Absence of servant leadership is the reason why there is extreme poverty here
Dear Editor,
Alleviating and reducing poverty is the touchstone to determining governance and by far the most important criteria by which our political leaders must be judged from Guyana’s Independence to now. From poverty in our hinterlands to poverty in our urbanized ghettos to places which by their names underline poverty, such as Plastic City nestled on the north-eastern foreshore of Region 3, the so-called city has a spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean and the city of Georgetown.
Maybe the “residents” from the shoreline of the eponymously named Plastic City can also see or conjure in their mind’s eye the Stabroek Block on the horizon and maybe they too have heard of the eight billion barrels of oil discovered in off-shore Guyana and valued at US$65 per barrel, and total value amounting to US$520 Billion. The residents may dream and hope for the day that Guyanese obtain a 20% royalty or US$104 Billion from the oil discovered, knowing this will greatly improve the quality of their lives and lift their poor brothers, sisters, children, the youths and the elderly across Guyana out of poverty. From dreams to reality.
Poverty is the benchmark to judge our political leaders, not the environment, not gender issues, not the constitution, not race, not religion, not culture. Poverty in our natural resource-rich nation should be the least of our problems, but instead, it is overwhelming us, due to party paramountcy and excessive selfinterest.
Included amongst the political leaders are lawyers, pastors, doctors, military leaders, engineers, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, accountants and economists; some individuals deny being politicians even when they are more political than card-carrying party members. At what point do we put doing what is right above politics, above material things, above status and power? Is there a litmus test, heuristic model or mode of behaviour that we can use to determine what is beyond the pale even for politicians?
At what point do we have enough wealth, enough property, enough power, enough titles or status to take action that enriches the lives of the downtrodden, the vulnerable, the impoverished and people, who by accident of their birth, need immediate assistance to obtain food, clothing and shelter. It is this poverty, this “survival thing”, that has contributed
depth insofar as imposing workable restraints is concerned. Police reform that includes the stepping up of our traffic management infrastructure simply cannot come quickly enough. In terms of sheer mind-boggling recklessness, helmetless motorcyclists now appear to have mounted a strong supersession challenge to minibus drivers. They have emerged like an army of adolescent children stricken with some incurable attention deficit malady. Determined to impose their demented street theatre on overwhelmingly unappreciative audiences, they are entirely oblivious to the fact that what they do constitutes a menace to a public that, somehow, they delude themselves into believing, welcomes their antics. The absurdity as much as the danger in their illusion is deeply troubling. Nor are their antics confined to defying routine restraints that include traffic lights and major roads. Highly dangerous public stunts by helmetless motor-cycled daredevils are frequently performed on the section of Robb Street sandwiched between Wellington and Camp streets helmetless on normal working days. To witness these stunts is to gain a daunting appreciation of the level of risk. Where helmetless motor cyclists are concerned lawless daredevils are not the only transgressors. One is just as certain these days to see presumably otherwise law-abiding but helmet-less citizens – parents with young children in tow or casually joyriding couples, using the roads cheek by jowl with those who are mindful of the helmet law, not infrequently within touching distance of motor-cycled traffic ranks. There are other anomalies in our coastal traffic management regime that amount to disasters waiting to happen and to which, it appears, no discernable attention is being paid. For all the impressive expanse of road that now carpets a section of the East Coast highway, the absence, up until now, of supporting infrastructure, not least road markings and strategically placed traffic lights, is an absurd omission when account is taken of the significantly stepped up levels of both speed and recklessness
in no small way to increasing criminal activity in Guyana; it has resulted in too many residents and foreigners worried about security and safety on the streets of Guyana. Extreme poverty exists in far too many communities across Guyana.
The need to survive with dignity, by having access to food, clothing and shelter must not be relegated by our politicians and subsumed under party edicts, party power or personal power. Poverty alleviation for our political leaders must be the principal focus, the raison d’être (the most important reason or purpose) for governance. At some level of consciousness of the mind there exists a conscience we must listen to and obey. We cannot ignore the suffering of our people for personal gain, status or partisan politics.
That our political leaders can contract for a trifle, assets and resources that belong to the poor people of Guyana without a foggy conscience, is inhumane. What is worse than to abandon the poor and vulnerable across race, religion and generations? Politicians will not lose power when doing what is right for the poor, it will make them better, it will make Guyana stronger. Alleviation of poverty is the cornerstone of our reli
being employed (particularly by minibus drivers) on what is now a significantly widened and bettersurfaced highway. Indifference to these deficiencies amounts to the nurturing of disasters waiting to happen. And if it is true that in matters of traffic management the burden of being mindful of the law rests largely with self-regulation, the preponderance of helmetless riders and pillion riders would appear to suggest that, its insistence that it is ‘going after’ these helmetless daredevils notwithstanding, the Police Traffic Department is making nowhere near the impact that it should. If no one is advocating dangerous, daredevil chases through the streets involving motorcycled transgressors and traffic cops it is for the Police Traffic Department to fashion strategies (some of these may involve heavy sanctions for apprehended transgressors) that might at least provide a measure of deterrent to the law-breakers. The fact that transgression of the helmet law has now become, arguably, as much the exception as the rule, points to an unacceptable weakness in the deterrent capabilities of the Police Traffic Department. There is no denying that reality. Frankly, it is as much the distressing regularity with which, these days, some of the youthful motorcycle stuntmen get sent to an early grave as the general menace that they pose to a more orderly traffic regime that compel and appeal to the Police Traffic Department to ‘put the boot in,’ (figuratively speaking) before we pay an even higher price. Frankly, a point has long been reached where current road use trends reflect an open and cynical defiance of both the laws and the law enforcement authorities.
gious books and we are mostly a religious people. Guyana is among the top 10 natural resource rich countries in the world, with natural resources such as gold, timber, fertile agricultural soil, bauxite, oil, expansive fishing waters and a population of less than 800,000. Why do we have such high levels of poverty, such high levels of extreme poverty? The answer is an absence of servant leadership. Most of our political leadership are too easily compromised, too willing to sell out the masses of poor people in Guyana.
Political Leader and Philanthropist Nelson Mandela noted: “Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.”
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Hinds