I WAS just about to launch myself into the writing of another letter to the editor when my eyes caught the article written by Kaieteur News columnist Peeping Tom under the caption: ‘Closure would have meant death’. This article is a factual revelation of what Guyana’s economic lifeblood hinges on, sugar. A no-nonsense article from a newspaper that usually bask in the sunlight of sensationalism and miscued information.
But that miscued discussion is for

another article by yours truly on another occasion. But let me get back to Peeping Tom’s article, a well written text coming from someone who has done his research and, above all, from someone who has a conscience, something that is very hard to find these days in Guyana.
Great article, but a few missing links here and there and I shall endeavour to fill in the blanks. Do you know that sugar and, by extension Berbice, was and still is the backbone of Guyana’s economic success? That fact did not come over clearly in that article and I will hammer home the point.
It is sugar, not bauxite, that was responsible for all the freeness that was evident during the Burnham years. The price for sugar quadrupled during the time of the 1970s which led to the freebies. Bauxite on the other hand was bankrupt by 1971 and had to be bailed out by central government. In fact, that should read ‘bailed out by taxpayers. So the garbage that was peddled by the opposition in the recent Linden uprising that bauxite ‘carried’ Guyana, I retort by asking the question which Guyana and when?
The truth is bauxite, and by extension Linden was and continues to be a burden for Guyana. We, that is sugar and Berbice, carried Guyana and to think of it for giving so much what have we gotten in return? only the crumbs that fell from the table.
All major investments are consigned for Region 4 and 10. Berbice is relegated to the peripheral corners of the pie.
Where Berbice is concerned, equity and fairness are not addressed when the proceeds of the state are disbursed. It is indeed sad to think that a people who gave their all can be treated this way. Finally, I must commend Peeping Tom for his/her article. It shows that someone at least has a conscience at Kaieteur News.