Gun missing at Springlands Police Station since Friday night while authorities trying to keep under wraps. This is the governance the PPP boasts about.
Jagdeo must have stolen it
GUYANA AT A DEFINING MOMENT
I have been reflecting on the extraordinary transformation taking place in Guyana and the challenges that inevitably accompany such rapid change.
In my view, our country is navigating three new realities simultaneously.
First, our new financial fortunes.
Guyana today has financial resources and economic opportunities that would have been almost unimaginable twenty years ago.
But we must remember where we started.
We came from decades of limited resources, inadequate infrastructure and institutions that were never designed to manage development on the scale and at the speed now required.
Our financial capacity and national expectations have therefore grown faster than our physical, institutional and human capacity to deliver.
This creates an important paradox: a country can be developing rapidly while many of its citizens remain genuinely dissatisfied.
People do not experience GDP figures. They experience roads, electricity, water, drainage, hospitals, schools, jobs, the cost of living and the efficiency of the institutions with which they interact.
And because Guyanese know that our country now possesses significantly greater resources, they understandably expect significantly better results.
That expectation is legitimate and must continuously challenge all of our institutions to perform better.
Second, our political environment is becoming more complex.
Guyana has always had vigorous and sometimes deeply divided politics.
Today, however, domestic politics increasingly intersects with constitutional institutions, international relationships and sensitive legal processes.
In circumstances such as these, the strength, independence and credibility of our institutions become even more important.
The rule of law must remain paramount, and our constitutional and legal processes must be respected and allowed to function in accordance with their established mandates.
All national stakeholders share a responsibility to protect public confidence in these institutions.
In a polarized society, how institutions and their actions are perceived can have significant consequences for public confidence.
Third, we are living through the social-media revolution.
Never before have Guyanese had such immediate access to information—and misinformation.
An incident can occur in the morning and become a national controversy before lunchtime.
Every citizen effectively possesses a publishing platform.
That is enormously valuable for democracy, transparency and accountability.
But it also means that rumours, misinformation, anger, racial hostility and political accusations can circulate faster than facts can be established and institutions can respond.
These three forces are now interacting.
Our new wealth is raising expectations.
Our political environment is increasing pressures on our institutions.
Social media is accelerating and amplifying both.
Government, Opposition, the Private Sector, civil society and citizens therefore have to recognize that we are navigating a Guyana fundamentally different from the country we knew even ten years ago.
There is another paradox worth considering.
While many Guyanese are expressing genuine frustration about conditions at home, increasing numbers of people from elsewhere are looking towards Guyana for employment, investment and opportunity.
Both realities can exist simultaneously.
Guyanese naturally compare today’s Guyana with the country they believe our new resources should allow us to become.
Migrants compare Guyana with the circumstances and opportunities available in the countries they are leaving.
For generations, Guyanese packed their bags and travelled abroad searching for opportunity.
Today, increasingly, others are looking towards Guyana for that opportunity.
That does not diminish the frustrations of our own people. Those concerns must be heard and addressed.
But neither should our frustrations prevent us from recognizing the extraordinary transformation taking place around us.
Our greatest national challenge is no longer simply finding the money to develop Guyana. It is proving that we can convert wealth into broad-based progress before rising expectations, institutional weakness and social division undermine public confidence.
The three realities are inseparable: our new resources demand better performance; our more complex political environment demands strong and credible institutions; and our social-media age demands greater discipline, responsibility and truth in public life.
This is not a task for government alone. Government must deliver and account for results. The Opposition has an important constitutional role in scrutiny and accountability. Civil society must contribute to informed public discourse and the national interest. Business must invest, create opportunity and uphold national standards. Citizens must demand better while resisting the forces that seek to divide us.
Guyana has changed, and the moment will not wait for us.
Our challenge is to meet this new reality with urgency, discipline and national purpose—and turn our newfound wealth into stronger institutions, greater opportunity and a better life for every Guyanese.