Amerindians are entitled to proper power like the rest of us

Dear Editor,

I have noticed recent news reports that the current government will be distributing 25,000 100- Watt solar panels and accessories to homes in the hinterland as part of what President Ali declared, in addressing Amerindians, is “our strong commitment to your inclusion in nation building.”

The sad fact is that a 100-watt solar panel system can never help lift an indigenous household out of extreme poverty. It can’t even power such a basic necessity as a refrigerator. It might work for a television if the sun is shining and there was an actual signal to get.

And exactly how reliable and durable are these solar panels going to be when back in 2015 the government had said it had distributed 11,000 solar panel systems to over 235 communities? Are those all now broken?

The more troubling question may be are

Amerindians not entitled to proper power like the rest of us? Are they in the 21st century still condemned to a life bereft of something so fundamental as electricity which has been the key driver of human progress for over 150 years?

Should they not be entitled, if they choose, to aspire to the same air conditioning, televisions and freezers that us coastlanders take for granted? It seems there is some patronizing of our indigenous people as if we need them to stay “innocent” of civilization, to preserve their way of life when many of them probably dream of more comforts and convenience.

Let us hope that as oil revenues increase, all of Guyana’s communities, no matter how remote, benefit from reliable and adequate power grids. That is what it means to truly share the wealth.

Yours faithfully,

Francis Newton