PRESIDENT David Granger on Sunday flayed critics of his offer to give lands on a temporary basis to Caribbean nationals affected by the recent hurricanes.
He was at the time addressing a gathering in Linden for the tree-planting exercise in recognition of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) 60TH Anniversary celebration. While addressing environmental issues and global warming which he said resulted in those catastrophic events, Mr Granger said that he is being criticised for offering help, which he deemed an act of compassion. “Our brothers and sisters are in jeopardy. Some people criticised me for offering help; you tell me something, if your neighbour house burns down, he has no food, he has no water, he has no shelter, nothing to eat, children left exposed, you won’t say temporarily let me come and help you until you get on your feet,” the Head-of-State queried.

He described the section of the citizenry criticising such a move as uncompassionate. “People have no compassion in this world, no humanity, all we say is look let’s help you to get over this difficult period,” Granger articulated. One of his major concerns is the fact that those devastated islands are homes to Guyanese who also would have been affected by these disasters. “There are Guyanese all over the Caribbean, as you know very well…it means that we have brothers in Tortola, in Barbuda, in Antigua, in Bahamas and that is my concern, that is our concern.”

Mr Granger recently signalled his Government’s willingness to make lands available for these affected CARICOM nationals whose countries have been ravaged. These include Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Tortola, Dominica and St. Martins. Speaking to reporters on the side-line of the just concluded 72nd Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 72) in New York, President Granger said Guyana stands ready to assist. “Guyana has a very important role to play in all of this, particularly in the Caribbean. One, we are the largest CARICOM state and we have to consider our land space as being the hinterland of the Caribbean; we have to sit down and speak to other Caribbean states to see how this gift, maybe, could be utilised to give the people in the Caribbean a better life in the wake of these disasters,” the President said.

He reiterated that attention should be placed on providing relief and evacuation, but said that those affected should not be moved from one affected country to another. While many applauded the President for this move, he was also criticized by some Guyanese, including opposition member of parliament and former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, who said that the President has no authority to do such. Nandlall stressed that the issue was never discussed with citizens or at the level of the National Assembly. He also based his argument on the fact that thousands of Guyanese are still clamouring for a piece of land right in Guyana. This reasoning was also taken by regular citizens who vented their disapproval on social media. Some Guyanese stressed that the Government should attach the same urgency and enthusiasm to processing applications for thousands of Guyanese who have applied for a piece of house lot; in some instances, over one decade ago.