There is a blatant, total disconnect between what the Coalition Government offered the voters and people of Guyana in May 2015 and what the people are now receiving. And just like the Donald Trump fiasco in America, President Granger and his inept, racially biased team continue to represent their lies and shortcomings as if it is a joke. After a year and a half there is still no Diaspora office, something the administration continues to promise those overseas Guyanese they are trying to hoodwink into returning home. If there is one honest revelation coming out of this government it is the fact that passports issuance and the exodus from Guyana have steadily risen over the last year although the PNC/AFC coalition said they will stem the tide. The UG figures of departing graduates are even more staggering – the university continues to train people to migrate in search of jobs as priority for jobs goes first to the retired army boys. Reports are that upwards of 60% of all UG graduates are bailing out of Guyana, taking with them their influence, training and brain power.
Yet even after all the brouhaha and the millions of dollars garnered from the many trips to those in the Diaspora, this government has refused to put systems in place to formalize the input of the brain power of those Guyanese living abroad. This is not different from the PPP – all talk and no action. Nothing has really improved since the PPP was replaced; in fact, it is the same. It is almost shameless how this government is refusing to do what it continues to promise it will do. It is as if they believe Guyanese are daft.
Another noticeable reality is the fact that there seems to be no sign of the “significant” salary increase for the police, army, doctors and teachers, that they were promised while these governing folks were in the opposition and on the campaign trail. Where is the passion for rewarding the hard working and grossly underpaid civil servants? Where is the good life that Granger continues to promise? The only good life and rewards have come to the upper echelons of those in government – President, PM, VPs, Ministers, and their advisors.
The electorate and the general citizenry will never forget how they were tricked by this administration. Not once. Never did they talk anything about increasing their pay from $500,000 to a whopping $800,000 and then backdating that raise to just one month after they took office. When in opposition, they spoke only about increasing the pay and living conditions of the masses and taking a pay cut for themselves. But when they were sworn, in, they rewarded themselves. They were awarded our trust, they betrayed us! They fattened their own coffers and that of their new opposition buddies, while the voters – those they made the promises to – continue to observe the disparity between the haves and the have not’s.
The voters are forced to watch as their elected officials cruise past in their air-conditioned, chauffeur-driven, SUV’s. The electorate notes that all the bills of top Government officials are paid in full; including drivers, maids, gardeners, rent/mortgages, car and fuel, light, water and telephone. This does not include the monies they receive for entertainment allowances and overseas travel. Yet even as they sit with their fat salaries in their ivory towers, they wrangle to raise the pay of those who voted for them and those who have to meet all their own financial obligations. If this is not shameless, what is?
Another note of interest is the fact that suicide in Guyana is also higher than it was a year ago. The coalition promised to tackle suicides – since they came into office, it has almost doubled, and they don’t care about those who take their lives. Now the victim group is beginning to include more and more of those who are finding it difficult to meet their financial obligations.
As the United Republican Party (URP) tours the length and breadth of Guyana, we are constantly being told that we can expect more suicide and attempted suicides from those who invested based on the promise of better prices for their produce, especially rice and paddy. This government while in opposition, especially the AFC arm, promised the farmers – mostly PPP Indian supporters – that they will receive significantly more (almost double the price) for their agriculture produce with guaranteed markets. Armed with this convincing information, the farmers went out and invested in agriculture. They borrowed money and expanded their operations. They voted for change. Now they are left hanging (no pun intended) with some actually committing suicide thanks to the heartless coalition.
When the farmers complained, they were told by President Granger that job creation, investments, and, market are not the responsibility of his Government. The very things they used to win the people’s confidence and votes are the very things they are now saying that they are not responsible for. As a testimony to their lies, several of the bill boards, with these promises, are still dotting the skyline across Guyana. If these sickening disregards for the Guyanese public are not shameless, what is?
The PPP supporters, who chose to give a chance to the AFC, are now totally frustrated by the fact that their causes are not even being represented by the folks who convinced them to switch their allegiance. The leader of the AFC continues to speak of the strength of the Coalition but the strength is only there because he is not speaking up for the Indians who voted in supported of the AFC. Remember the PNC asked AFC to bring over their 11% support which was obtained from Indians to give it the 51%. The AFC cabinet ministers representing the young Black intellectuals who broke with the PNC and voted in support of the AFC in the Coalition are not showing compassion for working class either.
In 2015, the URP warned the voting public that this would have been the attitude of the PNC dominated Coalition. We knew that most of the leaders of the AFC were from the two main parties and that they were stuck in their mentalities and ideologies. It is impossible for them to automatically switch and become concerned with the cares of the masses. We must admit that we did not have the funding or the manpower necessary to satisfactorily get our messages out. We trust that this time around we will do a better job at education the public on the need to vote issues and not race or party affiliation. We are convinced that the electorate are wising up.
This government said that the reason for the delay in the pay hikes promised to the civil servants is a lack of money in the treasury. The URP knows that’s a lie; Jubilee Park stands as a witness to that nasty lie. However, the URP would like to call the Government’s bluff. If the real reason for the delay in raising the public servants pay is a lack of funds, then show your love and concern for the struggles of the masses; give back your $300,000 per month pay hike. The Government calls us masses but we know full well what they see us as – jackasses! If there is no money, how come the government found $2 billion last week to increase the budget to pay their friends who funded the election campaign? (more…)

Political History of Guyana