxton and similar villages voted 99.99% for this Government. That does not entitle them to monopoly of Government attention, but it certainly entitles them to more than the ignoring they have been receiving.

More of Dr. Hinds ‘writings and commentaries can be found on his YouTube Channel Hinds’ Sight: Dr. David Hinds’ Guyana-Caribbean Politics, and on his website www.guyanacaribbeanpolitics.com. Send comments to dhinds6106@aol.com