On the barrage, Friday morning: This is what Guyana has become
Kaieteur News – What I describe below is not something that should surprise you. This is Guyanese nature. This is what the people of this country have become. I once wrote that I am truly amazed at the huge number of luxury cars I see entering Giftland and Massy Supermarket when I walk my dog. I take my dog to those two places quite often.
As I look at these people, complete amusement takes over my soul because I know they have everything outside but nothing inside. Now here’s what I saw on the Eve Leary barrage at 9am yesterday. I was on the wall itself and the dog was in front of me. When I got to the part of Eve Leary Police Station, which is where the finger print department (not on Camp Road but directly on the barrage road), the dog stopped smelling under an almond tree.
On the way there was a car parked that I took no notice of. As I monitored my dog, a well-dressed young Indian woman, opened the passenger’s front door, and placed on the side of the road, against the wall, a black plastic bag with junk including bottles that sounded like they were breaking when he threw them away.
Looking back at my dog, she was pretty much settled under the tree and I put my face in the full view of the car while standing on the wall. An Indian man was neatly dressed at the helm. I gestured with my hand with anger on my face, shouting for them to pick it up. I saw the license plate. This is one of the most expensive European model vehicles in Guyana.
I can’t announce the number because the guy will sue. Police have surveillance cameras in the “Bandstand” looking east. So the police video would have captured the license number. His wife or girlfriend threw garbage on the road opposite where you don’t dare to do so – the CID head office, and if I quote the license plate number, he’ll sue. As the day approaches, this guy will file a libel writ.
I demanded that these philistines, who were all dressed up in luxurious clothes, retrieve their junk. There was no movement in the vehicle except the driver waving at me with an intestinal but idiotic smile on his face. My gesture intensified. If they were violent with me, the police were yards away. If they drove away, I was driving behind them when dialing 911.
The young woman opened the door and picked up her thrash. They drove away. These are people who buy luxury goods, drive a luxury vehicle, live in luxury housing but have no soul. These are the soulless people of Guyana. But they are not an isolated couple. This is the level of decline that has taken place in Guyana, since Walter Rodney’s revolution ended in his assassination.
My generation in Guyana was brought up with the myths that the lower income classes behave this way. My generation would have argued that throwing rubbish on the road is a nasty habit that you find among people of depressed, low income and poor rural areas. Those who still think so are fools. For every crazy, messy minibus driver you see on the road, there’s a matching maniac in a private car with a white-collar job or tremendous family wealth.
Do not fool yourself into thinking this is the way people from south Georgetown, south of Brickdam behave. This is the way Guyanese generally behave. I have seen good people to make them park on the breakwater, west of Camp Road. between Camp Road and Kitty pump station and they make it difficult for you to pass – the barrage road is narrow. And yet there is a huge parapet on the barrage road to park on. Yes, I have seen the “low lifestyles” do just that on the barrage road but I have seen the middle and upper class fools do as well.
So I guess when Valentine’s Day comes around that couple I saw buying gold jewelry will cost more than the gold bracelet that David Patterson received as a gift from his own ministry workers. And as the woman opens the package to gloss over the stunning, enchanting item, she throws the box out the window. That evening they will dine at the Marriott Hotel. God is dead, Marx is dead, Gandhi is dead, Mandela is dead and Guyana is dying.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.)