Dear Editor,
The Government must stop treating every critic as an enemy and every national failure as someone else’s fault. Attacking, trolling and demeaning patriotic Guyanese complaints defies good governance and public service responsibility, and eviscerates democracy.
Blame-shifting, dangling cash grants, constituting Commissions of Inquiry are abhorrent, especially in the context of our unprecedented wealth. Government has a duty to fire corrupt public servants, appoint capable personnel, put One Guyana first. Practice what you preach.
Families struggling with food prices should not be admonished about their shopping or eating habits. Changing consumption patterns may affect household spending, but they do not erase the pressures of prices, wages and economic policy.
Likewise, greater use of fans and air conditioners may increase electricity demand, but citizens did not design, maintain or manage Guyana’s power system. We already know we have to solve the decades old scourge of blackouts, expose deficiencies in generation, transmission, planning and reliability, and demand the end of never-ending excuses. Consumers cannot be made the scapegoats for an inadequate grid.
The MV Barima disaster left 73 people confirmed dead and approximately 30 unaccounted for. It involved a state-operated vessel and raised grave questions about its condition, passenger records, regulatory oversight and emergency preparedness.
It has not yet been judicially established that corruption caused the sinking. But allegations of corruption, negligence and reckless administration cannot be dismissed with speeches, public-relations campaigns or blame directed only at employees. Institutional responsibility must also be accounted for.
A Commission of Inquiry may be necessary, but appointing one is not accountability. Its promised examination of the causes, legal compliance and institutional failures must produce evidence, public findings, enforceable reforms and consequences where wrongdoing is established. Families also need compensation, truth and closure, not ceremony alone.
Leadership means accepting responsibility for what government controls: public safety, inspections, infrastructure, emergency readiness, electricity planning, enforcement and transparency.
The Government has every right to answer criticisms-but with records, facts and corrective action, not insults or intimidation. Support the families. Fix the power system. Address the cost-of-living crisis. Recover and preserve the vessel. Publish the evidence. Hear the survivors. Prosecute or discipline anyone against whom credible evidence establishes wrongdoing.
The critics did not raise food prices, weaken the electricity grid or sink the ship. Stop castigating the messengers. Own and fix your failures, disappointments and shortcomings. Guyanese are fed up, listen to their voices!
Yours faithfully,
Hon. Albert Baldeo
Former Magistrate, Senior State Counsel and State Prosecutor (Guyana)
Community Leader and Judicial Delegate (New York)
Discussion