By
Stabroek
staff |
October 6,
2009 in
Letters
Dear
Editor,
Remigrant
found bound,
smothered
–household
items stolen
Canje-family-robbed
Victims
suspect ‘Faeces
Gang’
Haseeb-robbed-Belvedere
Thieves-S-police-station
Please
allow me the
use of this
medium to
communicate
with the
Guyanese
diaspora
population. I
would
especially
like to open
up a
conversation
with Guyanese
in the United
States and
Canada, two
countries that
I lived in for
extended
periods.
Channa bomb hurled at Canje businessman’s home
Gunman-acid-burns
Koker-door-bruk-up
The
first thing I
want to bring
up is the
media, and
especially the
newspapers.
This is a good
place to start
because
High
powered
weapons
I know
from
experience
that the
diaspora is
especially
dependent on
the newspapers
for keeping
up-to-date
with
developments
in the
country.
Kaieteur
News
Let
me go to the
point
directly.
Given what
makes news and
how that news
is represented
in the
newspapers
they might
feel as if the
country is in
turmoil. For
those who have
strong
feelings about
their homeland
that must
induce
feelings of
sadness. Many
of them may
even
contemplate
throwing in
the towel.
Others might
develop
feelings of
anger and
those feelings
might push
them to
supporting
forms of
extremism.
Kaieteur
News
I
ask them to be
careful with
this stuff.
Guyana is
alive and
well. The
stores are
stocked to the
ceilings and
there is no
shortage of
customers. In
the Guyana of
today people
can find most
things they
have in North
American
stores. I know
some will say
yes, but
things are so
expensive.
Fair enough,
but not
everyone in
Canada and the
US can shop at
Macy’s or
Lord &
Taylor as a
matter of
routine. This
is why Wal
Mart, K-Mart,
and Target are
so popular.
And then of
course, there
is no shortage
of dollar
stores, places
where you will
also find
Guyanese
shopping.
Waitress shot
dead, three injured
Woman-body-dumped-roadway
Gunmen
wound two brothers in raid on Grove shop
On
the fast food
scene they
will find
Pizza Hut,
KFC,
Church’s
Chicken, and
Popeyes. I am
not thrilled
with this
development,
but they are
here. What
they have to
keep in mind
is that these
outlets are
considered a
‘big-thing’
here.
I
must also
mention New
Thriving
Restaurant on
Main Street.
It is without
qualification
one of the
very best
Chinese
restaurants I
have ever been
to anywhere in
the world, and
say this
having been to
Asia on many
occasions.
Lodge bandits nabbed at Corentyne beach
Last
night a bunch
of us visited
GuyExpo. This
is a trade
fair, much
like the
county fairs
they have in
the United
States. I, for
one, went to
the Montgomery
County Fair
outside
Rockville,
Maryland,
every year
over the past
decade.
GuyExpo is
much more
interesting
and much more
fun.
Twenty-five
thousand
people
attended on
Saturday, and
Sunday pulled
in a figure
close to that.
This
year’s
GuyExpo has
nearly 300
exhibition
stalls and
many of the
products are
top notch by
any standard.
I know the
members of the
Guyanese
diaspora will
be proud of
these products
and many might
even doubt
that they are
made here. My
pick of the
lot is
Summerson’s
Furniture. If
they lay eyes
on their
kitchen
cabinets I
feel sure they
will import
them into
North America.
This is the
real wood.
Most
of them must
have heard
about how
people dress
in Guyana,
they know,
better than
overseas. This
one is simple.
It is true.
Developments
are popping
all over the
country,
something that
some in the
newspapers
refuse to
acknowledge.
Incidentally I
saw the
Berbice Bridge
and I can tell
you it is
rather
handsome. It
makes the
Outerbridge
Crossing in
the New
Jersey/New
York area look
ugly. There is
no bridge in
Toronto that
has the scale
and beauty of
the Berbice
Bridge. Come
and take a
look.
Parts
missing,
Georgetown: Government
of India
Funding
For
those who
haven’t been
here for a
while they
will be taken
aback by Don
Valley Parkway
quality
lighting on
the major
roadways here.
Imagine Vreed-en-Hoop
to Parika will
soon get
‘wall-to-wall’
street lights.
Last
month I went
to the
commissioning
of the Skel-don
Sugar Factory.
It is a gem.
Visiting
Guyanese must
insist on
seeing it.
When it is up
to capacity,
the Skeldon
Factory will
also produce
enough excess
electricity to
light up most
of Berbice.
Last
week I passed
by the water
front and saw
with my own
eyes the new
GPL generators
being
installed. The
blackouts that
have dogged
the Georgetown
area over the
last little
while will
soon be
history.
When
overseas-based
Guyanese come
they may want
to stop by the
Diamond
Housing
Scheme. Take
even a cursory
look and tell
me if things
are that bad.
They may want
to also go to
Tuschen and
Cornelia Ida
where they
also have
giant housing
schemes. On
top of that,
the
indefatigable
Minister of
Housing and
Water, Irfaan
Ali and his
staff have, in
one fell
swoop,
modernised the
housing sector
by developing
One-Stop-Shops.
Major
developments
have also
surfaced in
health care.
Let’s take a
good look at
this sector.
In 1964 the
life
expectancy was
60; it moved
up to 65 by
1975, but then
plummeted to
59 in 1990.
Today it is 70
years! In 1991
per capita
expenditure
from the
fiscal budget
was US$7 per
person; in
2008 it was
US$80. This is
expenditure
from the
fiscal budget.
It does not
include grants
and other
funding from
external
sources. In
1990 the MMR
(Maternal
Mortality
Rate) was
34:10,000. The
comparable
rate today is
11:10,000. In
1989 the
Infant
Mortality Rate
was 78:1000;
today it is
19:1,000. In
1990 Guyana
was
administering
6 antigens (ie
vaccines),
today it is
administering
14. My friends
in the
diaspora may
know what it
costs for one
of these
vaccines. If
they do not, I
can tell them
that the
yellow fever
vaccine in the
US costs
US$600. All of
these vaccines
are now
provided free
of cost in
Guyana. The
H1N1 vaccine
is coming
next.
These
are measurable
improvements.
There is more,
but for now
let me just
remind my
overseas
friends that
today Guyana
does open
heart surgery,
hip and knee
replacement,
and radiation
therapy for
cancer! There
is a new
Ophthalmology
Centre in
Berbice.
Cataract cases
that had
people in the
dark for a
long time have
now been taken
care of and
older people
can now see
their
grandchildren
for the first
time.
President
Jagdeo stated
recently that
apart from the
obvious
service to
Guyanese, the
centre will
provide care
for other
Caribbean
nationals free
of cost!
Thieves
break into Lusignan
Primary School
April
24, 2010
Yes,
things are
challenging,
but that is no
different from
where
expatriate
Guyanese are
now. As in any
country, some
people have it
relatively
easy while
others do
indeed find it
hard to make
ends meet. I
am confident
that President
Jagdeo and his
cabinet would
acknowledge
that we have
quite a
distance to go
in order to
have the kind
of Guyana we
all want. The
difference
here is that
this President
and his
cabinet are
out there
every day
working to
make this a
better Guyana.
President
Jagdeo must be
one of the
hardest
working
leaders in the
history of the
Caribbean.
There
are so many
things
happening in
this country
that would
make those who
live overseas
proud to call
themselves
Guyanese. I
urge them to
be careful
with the daily
dose of dread
that has
become the
signature of
the
newspapers.
Perhaps I
should go back
to where I
started, that
is back to
GuyExpo.
Yesterday
[Sunday] about
25,000 people
went to this
event. It is
nowhere to be
found in
print. Not
newsworthy
enough I
suppose. Yet,
if one – I
mean that
literally –
if one person
had engaged in
an act of
protest, there
is a good
chance it
would be on
the front
page. Absent
that, one
newspaper
opted for a
story of a man
and a horse
caught in an
act of sexual
perversion.
Bandits rob Non Pariel businessman
Guyana
is on the move. If
anyone wants
the evidence,
they should
come and see
for
themselves.
Yours
faithfully,
Randy Persaud
