Being rich and hungry at the same time
Dear Editor,
Since the PPP Government and its agents are very vigilant with media presentations, regardless of how small or insignificant they may be, I thought that I would spare a reminder, so as not to disturb anyone. I decided to ease on that usual little push, about doing something to alleviate the plight of Guyanese who cannot make ends meet, who can’t even find the middle, and who are lost over what to do to feed their families (see SN’s continuing series on cost-of-living anguish of Guyanese). The conclusion was that government leaders and agents are getting all the insights needed to appreciate where the people are, and how they are managing in this glittering global oil metropolis. As the SN people presented the agonies of the residents of Ann’s Grove, I had to give up counting which chapter the paper is in this week, since this is beyond my arithmetic prowess.
What was within my grasp, however, was that the circumstances of the villagers on the forlorn prairies of Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara are no different from the close to a score of punishing places previously covered by the SN series The people are feeling the same price pains, just a matter of its severity. When prices are increasingly painful, the result is a bowl full of mournful because there are so few mouthfuls. I hear the cries of hurting in Ann’s Grove borne not on the winds, but in the baleful stare of black ink on dull paper, through the unforgiving glare of words on a screen, and of people carefully navigating eggshells so as not to trigger any concealed grenades. Like I said earlier, PPP functionaries are watching and reading, and they don’t miss a thing, particularly pictures of faces, and sentiments attributed word for word. Even Shakespeare would have run afoul of this PPP Government and its big, bad easily agitated protectors of the party’s clean and caring image. Come to think of it, Moses also, had he dared to show his face and his Ten Commandments. Imagine -thou shalt not steal. Or covet thy taxpayer’s property.
Due to that fear, I detected what was different in Ann’s Grove, two of such. Residents skirted around hurling spiked spears at the PPP and its practices. Certainly, with less frequency, and much lower intensity, even amid the gravity of their individual and community sorrow, which is akin to the national one. Whereas almost everyone in other communities called on the government, cried before the government, and cringed as they cajoled the government for a swallow of bread, a couple grains of rice, even a strand of noodle, the citizens of Ann’s Grove were more subdued and stoic in their appeals. Only a couple manifested the boldness to utter that fateful word ‘government’. Clearly, Guyanese have developed a compelling sensitivity about the retaliatory. It speaks loudly that people who are seriously consumption challenged (pardon if I sound like the Freedom House boys and analytic gurus) can only mutter their grievances so softly.
Editor, if there is fear to say a phrase about food, if only to save the children, then I am afraid that the fight has departed from Guyanese, maybe these shores altogether. But what was also different, and unlike the other people interviewed in other price-strangled and food-strapped places was that those in Ann’s Grove did summon the strength to mention the condition of their roads, and how helpful some drainage improvements could go a long way. They are getting more than intermittent raining; it is pouring, and Noah would have wisely stayed indoors a little longer, perhaps for an indefinite period of hibernation. Conserves energy; brain cells also; assists with peace and tranquility of the spirit. As I ponder all of this, this thought just wouldn’t go away: is this where oil has brought Guyana? Fear and trepidation? Hunger and hurting? The richest people in the world, with a riotous government, and this is considered prosperity? Maybe the containers are awaiting GRA clearance at the wharves. Then, I remembered something. Some of the food items that are out of reach are straight out of the good Guyana earth right here. I would take being the stupidest fella (per capita) in the world, and be contented, rather than being the richest and the hungriest at the same time.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall