…in sugar and politics
Halfway through the APNU/AFC’s term of office, Nagamootoo has demonstrated he’s most comfortable in selling out even those people of Berbice who gave him their votes in 2015; because they thought he was a native son, but mostly because he had flashed the “Accord” he and Ramjattan said they had “hammered out” with the PNC/APNU.
And why did the “Cummingsburg Accord” encourage those Berbicians to vote AFC to give the PNC/APNU the 11% needed from the PPP’s traditional Indian-Guyanese base to capture the Government? Simple: the Accord promised that Nagamootoo and the AFC would have REAL power to counterbalance the inclinations of the die-hard PNCites they were “tying bundle” with.
The PM’s powers would be enlarged; the AFC would get 40% of Ministries, and in effect what Guyana would have would be a form of “power sharing”. And on what basis was the power to be shared? Well, duh!! The AFC would represent — at a minimum — the Berbice Indian Guyanese interests to produce a “real” multiracial Government!!
This was supposed to be the safeguard that would prevent the AFC from becoming “dead meat” to their Berbice supporters – in the memorable words of Ramjattan. Any abrogation of the Accord as far as preventing the AFC from being a countervailing power to the PNC would in effect have the AFC joining the PNC and getting “larwah” in return.
The tip-off that Nagamootoo and Ramjattan had been screwed (literally and figuratively!) was when Nagamootoo was told the Accord’s promise of him Chairing Cabinet meetings and be in charge of “governance” – along the lines of the French President/PM model – couldn’t be kept!!! Sorry, he was told, the Constitution doesn’t permit it! And the clincher that Nagamootoo had sold his soul for the salary, SUV, and frequent-flyer miles was when he accepted the traducing of the Accord by the PNC. Nagamootoo had become a lap dog who had to bark on command.
He was given a weekly column in the Chronic to do his barking. This week’s column, captioned, “Return to Roots”, tried to defend the indefensible – the firing of 4000 Berbice sugar workers by his govt. And for once he was true to his word – he regurgitated his trademark lies and contempt for the people who put him where he is.
He had the gall to say he went “to GROUND with retrenched sugar workers, who will receive their severance pay on Tuesday”!! To ground? Walter Rodney must have turned like a top in his grave at Le Repentir!! First of all, the workers would BELATEDLY receive only HALF their severance.
And secondly, to call those who felt betrayed and protested “rabble” showed the low-life that Nagamootoo is.
The Prime Minister told the Berbice workers that the sooner the Government saves and collects revenues from persons who are not paying their taxes, the sooner they can advance monies to GuySuCo to pay the other half.
…on the “Freedom Fighters”
It’s strange how quickly people forget. Or maybe they don’t really forget, but simply “play stupid”, as we Guyanese say, when it suits them. Suddenly everyone accepts the President announcing he’ll have an inquiry into the “Jagdeo era” killings when he’s actually talking about the “Post-1998 PNC Protest killings”, or the “Buxton Gang Killings”; or the “Buxton African-Guyanese Freedom Fighters” killings etc.
But by linking the killings to Jagdeo’s presidency – when that’s merely a time frame (a correlation), the president and his spin doctors are proposing a causation – as they’ve been doing over the past decade.
But this isn’t how you start any inquiry if you’re really interested in the truth. The PNC should remember why they rejected the Rodney inquiry being dubbed an inquiry into his “assassination” rather than his “death”.
But it’s all about labelling, isn’t it?
…on land grab
In the 1990s, when there was an alleged land grab at East Bank Essequibo, then PNC leader Hoyte advised the landowners to “shoot to kill”.
Will the present PNC leader David Granger likewise advise the businessman whose lands are being swiped at Tuschen EBE??
