support Minister's courageous stand
I FULLY support the courageous and admirable stand taken by the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs Mr. Ronald Gajraj to indicate to President Jagdeo that he is willing to proceed on leave, should the President decide to set up a mechanism to conduct a full and impartial enquiry into allegations made against him.

This is a very commendable position taken by the Minister to go on leave, although there has been no substantiation of the allegation made against him, to ask for an impartial enquiry to be made into the allegation.

It shows the high moral stature of the man and his devotion to the government and people of Guyana and his commitment to the rule of law.
Yours faithfully,
Darwin Johnson

Conglomeration of Guyanese investors needed for oil production in Essequibo
AS GUYANA gets ready to celebrate, or perhaps observe with solemn reflection and candid introspection, its 38th Independence Anniversary, I am extremely contemplative of the type of legacy the generation, which ushered in Independence, is bequeathing to today's generation. What kind of future are we asking today's generation to step into?

As a primary school kid in 1966, I recall the euphoria that swept the nation with the introduction of our new multi-coloured flag - the Golden Arrowhead - and the national songs that dominated the local airwaves, and which were sung lustily at school rallies. Yet, I was too small to fathom the true ramifications of political independence.

That it came less than two years after the 1964 racial disturbances, never diminished my sense of fear and insecurity about what an Indian-dominated PPP government could do to blacks, because, like so many kids and youths in that time, we were led to believe that Cheddi Jagan and the PPP would be bad for Guyana, and especially blacks.

Truth be told, we grew up hearing that if the PPP got in power, Guyana would go communist (a really bad pursuit) and no one would ever be allowed to own more than one of anything. We used to sit on 'front steps' and under street lights and dread the day the PPP would get into power, unaware that we would come to regret the day the PNC itself came to power.

On top of that, Indians were labeled as PPP-ites, causing us to develop negative perceptions of them, and we wasted no time calling them "coolie" whenever we got into arguments or fights with them. And by 'them' I include some of our boyhood or school friends who were Indians. In retrospect, Indians were among my best friends. Those were friendships that had nothing to do with race, but everything to do with character.

Forbes Burnham, who came across as witty, charismatic, intelligent and an excellent orator, managed to endear himself to the ordinary people, including Indians. It was the calm before the storm. And this made it harder for us to ever like Dr. Jagan, although we eventually began accepting Indians who made it harder for us to believe they actually hated us.

Pleasantly surprising was the fact there was no known racial politicking of today's magnitude after 1966, and Burnham was credited with holding the nation together, racially, right up until his death, even as he tenaciously but illegally held onto to political power and allowed ambitious and aggressive Indians to advance economically and financially. This facilitation would later appear to backfire, much to the dismay of some blacks, but especially to the chagrin of those of his party who are still banging and kicking on the doors of the institution of political power, as Indians now control both political and financial/economic power in Guyana.

Some political speculators blame Burnham for failing to empower blacks financially and economically, so that, in event the PNC was booted from office, what is now transpiring would not be. Others blame blacks themselves for failing to grasp opportunities Burnham offered. Whichever evaluation is true, or even if there is some truth in both, today's perception paints a bleak picture for blacks as the marginalized of the two major ethnic groups through failures that had nothing to do with Indians. Indians were blameless pertinent to this perception.

Meanwhile, the sporadic racial outbursts that often followed each election after 1992, in which Indians were targeted by select groups of blacks, never mirrored the true attitude of the larger body of blacks. And that is further explained in the refusal of blacks in various villages or communities to follow certain political leaders and instigators and rise up in large numbers to launch attacks against Indians or to publicly demonstrate and riot until the PPP/C tumbled from office.

The truth or rumour that, in the last decade, many Indians eventually acquired guns, legally and illegally, to defend themselves in case of a catastrophic racial uprising, could be reason enough to believe they actually felt threatened. But that it never happened, as they probably thought, is further proof the problem is not with the ordinary blacks and Indians. The problem rests with the political leaders who are playing on the fears and insecurities of their race-based constituencies, whose importance and relevance are magnified only at election time.

An acquaintance and myself had a casual conversation in Queens a few months ago, and he made me to understand the PPP/C government has benefited, in a backhanded sense, from the violent attacks on Indians, because by either failing or being unable to shield its core constituents, the attacks allowed Indians to see who really are the bad guys, why these bad guys should never get into office, and that the PPP/C is their (Indians') best hope for the future. It sounded plausible, but I couldn't help wondering if this was the best we can expect from our political leaders who took over from the colonialists with promises of a brighter and better life?

Which brings me to the vexing question: What kind of legacy is the generation of the independence-era passing on to today's generation? And the question is not only politically related, but also economically and socially. Political stability and economic growth are critical essentials to social cohesiveness and, right now, economic growth seems as the only area non-political Guyanese have available to work with at this time to achieve social cohesiveness.

One of the national songs we sang during Independence celebrations was, "My Guyana, El Dorado," and although I do not recall the words, I guess the thinking of the writer was to paint a picture of Guyana as possessing both the natural and human wealth capable of making Guyana and Guyanese prosperous. Where did the writer get the El Dorado concept?

Legend has it that, in Guyana, there was a city of gold called El Dorado, and that white men came from far away lands in search of this city. Not finding the city, they left in disappointment, perhaps to search out other places where they might discover their fortune in life.

Hundreds of years later, we have been hearing of Guyana's rich natural resources which, if exploited and developed, could make the national song, "My Guyana, El Dorado," a reality for everyone of us.

Somewhere along the way, over the past 38 years to be precise, politics, bad politics, race-based politics, have contributed in no small measure to our inability to meaningfully exploit and develop these resources, causing Guyanese, like the white men of the El Dorado legend, to leave Guyana disappointed, disillusioned and dissatisfied, to search out other places where they can find their fortune in life. We need to immediately disabuse ourselves of the notion that this will continue.

As we celebrate or observe our 38th Independence Anniversary, I throw out a challenge to our Guyanese of financial means, who have been blessed during the past thirty eight years, to seriously consider looking beyond businesses that require people to buy and consume imported stuff, and form a conglomeration of Guyanese investors who would take the lead and specifically drill for oil in the Essequibo region.

Venezuela may have interfered with foreign investors' confidence in doing the same thing, but I say we dare them (Venezuela) to interfere with Guyanese taking the initiative in doing for ourselves what we have been trying unsuccessfully to get others to do for us. After 38 years of political independence, time is long past when we are still servants in our own house. We either own the land or we do not. And since we own it, let us act like we know it to be true.

As a nation of different races, but one future, we cannot afford to let the political hype of the PPP/C and the PNC/R to further frustrate our ability to see we need each other to get along and get ahead. And while we pray and hope the PPP/C and the PNC/R come to their senses, sooner than later, and stop playing race-card games, let us also pray that our financially blessed brothers and sisters will rise up and help build Guyana by helping harness, exploit and develop the rich resources of our country, including the production of oil in the Essequibo region. Even if the Guyanese conglomerate has to borrow funds from international lending agencies. No risks, no rewards. What have we got to lose after 38 years of political independence, yet we are still economically dependent; in fact, poorer than we were 38 years ago?
Emile Mervin

Education quality has improved
WHILE Guyana has not yet reached the level of success it wants to in the educational sector, there can be no denial that important progress has been made over the last ten years or so.

It is obvious and a matter of record that far more children are attending school than previously did, because of the greater accessibility.

Schools have been built for and in areas that never had before - nursery, primary and secondary as well as technical and vocational institutes, which have been built in highly populated areas that were neglected and as is well known, we have a University Campus at Tain, Berbice with the possibility of other campuses being set up in due course.

Not only has the nursery and primary school population significantly grown but far more of these children are going on to secondary schools, than ever went before, because of the lack of sufficient schools and teachers.

So while we have not yet reached what would be more satisfactory to the people, Guyana has certainly moved forward a lot in the provision of education.
Yours faithfully,
Shawn Green

GID is another creature of the PNC/R
SINCE the so-called Guyana Institute for Democracy [GID] has been exposed as another creature of the PNC/Reform and another front or phantom organization, such as the PMJ [People's Movement for Justice], they have been at pains to disabuse the minds of the many people who rightly came to this conclusion.

Their latest ploy, is to try to further camouflage their clear objective to spread anti PPP/civic government propaganda, by indulging in a ridiculous name-change, now calling themselves the "Caribbean Guyana Institute For Democracy" [CGID].

Isn't Guyana a Caribbean country and always was?

No name-change by GID can lend it any respectability or authenticity as it is still a creature of the PNC/R.
It will simply fade away, eventually.
Yours faithfully,
Marcia Davis