THE most important things in life are often the small things. They are things we overlook on our way to and from work; the things we can do something about, but never do, and we assume someone else will fix them.
This administration has built schools, supplied textbooks, fed students a nutritious breakfast, and given parents cash for uniforms, but even if the tireless Priya Manickchand sent every staff member of hers to get children to school, they’d still face hurdles, because it’s the job of parents and guardians.
The Ministry of Housing and Water can distribute thousands of house lots, invest billions more in cement-and-steel vouchers, and lower mortgage rates to help families build, but only mothers and fathers, not Collin Croal or Susan Rodrigues, can turn a house into a home.
The success and failure of a society require more than just government policies and initiatives. It requires “the people”, civil society, broadly speaking, to work hand-in-glove with elected officials to bring about change.
This type of engagement requires a vision of what our society ought to look like at the end of the next five years. There is no magic wand. In 2020, voters would have had to imagine what Guyana would be like now, at this very moment.
When Prime Minister Mark Phillips takes the time to remind Guyanese of the suite of accomplishments in just three years, minus the first two due to the ‘COVID’ pandemic, he is not bragging, although his party has earned it.
When VP Bharrat Jagdeo spells out the litany of flops and foibles of the APNU+AFC’s time in office, even with oil and no pandemic to worry about, they didn’t even come close to what the PPP/C has delivered in half-a-year.
To prove the VP wrong, Aubrey Norton and Juretha Fernandes, the PNC’s prime ministerial candidate who is still trying to introduce herself to their party’s constituency, are unable to point to a single feat of real accomplishment between 2015 and 2020.
And when VP Jagdeo labels the PNC-led APNU and Nigel Hughes’ AFC ‘do-nothing’ parties, Norton, Sherod Duncan and others get so ruffled they resort to petty name-calling.
They conveniently ignore the fact that the PPP/C built well over five thousand kilometres of road, from major roadways to the little side streets in our villages, the opposition points to a few cracks in the Schoonord to Crane Highway, labelling it ‘incompetence’.
Road repairs are a fact of life, whether in Guyana, Canada or the United States. I believe the majority of people can distinguish campaign noise from substantial accomplishments.
When VP Jagdeo boldly declared, repeatedly, I might add, that “every single promise the PPP/C made in its 2020 Manifesto has been fulfilled”, it gave me pause.
I’ve read that Manifesto and reported extensively on the government’s policies, programmes, and initiatives. Still, I wondered, what if something had slipped through?
Could Norton or Hughes point to an unfulfilled pledge? But once you cut through the opposition’s noise, you soon realise that there isn’t a single promise they made and failed to deliver; not one!
There is no doubt in my mind that the noise will get louder in the coming weeks of this election campaign. Later today, President Irfaan Ali will be in Linden for the Party’s fourth major rally.
There will be six more opportunities after today’s rally. Instead of letting meme-makers and TikTok skits hijack our ability to think for ourselves, take the time to listen to what the president will say to the people of a city with a rich history that has long been a PNC stronghold.
Tune out the noise and ask: What is the PPP/C and the party that I would normally support, promising me that Guyana, for me and my children and grandchildren, will look like in 2030?
If you are an undecided voter and can’t make up your mind which box will get your mark on September 1, ask yourself which party – the PPP/C or the party that might otherwise get your vote – can be expected to deliver on its promises to make my life and the life of my children better.
When all is said and done, political choices come down to the small things in our own backyard; legal ownership of the land and the home I am building on it, my safety and personal security, my job and is it secure, the integrity of the single-lane street in front of my home that gives me access to the main road, proper drainage to mitigate against flooding, garbage removal, clean water access and the general health of my children.
You can see this election as a contest between parties, or the moment we all decide what kind of society we, the people of Guyana, want and deserve. We can make that decision for ourselves or allow others to make it for us.
Whatever choice we make on September 1, let it be one rooted in hope, grounded in facts, and inspired by the conviction that we and our neighbours and members of our communities are the real agents of Guyana’s future.

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.