Dear Editor,
WE live in times that require good, quality leadership in Guyana to take us to that high plateau of development and goodness; a condition that we and our children deserve. This condition can be easily achieved with our bountiful resources.

This glory can be easily realised if our political, religious, business, civic and youth leaders display maturity, and make the welfare of Guyana the principal objective, casting aside all personal preferences and avoiding all forms of tribalism. Beyond this, we must learn to respect human life. Our present crop of leaders can do well if they only learn from history.

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Amritsar Massacre, in India, where, on April 13, 1919, British soldiers shot and killed many of our Indian brothers and sisters in India. The reason: Arrogance, intolerance and iconoclast in high places. Perhaps it was a kind of response to the Black Hole of Calcutta, which occurred on June 17, 1756, where, after the fall of Fort William, the Nawab of Calcutta, Siraj ud- Daulah, who had a problem with the British, saw 143 captured British soldiers stuffed into a dungeon designed to accommodate three or four persons.

After two days, only a few survived. The others died of suffocation and lack of water. We have witnessed atrocities of varying degrees of horror everywhere in every continent. Not to mention the millions of lives lost in wars, political and religious conflicts. In every case, the architects who were responsible for the horrors were iconoclasts who rejected traditional values and tolerance.

Today, we can view the Guyana situation, and unhappily observe the emergence of a small cabal of iconoclasts deceiving and threatening. Last weekend, I got word of a meeting held in New York hosted by the leadership of the PPP. The rhetoric seems similar to what we heard at Babu Jaan and elsewhere.

The audience in the ‘Big Apple’ was clearly upset with the inappropriate and one-sided representation presented to them, resulting in the meeting ending in disorder. As one who was involved during the horrors of the early 60s, I appeal for sanity and measured language so that we avoid that part of our history from repeating itself. It was a time when intolerance disturbed and dislocated several of our communities. I appeal to our leaders to clothe themselves with a sense of responsibility, and let their armour be the truth, and to remember that those who seek the highest office in our land must be persons of quality, rectitude, honesty and dignity.

Furthermore, accepting the weakness and shortcomings of all of us, when we make a mistake or commit an indiscretion, we should have the courage and strength to say we made a mistake, and seek forgiveness and move on. A worrisome feature today is that there is a gentleman — and, perhaps, this may be a generous term, but I wish to be kind — who seeks to occupy the highest post in our land, but has been highly deceptive about his purported academic credentials.

We are yet to be presented with clear evidence to justify Irfaan Ali’s academic qualifications, and as if that is not enough, members of an inner circle such as Sase Narine Singh, is writing for public consumption extolling the virtues of this individual and referring to his success as Minister of Housing.

This is ludicrous, if not laughable. Starting schemes that could not be completed; building houses that were leaking, the steps going into different directions to the house; porous septic tanks; walls that a child could walk through; houses that were leaning! When, as Chairman of CH&PA, I asked the Engineer how was it they could build houses on abandoned sugarcane lands without even doing a basic soil test, he told me, and I have witnesses, that he’d received ministerial instructions to proceed, nevertheless. After spending substantial sums to repair one of the units, the effort to make it habitable had to be aborted.

Then there are reports about certain contractors and friends who were paid off in full before the houses were completed and properly handed over. I take it that since Mr. Sase Narine Singh’s letter refers specifically to Housing, that Hon. Minister Bulkan and CH&PA will respond with full details to this bizarre statement.

Happily, over the past few months, in spite of personal challenges, we have seen the calm and statesmanship of President David Arthur Granger. It will be helpful if others who seek and hold high office take a leaf out of his book, and I make no exception. I include persons on both sides of the political divide. As we climb the political ladder, we must learn to practise restraint, honesty and be like Caesar’s wife, beyond reproach. In particular, our young people should be influenced and guided by a sort of renaissance to take us out of darkness.

Honourable Editor, my plea for rectitude, balance and truth include the media. Our newspapers, radio, television, Facebook and teaching institutions must recognise the important role they play in shaping the character of the upcoming generation.
They say seeing and hearing is believing.
We must not let them down.
Regards,
Hamilton Green