Pension Funds

Though it comes as no surprise that the Government of Guyana has now leased the Everton Bauxite Plant to Fidelity Investments Inc, it adds further confirmation to the mounting case of the government policies to economically discriminate against the African community, an act that I call economic genocide which is consistent with the United Nations Convention which defines Genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” For some this term is harsh but to me it is what I see before my eyes, a slow deliberate torturous effort to decimate the African economy, and bring Africans to their knees to eat the crumbs off of the new massa table.

After the government saw to the divestment of the bauxite industry several efforts were made by bauxite workers and African business investors to acquire the LINMINE and BERMINE operations. All these efforts were turned down by the government even though all that was required to make this a reality was government approval.  Now the nation learns that the sugar workers through the Sugar Industry’s Pension Fund, called the Sugar Trading Enterprise Pension Scheme (STEPS), lost an average of 24 percent of their fund on the international market, the result of their investment in the U.S. company, Merrill Lynch. We learn that sugar workers were allowed to invest their pension funds in CARICOM countries and elsewhere.

We do not condemn these investments for sugar workers, we condemn the disparity in treatment of Bauxite workers by government since this was a consideration not granted to Bauxite workers even though several requests were made and proposals submitted. It is remembered that the bauxite union requested that government examine proposals to turn the Bauxite Pension Fund into an investment fund that would have seen a wide array of investments similar to that which we only now learn is existing in the sugar industry. The proposal was intended to help bauxite workers receive a pension on retirement. We also note that when the sugar workers pension scheme (STEP) was in financial trouble the government instructed GuySuCo to bail out the pension fund by injecting a reported 1.1 billion dollars.

Bauxite workers do not condemn Government making financial investments to bail out any local entity, we only take note that such a requirement was not even necessary for the government to do for the bauxite pension plan which was worth in excess of 2.5 billion dollars- representing the single largest pool of money owned by Africans. The bauxite pension plan did not need any financial injection from the government. All it needed was the approval of government, as owner of the industry, to facilitate the establishment of an investment fund from which members of the bauxite pension plan could have borrowed at preferential rates for personal investments and this would have contributed to sustaining the pension plan. This was rejected and no alternative effort was made by government to maintain the Bauxite Pension Fund.

Today whereas Bauxite workers and Bauxite profits built his nation, paid government Officials and funded developmental projects, when Bauxite was an economic  pillar of this economy, no bauxite worker who has contributed to this fund will ever receive a pension for their government has denied them equal opportunity in the land of their birth. Bauxite workers under this regime are now second class citizens in this country. These proud artisans are impoverished by a deliberate government policy geared towards their economic destruction and that of their families and communities.  Bauxite workers like sugar workers sought to make financial provision for their retirement but government refused to entertain any alternative view as to the determination of their pension fund though they secure, protect and invest in that of an industry that is politically associated with them.

We who observe the disparity can only assume that the decision to allow the destruction of the bauxite Pension Fund and the injection of 1.1 billion dollars money into the sugar Pension fund was driven by racial and political considerations.  Today after wanton acts of destruction, this government walks around the country barefacedly saying that they are not racist and that they have the interests of the African people at heart. Lie!

African communities

As they engage the African communities they are asking people to forget the past even as they go on their yearly trek to Babu John and PPP strong holds and spread propaganda against Africans, seeking to divide and alienate the races. They want Africans to forget the past when their past actions impact on our lives today; actions that were deliberately imposed by this government to bring African communities down. How can we cannot forget what was done to Buxton, to Linden and other African communities? How can we forgive a president and a government which have not forgiven us for being born in the skin we are in, our political choices and associations?  President Jagdeo and his band of merry men have demonized a proud people and have unleashed terror on every one of us when they unleashed terror on Buxton.

They have forgotten the role of government is to ensure that the rights of all are protected and that all should be treated equally. They have forgotten that African people contribute to the development of this country and that crime is not a unique characteristic of any one group. They have failed to protect all Guyanese from the narco criminality and militarism being witnessed on a daily basis from Roger Khan and continuing to date. They have sought to benefit politically from our distresses and the pains of their supporters. They have associated with death squads to destroy Guyanese and laid every crime almost at the feet of Africans. How can we not hold them accountable? How can we easily forgive them when they seek no forgiveness and show no remorse, only further contempt?  They have destroyed the livelihood of many Buxtonians when the bulldozed their backlands under the guise of security. They have failed to honour an iota of the measures arriving from the Jagdeo/Hoyte Agreement. They have sought to pauperize and criminalise African men, women, children, their leaders and their communities, as much as they have sought to discredit our achievements and our history. The President does no one any favour.

The government is constitutionally bound to manage in the interest of all and President Jagdeo must be held accountable for what he does to the people and their resources. Now today they enter our villages like the Godfather, doling out taxpayers money to which we are entitled, like personal gifts. We read that the President donates computers and steel pans, instead of the State issued computers and steel pans. These things were bought with state funds, not Jagdeo’s pocket money and therefore Africans, Buxtonians are entitled as any other, with no special publicity or having to feel that the government is being benevolent. Africans pay their fair share of taxes and are entitled to their fair share of the nation’s resources and opportunities for development. As a marginalised group targeted for destruction Africans therefore need to stand up, like all oppressed people in other parts of the world and agitate for what is rightfully theirs not succumb on bended knees. African tax payers help to finance the running of this country yet we see a president and his government use our money to oppress, marginalize, deny and sabotage our best efforts at empowerment.

On his first visit to Linden as president of this country President Jagdeo said to the Lindeners and citizens of Region 10 that Ituni/Kwakwani/Linden will be the industrial corridor of Guyana and reiterated Dr. Cheddie Jagan’s promise of an industrial site in Linden. After 10 years of Jagdeo’s promises, lies and deceit, after 18 years of PPP rule there is no signs of new industrial activity in Linden, there is no industrial estate, there is no industrial zone. What we see instead is stark poverty, communities brought to their knees and proficient artisans relegated to garbage collectors and drain diggers. PPP is now the new massa, wielding guns, fear and racial division. They bring death, bloodshed and economic genocide to Africans. They are government by some of the people for some of the people only. Those who seek the annihilation of Africans are reminded that slavery did not do it and neither will they. Bauxite workers are predominantly African workers and though we need what is due us from the state we condemn any act that pauperizes us and reduces us to groveling, even as we condemn all those who grovel for state funds to which we are equally entitled.

Media

As the government continues to plunder this nation and trample on the rights of the people, they have now moved to the private media with their withdrawal of state advertisement, advertisement that are paid for with tax dollars. It is accepted that the media as profit making entities rely on advertisement as its major revenue earner and it is known that the Government of Guyana via advertisements play a significant role toward this end. The withdrawal of advertisement is another economic form of control and seeking to influence free and independent media.  No doubt they will not stop at this but will  resort to threatening other businesses not to advertise with these media houses, failing which  they will move to also deny them business.  The lie they peddle about greater convenience is to fool the people and to cover their sinister plot and crusade to stifle information flow to and from the public; to limit or prevent the private media from being the watchdog of society as they continue to rape our coffers, abuse the people, criminalize our state and promote ethnic tensions and divisions. They do not want their poor stewardship of the economy and government mismanagement to be made public for fear of the implications they will have on them.

This new economic effort to destroy the media will impact on the quality of report since it can put a strain of media houses to do investigative work, hire and retain quality personnel and throw them out of business. It is a means of control and influence. It is a desperate measure. It must be condemned as media aggression and attacks on press freedom.

It is time to take a stand for what is right, just and fair in this society. Persons can no longer sit on the sideline and think they are protected from a ruthless government driven by only one thing- maintaining power through their ruthlessness. The media has the power, the influence does it have the will to hold this government accountable for its period in office and undermining democratic structures, systems and democratic advancement in our society? It is a role that the media must fearlessly protect for the signs are there that one day we will all become victims unless we mount our defence and response as a united force against government excesses and dictatorial advancements. Your destiny, our destiny is at stake here. Your security, wealth and happiness are intricately intertwined with your neighbors’ and that of persons in other entities because if they are denied it impacts your circulation, the surroundings you live in, the country you reside, and the quality of life you have.

Today the media is called upon to bring harmony among all our people and instill in them a sense of consciousness to make positive change a reality.