THE APNU+AFC government must now take full responsibility for the non-implementation of the 2012 Agreement signed between central Government and the Region 10 Regional Democratic Council. The struggle that succeeded in bringing the PPP/C government to the table was marked with the lives, blood, sweat, tears, and economic sacrifices of the people.  The depressed state of the region is not the result of a people being lazy or content to sit on their “fanny,” as Minister of Finance Winston Jordan in a meeting recently in Linden told them not to.

The proud history of this mining community’s development was the result of a people’s resilience, hard work and determination. By their own volition, having arrived in the area they tamed the forest, removed millions of cubic yards of overburden to reach the precious bauxite mineral, worked 24 hours a day in the mines and plants, and established neighbourhoods with all its services and amenities. In many regards, this community was a trail blazer in the development of this country.

The present economic state of the region did not occur overnight and history will show efforts made by the people over the years to halt and reverse the decline. The PPP/C government’s decision in 1993 to reduce calcined bauxite production from approximately 483,000 metric tonnes to 250,000, put the community in a tailspin it is still to recover from. Then government went further to economically dispossess the people by handing out the industry’s support services to their friends and comrades.

The marketing of bauxite was never a problem; the problem was being able to meet production to satisfy the market, which the government saw to by reducing production.  Efforts by bauxite workers and their unions to save the industry, including their over $2.5 billion Pension Plan, from the PPP/C’s destructive policy were all rejected.
In 2001, Leader of the Opposition Desmond Hoyte and President Bharrat Jagdeo signed an agreement to address the plight of the Depressed Communities, among which Linden was identified.  The Jagdeo government refused to implement the agreement and continued its policy of economic marginalisation and trampling on the rights of the citizens/workers. This policy position had caused me to accuse the PPP/C government of executing a programme of economic genocide in the African community, consistent with the United Nations Declaration on Genocide.

As an aside, for calling it for what it is, the Jagdeo government took away the subventions (i.e. grants) from the Guyana Trades Unions Congress and its attendant arms, the Crithclow Labour College and the Women’s Advisory Council.
The APNU and AFC, in opposition, supported the people’s efforts to achieve the Agreement and bore witnesses to the signature of Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon and Prime Minister Samuel Hinds on 21st August, 2012. The group campaigned in 2015 to honour and implement the agreement. In July 2015, Minister Joe Harmon is on record as saying such will be done. This is May 2017, almost five years to the date of the agreement, of which nothing has been done yet, a government minister saw it fitting to ride into the community and dress down the people.

The 2012 Agreement included the establishment of an Economic Committee. For economic development to take place it has to be structured and its genesis indigenous. It was the people’s representatives that proposed to the government the development of an economic plan indigenous to the needs of the region. The below was agreed to:

2) Economic Programme
The two parties agreed to establish an Economic Committee with the following Terms of Reference:

a)   Examine all studies, all plans, all sectors and their resources in use, new resources and human resources and develop a sustainable development plan for Linden and Region 10.

b)   Review all initiatives, including LEAP and LEN, with the aim of gleaning the lessons to be learnt from these initiatives and make recommendations for new initiatives.

c)      Review Linden and Region 10 facilities and capacity for food self-sufficiency and to the extent feasible, develop a plan for self-sufficiency as part of the Regional Development Plan.

d)      Examine the employment situation of Linden in particular and Region 10 in general and make appropriate recommendations.

e)   Review the existing framework within which private investment is attracted to Linden and Region 10 and make the appropriate recommendations.

f)   To identify the issues as they relate to policies, administrative capacity, skills development, investment climate etc., which need to be addressed in order to make the new development plan successful.

g)   Assess the availability of funding from grants, donors (bilateral and multilateral), the private sector and the diaspora and make the relevant recommendations for the funding of the Regional Development Plan.

h)   To hold consultations with the residents of Linden and Region 10, as well as specific interest groups, such as the business, religious farming communities, women and other civil society organisations.

i)    To consult with the relevant ministries and agencies such as GO-INVEST to ascertain the present plans and potential avenues for further expansion of the economic base of the region with specific
regard to agriculture, information-based technology, value-added manufacturing and the services sector.

The Economic Committee will have the benefit of the existing institutional arrangements and the expertise of the Regional Democratic Council and relevant ministries in the discharge of their functions. The Economic Committee will also give priority to development projects, which will bring the fastest benefits to the community.
The Economic Committee will report to the two sides monthly and present its final report within 90 days.

The Economic Committee will comprise seven persons, three persons nominated by each side and an agreed-on chairperson. The names will be submitted by the two sides within seven days and subsequent to that, the chairperson will be appointed by the two sides within three days.”

While the PPP/C government initiated the programme of economic genocide, that the APNU+AFC government is failing to lift it by its refusal to honour and implement the 2012 Agreement that the people fought for and signed with their blood, this government cannot escape being held accountable for continuing a programme the people fought against. I dealt with the non-implementation of this agreement before. I return to it today, given Minister Jordan’s statements, and I shall continue to periodically return until the agreement is honoured in full.