MY wife was afraid of the encounter so she did not want me to go but I went anyway. I went to see this very wealthy, young businessman. I am not going to name him or his business companies or identify his residence.
He belongs to the nouveau riche stratum due to inheritance from his father who was one of the earliest known personalities of the nouveau riche genre after it emerged at the beginning of the 1990s. The father attracted national curiosity about his assets.
As I stepped into the compound of his residence, I saw a typical majestic bourgeois structure, the type you see in affluent areas in Florida. I knocked on the door after I introduced myself to an official at the gate and was allowed into the compound.
You are not going to believe what this employee said on greeting me. When I told my wife how I was greeted she cracked up.

He said: “You’re Mr. Ralph Ramkarran, right?” Smilingly I said: “No, my name is Frederick Kissoon”. He blurted out, “oh, the columnist.” That was funny. I don’t have anything in my physical appearance that is close to Mr. Ramkarran’s who is far more handsome than I am.
I saw five vehicles in the open garage, none of which was below 50 million. Once you own a car you know the types that carry a price tag of 60 or 70 million. I do not know the gentleman; never saw him in my entire life but I knew his father. Months before the father died, he said in front of my wife at the Woodlands Hospital that I am welcomed to a huge discount should I need anything. I can’t go further for I will reveal who he was.
This young nouveau riche personality floored me when he said that the residence I was in front of was his weekend hangout place. He made sure he echoed the point that it was not his essential dwelling house. I don’t know if that was an effort to tell me that he was superrich.
My complaint was the illegal fireworks he had used on Diwali Night and Old Year’s Night in the past that are so loud that it kills many animals, especially cats and dogs that are people’s pets. He agreed that he would tone it down but then he said; “but people use fireworks” to which I quickly retorted; “not people like you.”

Before I explained what I meant, I told him that some things are lost when some things are gained in living every day.
Then I explained what I meant. It was about his wealth and status and that such people do not use dangerous fireworks that kills animals. I belaboured the point that only lowlife people would set off illegal fireworks that kill animals.
The conversation ended smoothly and I was offered a promise of no dangerous fireworks on Old Year’s Night tonight. My wife was relieved that I came back in one piece because I did not tell her I was going to his place.
I just hope that 2024 passes into 2025 tonight without cruelty to animals. Many veterinary doctors told me that there is an alternative to the loud fireworks. They have the same results but they do not make the terrifying noise that kills the animals. I am hoping the animals survive and I hope I don’t die in despair. I am afraid I might, given what I saw outside of Bourda Market on Robb Street last Sunday.

There was a vendor selling the same dangerous fireworks in full view of the public. The items were on a large table for all the shoppers to see. What is wrong with the Guyana Police Force? The police force has to know that on certain nights, particularly Diwali but more so Old Year’s Night, lowlife people engage in illegal fireworks and they kill animals.

The stuff is illegal. How much manpower it takes to police the alfresco markets on those days. There is a police station in Fourth Street, Alberttown, not far from Bourda Market. This lady (and obviously there were more; I only saw her because I was shopping where she was vending) was peddling her illegal merchandise in full view of the public.

Even if the police cannot stop the foreign source of these illegal fireworks, they can certainly raid the open markets in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six where vendors sell these things. In many of the open-air markets, there are police stations nearby. There is a station in Leonora. There is a police outpost at Stabroek Square. I appeal to the police tonight – stop lowlife people from killing those innocent animals.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.