‘Unforgiveable what PPP did to this country’

In iterating his support for co-governance in Guyana, Veteran Trade Unionist, Lincoln Lewis, said while governments are likely to err, some mistakes are simply “unforgiveable” as he referenced to the periods in Guyana’s history that were marred by high rates of ex-judicial killings, murders, and drug trafficking.

Explaining that labour is not limited to issues relative to wage and salary increases, Lewis, in a frank discourse on Guyana Chronicle’s online programme – Vantage Point – said that crime affects the social and economic wellbeing of a society, and as such, directly impacts the working class, at times crippling its ability to effectively function.

“It is unforgiveable for any government to set up [a] death squad to take the lives of the people. It is unforgiveable, let us understand that,” Lewis said, while underscoring that political and social issues that impact the wellbeing of members of the working class cannot be ignored.

During the period 2000 to 2011, there were three massacres: Lusignan, where 11 people were killed; Bartica, where another 12 were killed, and Lindo Creek, where eight miners were slaughtered. Besides, there were countless extra-judicial killings – with some activists estimating that around 400 Afro-Guyanese males were gunned down.

Between 2003 and 2006, convicted drug lord, Roger Khan, had set up a criminal network here including active policemen and a number of former ranks, ostensibly to go after criminals, but at the same time, protecting his ‘narco’-trafficking interests. Although the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government had sought to distance itself from Khan, the drug-trafficker stated publicly, in an advertisement in local newspapers, that he had been fighting crime on behalf of the Bharrat Jagdeo-led government. The PPP/C had been in office from 1992 up until May, 2015 when it was defeated by the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition.

On the basis of his comparative analysis between the PPP/C and the APNU+AFC, Lewis is inclined to support the principles upon which the ruling coalition exists.

“I endorse co-governance. I endorse no extra-judicial killings,” the trade unionist iterated. Lewis said while he has been critical of the current APNU+AFC Administration, when the two sides – APNU+AFC and PPP/C – are compared, it is found that the coalition is engages in better governance, and has been responsive to the needs of the people.

In offering a comparative analysis, the trade unionist pointed out that under the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), which was initiated under the Desmond Hoyte Administration in 1989, a number of agencies were placed on the “chopping block”, among them the bauxite and sugar industries.

“In 1992, when the PPP Government came to power, they embraced the Structural Adjustment Programme but what they did, they took sugar off of the chopping block and they leave bauxite,” Lewis recalled.

He said when the PPP/C Administration took the decision to privatise the Linden Mining Enterprise (LINMINE) and the Berbice Mining Enterprise (BERMINE), the workers with the backing of investors, had plan to purchase the bauxite company in Berbice, but they were unsuccessful due to lack of support from the then administration.
“The bid was thrown into the box at the Privatisation Unit, we were never called. We were never called,” he recalled while noting that the government subsequently undermined the union’s intention to purchase the company.

“You telling me, a government that is prepared to undermine, to circumvent the trade union, bruk it up, don’t want to talk with the trade union, you telling me, when I look at a government that is responsive to the cries of workers, how do I treat with them,” he reasoned.

He said while the PPP/C Administration sought to undermine the work of unions in Guyana, the APNU+AFC Administration has been more responsive to the concerns of the working class. Alluding to the recently-sacked Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. – RUSAL workers, Lewis noted that the government, on being approached, agreed to pay the February 2020 salaries for the 326 affected workers, in part. He noted that while government did not agree to pay the salaries in full, workers were offered grants. “This government is responsive. They are responsive. In the case of the previous government, they were not responsive to us,” Lewis posited.

Though the government has not heeded to his calls for the establishment of the Ministry of Labour as against the existing Department of Labour, Lewis said he is satisfied enough to cast his vote in favour of the coalition, which has demonstrated better governance of the country.

Ahead of the March 2, General and Regional Elections, the trade unionist said it is important for eligible Guyanese to go out and vote overwhelmingly. “I want to call on every Guyanese to come out and cast a ballot. It is important as a society we remember the history, people have given their lives, people have given blood, people have given all kinds of sacrifices for one man, one phone in this country, and we cannot allow the struggles of those who preceded us to go in vain. The fight for it we must uphold it, we must respect it,” the trade unionist urged.

More than 600,000 Guyanese are expected to vote in the pending General and Regional Elections billed for Monday, March 2, 2020.