By Lenno Craig
MAINTENANCE of law, order and strong institutions is inextricably linked to indissoluble development. Every country, in every epoch, where there is breakdown of law and order, citizens live with unrealised potential and unattained developmental possibilities, while those that have advanced have done so in tandem with (or driven by) adherence to law, order and good governance. Collective values shape the culture of any society; this column is of the view that over the last two decades Guyana has descended into a culture of lawlessness, more than any other time.

Two reasons may be advanced: our values and attitudes change faster than the willingness or capacity of law makers to review old and introduce new statutes; ruling politicians deliberately allowed legal regiments to deteriorate so that they can capitalise on the lack of checks and balances. When systems break down, the politician becomes the object of law; (s)he says what is or isn’t permissible and who gets what. Broadcasting in the pre-APNU+AFC era is a prime example.

Under the presidency of Bharrat Jagdeo, the industry ran on an “I say so” principle. He personally directed what happened in the sector based solely on personal sentiments, devoid of uniformed standards resulting in a misaligned, fractured and underdeveloped broadcasting sector.

In other sectors, persons were allowed to escape legal scrutiny because they know or are related to ruling politicians and senior police officers or have “lines” in the law administration sector. This is why I have no difficulty with the universal application of the 2 am ‘curfew’; not necessarily for the reasons advanced by Minister Ramjattan, but for a more fundamental reason. We should seek to adhere to laws currently on the books designed to maintain public order.

Those who believe it should be changed may have valid reasons, but simply disregarding statutes is not the way to run society. Change-advocates should instigate national conversation, pressure group or lobby their representatives in parliament to revise the law. We can’t just continue to have nightclubs, rum shops and drinking parlors situated in any neighbourhood, swing open their doors anytime they feel like and blare music at any decibel without the necessary permit and or licence.

Guyana cannot advance if this monkey stays on our back, it is time for a culture shift. Routine disregard for statutes cannot continue unabated. We open, in any neighbourhood, pig and chicken farms, machine shops, noisy production lines, spray painting shops, woodworking outfits, carwash bays, corner shops etc. without environmental or other permits. The country is littered with mechanic shops that have dozens of derelict vehicles lining the parapets, encumbering the free flow of traffic for years with impunity. There are thousands of citizens across the country who just colonise portions of the government reserves for personal enjoyment without recourse of law.

The Freddie Kissoon column recently expressed indignation that vendors are being “chased” from the Seawalls and Stabroek Square among other places. In keeping with law and order, I have no qualms over the removal of vendors, but must hasten to say that I cannot support any action taken in isolation of a well thought out, economically sensitive, practical, systematic and publicly vetted plan to curb the culture of illegal vending across the country.

These sporadic overnight flare-ups serve no useful purpose, apart from isolating the political support base of the current government, they add to the problem since vendors are poor and depend on vending for their daily sustenance; they will simply relocate to another part of town where they reckon their goods can be sold, in so doing will exacerbate the issue and promote greater lawlessness. We cannot continue to vend anywhere we feel like or encumber any reserve or parapet we deem convenient or alter public property deliberately unmindful of existing rules.

Many laws and ordinances have been routinely disregarded for such a long time that the lines between right and wrong are blurred, the current generation of youth can barely discern the differences. Violators are middle-class, working-class, impoverished, political elite, law enforcement and just about everyone. As a nation (government and people), we have to make some hard decisions.

I advocate a comprehensive national initiative to curb and reorient our value system with a view to thwart the culture of lawlessness that pervades every aspect of society. As a nation, the longer we dabble in this culture of non-adherence to existing institutional mechanisms and general law and order, the longer we spend on the benches of underdevelopment.

This will be an uncomfortable but necessary process; we must bite the bullet and endure it. It requires transformative leadership, political courage and national will to confront and defeat this beast.

Many who have benefitted from the decades of lawlessness and believe they have attained the status of untouchable will resist, but that should not deter our resolve. Otherwise, despite the blessings of new resources, Guyana will not cross that threshold between potential and actualization.