Critique to “Being green” Published 10/27/2007 Stabroek News.

November 7, 2007

“Being green” in short addresses the issue dealing with the significant growth in waste that the world produces daily and what some industrialized nations are doing to combat the predicament such as the UK and the US. But what caught my attention is the reference to Guyana’s waste accumulation ratio to that of the UK and US. Moreover, the article mentions a move by the Guyanese government to conservation forestry and turning a blind eye the more eminent issue at hand which is the garbage laden city streets and dormant drainage systems.

The issue at hand here is manifold to say the least. There are bigger issues at play and waste disposal ranks at the bottom of the list when “survival of the fittest” is a woven part in the fabric of life in Guyana. Can Guyana implement a waste recycling system and sustain it when the country doses not even have aspirin in the emergency hospital rooms or a proper hospital with competent physicians to treat the more general of diseases i.e. diabetes and hypertension. Can Guyana implement such a system when the public on average works for five to ten American dollars per day and the basic living necessities more often than not cannot be met?

The reality of it is,Guyana has bigger issues that need immediate attention rather then a waste disposal system. The monies that would be allocated to such an endeavor could otherwise be spent on better roads for safer driving experiences, importing necessary medicines, subsidized housing for the indigent population. But sadly my ideas are not pragmatic enough. To create change in Guyana there needs to be a system of checks and balances in the government and an overhaul in the police department, department of health, education system and the larger systems that affect quality of life. Guyana does not need a multibillion dollar cricket stadium that sits over looking the Demerara River, a grim reminder of money well wasted and the ignorant selfish mentality of the current government. I cannot help but think of the aid that very money could have bought to people living with terminal illnesses but these are not important issues on the government’s agenda. Build a new hotel (Buddy’s hotel), to accommodate the non existent influx of tourism. Horary idiots! I wonder who is a major share holder in that in that capitalist venture albeit he has some significant post in the current government.

The sad thing is the world has turned its back on Guyana and so did the people who migrated. The reason why the brilliant minds are seeking alternatives is because the government does not provide incentives that will motivate the ground force that are the teachers, doctors, cane cutters, farmers, commercial fisherman etc. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to a new friend of mine, a prominent physician in NY about the situation in Guyana. He had migrated to the US in the late seventies and never returned. I asked why. Do you know what the current situation in Guyana is? He said, his pts tell him Guyana is fine, you can get fresh fish and vegetables at the market and the houses are beautiful. Can you all follow where I am going with this? The misconceptions blended with ignorance. I said you could get fresh fish and vegetables at any West Indian supermarket in queens Brooklyn and the Bronx and who cares about the beautiful sticks that made talked about homesteads. I asked if any one mentioned the healthcare system to you where standard therapy if you are have a heart attack is to give a pt aspirin and a thrombolytic. But they don’t have aspirin or clot busters to aid in a patient suffering a cardiac arrest. He was amazed at what I said but I knew he didn’t care. I said to him lastly that your credentials automatically grant you privilege to join forces to make a difference. But I was spent because the battle is same no matter where I turn. Life gets busy and time is short. If we are not immediately affected we find it difficult to lend a helping hand. But lets not forget where we came from because…………

there is a child fishing in the lily pond with a makeshift hook in the national park next to the zoo. He is eleven years old. He is wearing no shirt and tattered pants. He smells of sweat and elbows and knees are bruised and caked with mud and when asked what he is doing there, he said I am fishing for dinner. Tears ran down my face because I saw myself in him. He goes to high school but sometimes and lives with his brother and grandfather. He dreams of being a surgeon. His mother he said died of AIDS…yes! it has hit home….our homeland…. our sisters and brothers are dying. I stuffed the remaining money I had in my pockets and bid him farewell. He never left me…my thoughts are with him whenever I think of the Guyana I left behind.

Critique to “Being green” Published 10/27/2007 Stabroek News.

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