Dear Editor,
The poor damage control on display by the party is quite distasteful. Throwing money at the problem will not suffice. The General Secretary of the party and the President are doing their best to try to change the discussion and focus the people affected on self-interest and financial gain, but the fact remains that empathy is lacking and sincere concern for the pain that the families are experiencing is absent. If the party’s leadership was in tune with the feelings of those affected, they would have already asked for the required resignations, and if those of whom it was requested were not forthcoming, the PPP’s leadership should have sacked the whole sorry lot of them before things got further out of control. In some respects, this is a case of criminal negligence that resulted in many deaths and should be considered manslaughter.
It is extremely difficult to ask a nation in mourning to focus on your plans to wastefully spend our money while some of our fellow citizens lay on the ocean floor with the poor excuse for sea transport that took them there thanks to negligent management and oversight.
Please do not misunderstand the point being made. Yes, housing and village models are important, but the timing is far from ideal and corruption continues to plague the nation’s investments. There is too much anger caused by the administration’s inability to act on what matters in the minds of most Guyanese. Simply put, the President and the General Secretary must clean house and show that they have the courage to hold one of their own if not two, accountable for the tragedy that has left everyone with the impression that they are not up to the task of leading our nation safely into its next phase of development. It will not be surprising if more protests occur nationwide until clear and meaningful actions are taken to hold senior members of the government accountable. Throwing more money at the problem will not resolve what money cannot bring back. People matter more and our safety matters more than any scarce dollar you can muster up to try to convince us otherwise. $100 dollars is worth the same as $1 Billion dollars to a dead man, dead woman, or dead child. Try to understand and stop embarrassing our nation. Do what is correct in the eyes of the world. Have those responsible resign and try them for manslaughter. They must be held accountable. It will also send a clear message to others in the service of our nation.
Sincerely,
Mr. Jamil Changlee
Chairman
The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana
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