Dear Editor,
THE PPP is at it again. Today’s Guyana Times (Tuesday, 2019-04-30) has an article where the Regional Chairman, Bryan Allicock, is calling on the Public Procurement Commission to investigate the award of contracts in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo Region.

As Regional Executive Officer (REO), I welcome such a call, so as to put to rest, once and for all, the spurious claims by a Regional Chairman who gallivants around the Region with his Vice, spreading hate and disunity in the villages; castigating all and sundry associated with the present government. Even his brother, the Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs and Vice- President, the Honorable Sydney Allicock, does not escape the Chairman’s scathing, and race-laced attacks.

To put the PPP’s obsessive objections to my presence in a Region that I have called home for the past 28 years in perspective, I would have to travel back in time. So Editor, please permit me space to rehash some sordid events that occurred over that time; events that I would have highlighted over and over again; but because of the impediments to communication at that time, many of those events were not known to the general public. That is not the case now, with the advent of the super highway.

In 1993, shortly after the PPP came to power, the first-ever PPP chairman of the Region, Indranie Moses, boldly declared that she was going to “put on her soldier boots and kick all ‘blackman’ out of Lethem.”

Naturally, that did not resonate well with us of African ancestry, and I equally boldly challenged her to kick me first. That was the genesis of the deep animosity between the PPP and me.

Because of that incident, a group of black officers blockaded the Chairman’s office, thus preventing her from working until she apologised; something that never happened to this day. The then Minister of Local Government, Mr. Harripersaud Nokta, had to travel to the Rupununi to quell this mini-revolution. I was the spokesperson at that meeting.

Freedom House then sent a strong-arm support to the Chairman in the person of one Eddie Da Silva, who participated in intimidatory tactics to coerce cooperation with the Chairman. When those tactics did not work, he schemed up a plan to have me investigated for threatening language, when he reported to the Lethem Police Station that I had threatened to kill him and the Chairman. In fact, it was he who tied a pumpkin to a tree and boasted that it was Parker’s head. That pumpkin was the object of constant target practice with his personal weapon.

I subsequently suffered numerous attacks by the PPP administrations. These include:
• The withholding of my travelling allowances. Hence, every time I travelled to Georgetown, I had to ‘come out of my pocket’;
• Supersession. An officer junior to me was appointed over me, even though I had the better qualification. Appointments in those days were based on political affiliations and not academic qualifications. This was in an effort to subject me to what was known in those days as ethnic cleansing;
• I was a victim of that principle. I was acting DREO before going to university. On my return, despite being awarded the Prime Minister’s Medal, I was reverted to my substantive position as District Development Officer; a fall from Grade 12 on the salary scale to Grade 6. The financial loss was great.
• For the 1997 elections, I applied to GECOM for part-time work. I attended the training and passed with flying colours. I was stunned when I went to uplift my appointment letter and was told that the PPP objected to my employment. I had plans for that cash.
• I was given nothing to do on my return from university, by an REO I had never met before. In my resumption interview, it might as well be that I spoke Russian. This REO never responded to any of the remarks and my offers to help the organisation.
• On my transfer to Linden in 1999, my reputation preceded me. I was touted as being disrespectful and rude; me, a 36-year- old-man! Iwas to be avoided. When the position for DREO was opened, I applied. The DREO for Region 9 was sent to Linden as substantive DREO, Acting REO. He made my life a living hell.
• Again, I was denied my right to work. I was given nothing to do, and it was as though I was not a part of the organisation;
• My daughter, who did exceptionally well at CXC in 2003, applied for a Cuban Scholarship to read for Medicine. I signed as her guarantor. She was sent to do ‘Labs’ instead. She was bitter; bitter because while in Cuba, she found out that there were students of a certain group who never did Science in school, but were doing Medicine. What’s more, the nature of the scholarship forced her to work with some of those students on their Science. She virtually taught many of them the Science subjects.
• I applied and was appointed as DREO Region 2, out of a field of nine applicants. The decision to go to Region 2 was probably a career mistake;
• Before going to the Region, the then PS, Mr. Ganga Persaud summoned me to his office and informed me that “dem bhais ain’t want you deh.” He refused to disclose who “dem bhais” were when I asked.
• No accommodation was made available to me initially. I stayed for three months with my sister-in-law’s in-laws at Airy Hall, travelling to Anna Regina daily. To date, I am still to be paid my subsistence. The then REO refused to do so.
• I was promised a house at Cotton Field, but was told that the PPP was having their Congress in the Region, and the house was identified to house delegates. I was to have it after the Congress; that never happened.
• I was eventually given a house at Adventure, some 16 miles from my place of work. I asked to be assisted with gasoline, and was willing to forfeit my travelling allowance, which could not compensate for the amount of travelling I did on a daily basis. This facility was extended to some doctors who were living at Anna Regina, but working at the Suddie Hospital. You guessed right! That request was denied.
• On my arrival at Anna Regina, I found the staff using manual typewriters. That was in 2005. I recommended that we switch to computers. The Regional Chairman, Mr. Alli Baksh, told me in no uncertain terms that Region 2 was not ready for computers. No less than three months after, a new REO was sent to the Region, and he made the very same recommendations. Computers were promptly bought.
• I uncovered massive corruption in the Pomeroon River and aback Good Hope. I tried to get the REO to address those matters. Nothing. The Chairman, too, refused to address the issues. This was the time when the then President, Bharrat Jagdeo, was challenging citizens to provide the evidence of corruption. In my zeal, I wrote the President on my findings. Big mistake! I was the subject of an investigation by my peers for a $50,000 advance that I took some time to clear. These instructions no doubt were centrally given;
• The house given to me at Adventure was devoid of any furnishings. I had to sell my car to purchase furniture, so that my family could be comfortable.
For the first time I was broken, and contemplated evil actions. God preserved me. That was not to be the end.
• In 2007, I resigned and got a job with SOL as the manager of the Bartica operations. Not long after, I was summoned to the head office at Agricola and was confronted with a letter written by the REO, alleging that I was corrupt and had owed the Region monies. I had to convince the Manager that that was far from the truth, by detailing just what is in this letter. I was made to keep my job.
• I left after some time, and returned to the Rupununi with my family. I opened up an Extra Lessons class for CXC. In my first two years, I was able to pilot three students to Grade Ones in Maths. In the third year, I was confronted with declining students. I was then informed that the school was ordered to give free lessons. This effectively closed down my lessons;
• In 2012, I partnered with a friend; he had a minibus. I was responsible for outfitting it to suit the trail. I would have been the driver, and the profits would be split evenly after expenses. I borrowed some monies from the then Opposition Leader, now President. When I presented the bus to the bus company, the owner told me that he could no longer take the bus, since he does work for the Region, and feared losing the contracts.
All of these things affected my family, and I vowed to fight the PPP until I die. By their constant assault, the PPP has created in me a strong will to fight and resist injustice, a characterisation of their time in office. My fight bore fruit, beginning in 2011, when I was elected a Regional Councilor.

When I became REO, many persons were afraid that I would embark on a vendetta. Well, ask the workers, many of whom I am aware are supporters of the Opposition, and let them say whether I have victimised any one of them.

So, it is no surprise to me that the PPP will continue to hunt me. But I am ready for them. I try my utmost to be professional, but they won’t let me. They have never given me a chance.

However, my focus is the development of this Region and its peoples, especially the youths, with, or without the DETRACTORS. I do not expect everyone to agree with what I am doing, but as long as the majority is satisfied, I will be satisfied.

Last year, while I was REO in Potaro-Siparuni, I learnt that out of 43 contracts, PPP supporters got 37. The Regional Chairman did not call on the PPC to investigate. So long as his party is on the ascendency, it is all smooth sailing. I have a job to do, and I will do it without fear or favour, affection or ill will, in the best interest of all Rupununians.

A point to note is the fact that we have spent most of the Region’s budget in villages that did not support the Coalition at the last elections. Only four villages voted in their favour.
These are not the days when villages were told that in order to get government projects, they had to vote for the then government. These are not the days when only party supporters got relief supplies.

Rather, these days have seen a new beginning. Residents have renewed hope in the process of government; communities feel safer, and are energised to reach for the stars. These are days when the populace is rejecting division and racism, and embracing social cohesion.

As the Regional Executive Officer of this vast Region, a Region that is as big as Costa Rica, I am committed to aid in the facilitation of that process; that change. I am committed to ensuring that all and sundry gets a slice of ‘the good life’.
Long live Guyana! Long live the Rupununi!
Regards,
Carl Parker
Regional Executive Officer
UT/UE