AWARD winning Mashramani costume designer in 1979 and the 1980s, Mr. Bernard Ramsey, writes often in the letter section of the newspapers. Here is what he wrote on August 12, 2023 in the Stabroek News: “I was recently interviewed by a well-known past Kaieteur News contributor and feature writer.”

Mr. Ramsey was referring to me. All he had to pen were the following words: “I was recently interviewed by Freddie Kissoon.” Mr. Ramsey has a saying that he includes in most of his letters. It goes like this: “Nothing prepares you for Guyana.” Each time, he uses that phrase, he applies it in a negative way in relation to the government.

But the saying is applicable to all and sundry in Guyana including Mr. Ramsey himself. Couldn’t Mr. Ramsey simply say, “I was interviewed by Freddie Kissoon?” When I saw Mr. Ramsey’s failure to mention my name, I said to myself – “Nothing prepares you for Guyana” Let’s continue to examine, Mr. Ramsey’s favourite exclamation and see to whom the words are applicable.

I quote Mr. Ramsey again from a letter he wrote on July 14: “A good friend and prominent Guyanese banker who has lived in Canada and the USA and worked extensively in the Caribbean, and who currently works here, recently remarked that ‘Nothing can prepare you for Guyana.’ That statement resonated with me for days.” My first reaction on reading what the banker uttered was: “Look who is talking.” Was Mr. Ramsey serious when he transmitted that banker’s observation?

I don’t think Mr. Ramsey knows this country. If he did, he would not have cited that banker. The commercial banks in this country have become a symbol of harassment to Guyanese across class structure.

From labourer to white collar worker to wealthy citizen to Cabinet minister, the commercial banks are a source of nightmares. Commercial banks are competing hectically with a section of the Joint Services, a popular telecommunications company, and the source of “light” in Guyana for the number one spot for source of frustration.
GO-Invest head, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop, was the guest recently on the Freddie Kissoon- Gildarie Show and, in praise of Guyana’s future, he said the only thing left to fix is the banking system.

Former head of the Guyana Manufacturing Association, Mr. Timothy Tucker, on the same programme just weeks before Dr. Ramsaroop’s appearance was acidic in his comments about mistreatment of Guyanese by the commercial banks.

Mr. Ramsey in that very letter of July 14 went on to criticise the government and observed that “Ministers and high officials drive big SUVs and live in fancy communities with fully air-conditioned homes.”

On the Freddie Kissoon-Gildarie Show, when Mr. Ramsey was our guest, I pointed out that there are other people who live in far fancier houses than ministers. He did not agree. So I ask again, is he living in Guyana? Now here is a challenge to Mr. Ramsey. I am betting him that the banker he referred to lives in a far more ostentatious ambience with far greater housing luxuries than government ministers.

If he can prove to me that his banker friend dwells in a less fancy structure than the ministers, I will stop writing this column. Since Mr. Ramsey found it wise to cite what his banker friend told him, then he must face up to the challenge. If he can’t, he should cease sending letters to the press.

Ministers work hard. You have to be a poisonous bigot to deny that. Generally, all over the world, ministers work from day to night. In Guyana, our ministers travel incessantly, meeting the ordinary folks all over the 83,000 square miles of this country.

Ask that banker how many complaining customers he has ever spoken with. Ask that banker how many ordinary people he meets in a year if he meets any at all.

I am stating my email address and cell phone number (fredkissoon @yahoo.com and 614-5927). I will ask that banker to contact me. I assure him on the woman I love more than life itself – my wife – that I will keep our conversation forever private. Let him show me four things: He works harder than ministers; he lives in a modest dwelling; he tends to the complaints of ordinary customers and fourthly, he draws down a lower salary than ministers.

I am saying he cannot and will not accept that challenge because his saying that “nothing prepares you for Guyana” applies to him with more force than the government officials he complained to Mr. Ramsey about. I don’t mind the ordinary folks criticising the government, but not Mr. Big Fancy Banker. Come on Mr. Ramsey! Get to know your country’s sociology!