By GHK Lall-I congratulate the PPP Government for its cash grant suspense thriller. Both President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo, two men of exceptional cinematic and melodramatic adaptation, have out-mastered that old master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, with their cash grant motion picture. In this anatomy of a cash handout, I want all Guyanese to recognize how Drs. Ali and Jagdeo have learned so much from their partners from the Far East. Looked at sideways, upside down, or from the front, and this PPP Government cash grant has become the Guyanese version of Chinese water torture. The chronology should lend considerable credence to my assertion(s).
On October 10, President Ali announced the $200,00 cash grant for ‘eligible households’ across Guyana. Hooray and hallelujah for the man from Leonora. A rich development presented in the even richer verbal tapestry now characteristic of Excellency M.I. Ali. For aliens and UFO, M.I. Ali is Most Inspiring, Mighty Immortal.
On October 16, President Ali again took to the podium to announce the call of the people and the answer of the PPP Government: the cash grant has been amended and expanded. It is now $100,000 to everyone reaching 18 on the first day of this year. It is a good move. More Guyanese are happier, more are celebrating. The only Guyanese left a little on the sour side are those who lived in single-individual households, and who now saw half of their $200,000 cash grant promise vanish before a dollar was in their hand. Bummer!
On October 25, Dr. Bharrat “Exposition and Inclusion” Jagdeo entered the frame. An app is under construction, and overseas Guyanese have been extended an invitation to share in the $100,000 largesse. It has been a raft of good news from Guyana’s political leadership tag team of Fly-off-the-Handle Ali and Fly-by-Night Jagdeo. Before I forget my manners, thanks gents for the information flow. Unfortunately, since then all has been relatively quiet on the State House and Freedom House fronts.
It is now approaching or past November 25, and Guyanese are hearing, waiting, and hoping. Give or take a few hours for daylight savings time, and it is six weeks since President Ali came down from heaven and shared his 200k, then 100k, graces with the local mortals. Some may say that this is judgmental: but six weeks is a bit of a stretch. Guyanese waiting for God are not made to wait that long. And this is a bag of dough I am talking about, not some oversized diamond.
On November 22nd, the same day Americans killed President John F. Kennedy and Camelot 61 years ago in Dallas, there was a news flash here. Registration at a registration site is now mandatory. Nobody knows where or when or for whom. Who exactly does this registration process pertain to, since public servants and pensioners are in some system? Is this not a cluster f… (four letter word, one constantly refined by Jagdeo and his cronies). Forget about snafu. Just recall what I said about Chinese water torture. I think that this qualifies for categorization as a war crime.
Hola over there in Freedom House and Office of the President: a crime is being committed against the Guyanese people. Somebody has declared war on them, without the courtesy of a heads up. This is Pearl Harbor all over again, with December 7 just around the corner. The difference is that instead of Tojo and Yamamoto, the orchestrators and perpetrators are Guyanese. In the circumstances, I have been left no choice: I must submit two (maybe three) leading names to the ICJ, so that the proper warrants can be issued. As an aside, this business about picture being taken sounds suspiciously to a dumb fellow like me that there is a covert PPP Government operation in motion here. This has all the elements of the backdoor and under-the-table about it.
Hence, my question of the day: where is this cash going and when is going to end? All these preliminaries. Does the government have the money, which started at $60 billion, but about the new amount no comrade in the PPP Government is saying a peep. How is that for a neat trick played upon the national treasury and locals? I am aware that some people get a hernia and an acute case of the gripes when they have to hisse out money. For crying out loud, this is neither Irfaan Ali’s nor Bharrat Jagdeo’s nor Ashni Singh’s own money. This is money long due to Guyanese but long withheld and now hanging in the air for a long time. It is Guyanese money being recycled to them under a blaze of political fairy lights and PPP-style Xmas Carols.
Retracing steps to October 25th, it was Vice President Jagdeo who said when the app was finished, a check would be cut. I flinched on seeing that, for there is recollection of deadbeats in America, who loved to use that line. Guyanese could be in line for that ole American trick: the check is in the mail. The Post Office gets the privilege of shouldering the blame. As for the people collecting cash, the next gimmick conjured by the PPP Government could be a sack full of $20 bills for recipients. Guyanese would be counting until elections.