* It's easy to tell who the LOSERS are on GNI.

* All you have to do is check the title of the threads they start.

* All losers do is blame and complain.

* You can bet if there is some negative news about Guyana or any Guyanese---the LOSERS will start a thread and celebrate.

THANKFULLY THE WINNERS OUTNUMBER THE LOSERS.

* And the PPP will be re-elected in the next election.

Rev

With nothing much for the country to celebrate, it was perhaps unsurprising that the second anniversary of the November 28, 2011 elections came and went without much fanfare or notice. Yet, two years of political gridlock and drift has set the country further back and there is no discernible template for moving ahead.

Aside from the boom in gold mining and the bustling rice sector, neither without their fragilities, the major sectors of the economy have sagged. Private developers, mostly in the retail, housing and call centre sectors, have added jobs but it is left to be seen how sustainable these will be.

The political hostilities – with parliament at the centre of most of it – have obscured the deep-seated problems which remain completely unresolved.

A perfect example of this is the state of the sugar industry. This year’s annual production is expected to fall below 200,000 tonnes and no amount of sugar coating will mitigate the disaster that has overtaken the industry. It must be remembered that the PPP/C inherited a recovering industry in 1992 which saw production rising to well above 300,000 tonnes and laying the foundation for even higher output. With total and iron-fisted control of the industry since then, the PPP/C government will be hard pressed to deny blame for its present condition.  The unjust dismantling of the European Union sugar regime undoubtedly affected marketing arrangements but had no impact on husbandry, production and maintenance of factories.

Unfortunately, the two years of gridlock has not brought the necessary cross-party unity for moving ahead on sugar. Production continues to slump, the disastrous performance of the Skeldon factory remains a drain on the economy, massive subventions have to be supplied by the state, workers are not turning up and the mechanisation thrust poses serious problems. Whereas the Economic Services Committee of Parliament would have been the appropriate place to craft a consensus, the poisoned atmosphere in the House will not permit this.

The crime situation is another example. Various periods of the PPP/C’s 21-year reign have been undermined by the ineffective response to crime. The criminals, murderers and organized crime have run rampant.  This period is no different. Execution-style killings and fatal robberies continue unabated while recent weeks have seen wanton murder by licensed firearm holders who should not have had a permit in the first place. The seemingly majestic plans which had been laid out by the Ministry of Home Affairs on the last day of last year have fizzled whereas even in neighbouring Caribbean jurisdictions various measures and expertise are being brought to bear.  Trinidad recently hired a renowned New York crime fighter – not of the Kerik calibre – to assess their problems and is moving in other directions such as working to resettle deportees. There is no comparable development here. The proposed SWAT team is a mismatch for our needs and neglects the fundamental requirement to extirpate corruption in the force first.

Local government is another area. Nineteen years after the last local government elections were held, the PPP/C has still not been able to have these run off again. It has still amazingly found the gumption to deny assent to one of four bills which properly seeks to remove some of the overweening powers of the Ministry of Local Government. There must be a renewal of democracy at the level of the community and it has unfortunately become a casualty of the interminable wrangling between the government and opposition.

Given that the government does not have a legislative majority, the crafting of the budget should certainly take account of the emphases and priority areas for the opposition. Yet for the third year in a row, the two sides are headed for an unproductive showdown over the budgetary process. Thus far, the government has been able to have its way but at the cost of opposition goodwill and judicial intrusiveness into the business of the legislature.

This malaise is replicated in many other sectors, the collapse of the Amaila Fall hydropower project being a case in point. All the while, the small man continues to bear the brunt of the fallout. The economy is not firing the way it should be, jobs are not being created and the cost of living continues to rise.

There is no easy solution to the gridlock bequeathed by the 2011 elections. It requires statesmanship, magnanimity, visionary policies and above all the humility of service to the public. This is what should imbue all those in parliament and in the hierarchies of the parties that are in control. The radar presently picks up very little of this.

There is a special responsibility on President Ramotar. He holds the reins of the executive presidency which confers upon him expansive powers. Yet, in the two years that he has been in office, President Ramotar has not shown his recognition of the great burden and responsibility on him. He has allowed the petty politics and the intrinsic truth that his government is hobbled as a result of the lack of a parliamentary majority to cloud the vision needed to move the country forward. He has accepted the Freedom House outlook that if the imprint of the PPP/C isn’t writ large on everything it will go nowhere.

Aside from the parliamentary gridlock, President Ramotar has not defined his presidency. In his two years he has not laid out major plans, initiatives, policies or a blue print for where he hopes Guyana will be at the end of his five-year term, what will be the 50th anniversary of independence. His few presentations to the nation have been bland, insubstantial and lacking the soaring tones of inspiration. It has been policy by default, budget and minister. He has not set a path and has not tried to stay arbiter-like above the unsettling political fray.  Guyana remains in suspended animation with small-time bickering and grandstanding seizing the centre stage.

It is time that the President takes charge and elevates the quality and depth of the political dialogue with the leaders of the other parties. This is what is needed to lift the country from the state of stagnation it finds itself in.

http://www.stabroeknews.com/20...wo-years-stagnation/

* The person who wrote that article is a TALKER and a LOSER.

* Talkers and losers will always find something to complain about---they are full of negativity---they are blowhards and windbags.

* But the creative people in Guyana---the producers---the creators---the DOERS---the achievers---the go-getters---the men and women of action----these people are ensuring that progress continues in Guyana.

Rev

The political hostilities – with parliament at the centre of most of it – have obscured the deep-seated problems which remain completely unresolved.

A perfect example of this is the state of the sugar industry. This year’s annual production is expected to fall below 200,000 tonnes and no amount of sugar coating will mitigate the disaster that has overtaken the industry. It must be remembered that the PPP/C inherited a recovering industry in 1992 which saw production rising to well above 300,000 tonnes and laying the foundation for even higher output. With total and iron-fisted control of the industry since then, the PPP/C government will be hard pressed to deny blame for its present condition.  The unjust dismantling of the European Union sugar regime undoubtedly affected marketing arrangements but had no impact on husbandry, production and maintenance of factories.

Wha happen Rev, easy money drying up? You probably didn't get paid in a few months huh? With all the cocaine getting held up money stop flowing. I can see how bitter you're getting by the day. Mortgage due, car payments due, child support due and no money coming in. Plus your sushi bill... I can see where the frustration come from.

Rev if the PPP did things transparently and didn't give away everything to their family and friends, and the process was fair, I assure you there would be no blockade.

Bruds, I can help him with his frustrations. All he has to do is send me some ladoo and peraa and I will send him a red jhaaray claath.

Another concoction from a simpleton. Progress via crony capitalism is a recipe for failure. In Guyana especially where the society is racially bifurcated this friends and family crony capitalism principle of the PPP is creating a hostile underclass of predominantly one race and we see what that can do from hundreds of examples across the world. 

I also do not know what makes the PPP and its friendliness to a drug culture prosperous either. Almost every one of those "businessmen" who is not on PPP dole that  you can point your finger at has a foot in the drug underworld. You can turn a blind eye like the PPP does but that does not make for progress.

You are right we cannot depend on a flip of the PPP to the PNC as a solution. I do not think the PPP are inherently evil. Absolute power in the administration is what produces the evil of corruption and the recent rise of the PPP friends and family necrotic plutocracy with no desire for change. We need to change the way power is distributed in the society so a plague like Brassington cannot arise or can an audacious AG demanding autocratic power  for h is party as a governing paradigm. Resistance to this kind of authority is a moral  imperative.

Danyael:

The Rev will tell you who the real simpletons are. It's folks like you and your fellow graduates from that black glorified high school:

RE: RESISTANCE TO PROGRESS IN GUYANA

* The leaders of the PNC/AFC and the losers and whiners who support the joint opposition are free to resist progress in Guyana, but alas they will fail miserably.

* Good things are happening in Guyana because the DOERS in Guyana---the achievers and the go getters have chosen to distance themselves from the PNC/AFC and are determined to invest in Guyana and move the country forward.

* In the meantime Danyael---blowhards like you can keep doing what you do best---BLOWING HOT AIR.

Rev

That Rev can only trash talk.

Gal, You already gat dat TITLE. TRASH TALKER.

Rev, I can help you with your screaming. Send some fowl cock sweety and I will send you a red jhaaray claath.

Mr Ramotar went to the 3rd rate high school UG by your definition.

not much more need to be solicited to establish you are a stupid fellow. The above serves well to qualify that conclusion. When in dire straits for want of understanding, idiots like you take the convenient refuge in finding some diversion from their implacable condition. You are an ass sir, plain and simple.

Envy and bitterness eating up the Rev of OP/NICIL/MOF/

"As long as the willpower by the PPP and the Doers in Guyana to grow and develop the country is greater than the resistance to  progress by the PNC/AFC leaders and the losers who support them, then Guyana is guaranteed to progress and achieve long lasting success." Rev

 Willpower > Resistance -----> Progress + Success

Rev

Is willpower synonymous with converting the states assets into personal property of friends and family of the PPP? In the minds of any thief success means getting away with the booty.

Rev, why do you ignore the fact that the PPP has been in power for 20 plus years and cannot wipe out corruption and instead is viewed by its own children who left the household as corrupted, classless and cocaine barons?

If, according to you, corruption started in Burnham times, then Cheddi did nothing to wipe it out. If one does nothing then they are colluding. It is no wonder that the children of the PPP are morally bankrupt and that those that seek change are charged as obstacles to progress. And they are but only in the eyes of the corrupted. Cheddi put a crook into the presidency and that crook has brainwashed otherwise brilliant fellows , perhaps like yourself, into doing their dirty work and trying to put blame on those that seek transparency, fair bidding processes and the handling of affairs equally.

Quit your OP paid position and look on from the outside REV. Go into PPP rehab while there is still hope for you. And remember, "there is no hope in dope".

Brudda:

* Why do you choose to belittle and degrade yourself by taking a cheap shot at the esteemed Rev ?

* How dare you insult the Rev by claiming he is a slave at the Office of the President ?

* Listen! The Rev is a slave driver not a slave.

* Hopefully allah will smile on you in your next life and make you into a slave driver.

* In the meantime---enjoy this current life---have fun---may all your dreams come true.

NOW LETs GET SERIOUS:

It is patently clear that the willpower to grow and develop Guyana by both the PPP and the private sector is way greater than the resistance to progress of any kind by the PNC/AFC. And as long as willpower is greater than resistance when it comes to progress, Guyana will experience growth and continued development.

Rev

Rev, you are a paid poster at the OP office.