As Guyana prepares to host national elections 2011…..

Being a journalist does not mean I do not have my own opinions. The trade demands that a practitioner be as unbalanced/balance as possible (depending on which entity you work for), and to write the facts. However, my blog is my avenue to deal with issues that seem to be revolving, but not being solved.

Let’s start with National Elections which has last evening been announced for November 28, 2011, forcing political contenders to ‘up-the-ante’ with respect to their winning strategy and how convincing their story of development for Guyana would be, once elected.

This is where one would will see scores of candidates/party workers from respective political parties reaching out to residents in various villages, especially remote communities to talk about development, what would be given to them if their party is to be elected and that history, (be it under the PPP or PNC/R regime), would not be repeated under their tenure.

But if I am to have my way, many of these exact persons never ever visited these communities, and would never have if it wasn’t for garnering votes. To give credit to my article, take remote, isolated Amerindian communities especially in the Deep South; indigenous people who occupy their rough terrains never knew some of these politicians existed, not until now.

Once there, they make promises beyond the skies just for a vote come elections day. But my point remains the same, do these politicians really have the interest of Guyanese at heart and my conclusion is NO! For me, it is another scheme to fill their pockets, and then the remainder would be given for substandard work, be it in the education, social, agriculture, infrastructure or political sectors.

To give a little more weight to my point, check development under the once PNC/R Government as well as the PPP/C Government. While there was a lot of progress made during the tenure of each party in Government, there were however, equal disappointments with regards to development and laying a future for youths of Guyana to ‘grab on to’.

As I peruse the various speeches made by politicians via newspapers, television, internet or radio I can’t help but notice that my conclusions are clearer then crystal. While many are trying to give the best winning speech, none of the three main parties are really explaining what they will implement to better the lives of Guyanese, once elected.

Rather they are wasting time assailing each other’s governance, than taking time to present a future that will see more youths not only being gainfully employed, but with decent paying salaries. Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), which comes directly from investment in trading, should also be boosted, giving the Guyanese dollar value. These are some of the problems that politicians should be looking into, rather than attacking each other.

As elections draws near, come-on Mr. and Mrs. Politicians do something for the Guyanese people, we have been suffering for years; it is time for a better Guyana, or migration rate will continue to increase.