Dear Editor,

I HAVE written a letter on August 27, 2018, and was published in the media which expressed the view that any increase of State revenues, whether it be from oil, gold or whatever, those additional resources should concentrate on the following seven areas. 

Make our educational system solid and top class, geared to produce that new Guyana person we talked about even before Independence.

A system that allows us to cope with a fast, advancing, scientific and technological world, but moreover to fashion a curriculum similar to what was put in place for the first batches of President’s College in 1985. The students engaged in several sport and cultural activities, including music, swimming, equestrian skills, producing their own food and mixing with ordinary people in the contiguous communities. At the same time, pursuing the highest academic standards, truly a school of excellence. Every school in Guyana with appropriate modifications based on several factors should aim for levels of excellence.  Attention to be paid to our university, technical and teacher training institutions. This means a massive injection of resources into buildings, grounds, training, laboratories, etc. Finally, let us fulfil the dream and passion of Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham to make education free from Kindergarten to University. 

2) Increase poste haste salaries of the security services, educators, including teachers and medical personnel. This should be non-negotiable.

3) Provide a state-of-the-art health service where complex surgical and medical procedures are available to all, either free or at an affordable cost.  

4) Retool NIS, so that we make good the objective of those of us who first conceived and implemented the National Insurance Scheme. And so for example, remove the present absurdity where health care benefits are available to contributors up to sixty (60) years of age, but not available beyond sixty, when you are more than likely to be in need of medical health support.

Both the Late Dr. Gladstone Mitchell and I inveighed against this oddity.

(4) Have an ongoing massive clean-up in urban and rural areas. This will provide jobs, training and to develop a sense of pride in our surroundings and teaching people to love and care for their neighbours.

(5) Provide delightful holiday resorts at affordable rates so that young and old can share in the natural beauty and charm of our country with magnificent things to see. 

(6) A re-tooled remigration scheme, geared to encourage young and experienced professionals to return home to contribute to development. This should include second-generation Guyanese.

My position remains unchanged. However, there seem to be some confusion and concern judging from writings and statements recently. Let me say I have the highest regards for Professor Clive Thomas, Dr. David Hinds and Lincoln Lewis. From time to time, they may disagree with me and I with them.  However, these three Guyanese are patriots of the highest order and we need to listen and digest their opinions.

This question of ‘Cash Transfers” is mired in interpretation; the earliest media reports refer to a proposal to give five hundred thousand ($500,000.00) dollars in cash to citizens [from the] expected oil boom.

This is where the trouble started from the highest level to the man in the street. First of all, unless there is a carefully worked out criteria, does cash transfer mean a cheque to everyone, to all and sundry?

Old Age Pension, for example, the very rich and the very poor, qualify and now obtain that benefit or should I say cash transfer. I believe the arguments put forward by Lincoln Lewis, in Wednesday’s Kaieteur News, present an opportunity for further dialogue with the President, the Cabinet and the initiators of the idea– the WPA.

We must be careful as public figures to seek justice and equity, difficult as it may be. As a small child, I grew up in Charlestown and my father had a drugstore in Albouystown. This allowed me to observe what may have been conditions in the poorest part of the city, if not the country. My mother was a philanthropist and I remembered a middle-age man coming regularly for a ‘small piece’ or something from the kitchen. Out of a concern, my parents offered him to pick a few buckets of genip from our tree during the genip season. He was told that we will provide the bucket, he climbs the trees and pick the genips and he will have all of the proceeds from selling the genips. 

The gentleman never returned and that taught me a lesson to be careful not to spoil people who are unwilling to help themselves.  We must therefore give credence to the President’s statement what cash transfers really means about ‘teaching a man to fish instead of giving him a fish.’

Let me, however, hasten to quote another fact of life, “while the grass is growing, the horse is starving.”

What is necessary is for us to discuss extensively what cash transfer really means. It ought not to be an open season for the lazy and those who will not practice deferred gratification.

It is never easy for a government to navigate the uncertainties and vast differences of human behavior. In this regard, I do not draw a nexus between both bicycles and buses to cash transfers.

I have been to communities, where we tried to help families to give them money, food, planting materials, etc. Some made good use of it, others did not.

In the Bible, there are instructive stories to the sower – Jesus tells us to choose the kind of soil that we would like to sow our faith on. The suggestion that we do anything to allow certain folks to get their hands on ‘oil money’ should not be entertained. For that will only lead [to] sin and corruption.

Perhaps, the WPA and others should not use the term ‘cash transfers,’ but maybe something like ‘A Need Assessment Programme,’ or ‘uplift the needy. ‘ 

In this way, we will avoid the image and understanding of a certain comrade living in New York who, on hearing of the $500,000.00 cash transfer, felt he could invest in a ticket back home to collect his cheque making at least $200,ooo to $300,000 dollars profit. Finally, everyone in public life must know that any scheme involving the release of money must have cheques and balances so that there is no exploitation and that those in need are the primary beneficiaries.

We don’t want a repeat of the ‘One Lap-Top Per Person Programme. 

Regards
Hamilton Green