Dear Editor,
As we observe this cataclysmic moment in our history with the sinking of the MV Barima and the State’s response to this tragedy, we are forced to confront a larger problem in our evolution as a nation. Our people have been quietly concerned for some time, especially since the discovery of oil, about the state of affairs in this country. But that silence is now broken and I have seen through social media, citizens are currently creatively expressing themselves, hoping to awaken the wider society to the dangers posed by active executive interference from political forces belonging to the “Jagdeo kinfolks” (PPP leaders, some PNC leaders and their business friends), in every facet of our national life.
The “Jagdeo kinfolks” ideology rests on a selective interpretation of our past that is not necessarily the whole truth. Remove that narrative, and their entire project collapses, for they have nothing else to offer. This explains why the WIN Party is being combatted so aggressively by both the PPP and PNC/APNU, since Freedom House and Congress Place depend on their mutual survival.
The evidence of the last 33 years shows both parties possess a distorted version of history, a poor vision for the future that excludes the majority, and little understanding of the present needs of the Guyanese people. In their ignorance, they have recycled an amalgamation of unstructured policy initiatives made up as they go along. For example the State Development Bank which was a failed idea from the past.
I ask simply: Where is Guyana’s 20-year plan in writing?
We do not know where we are going, and a plan cannot consist of Mr. Jagdeo standing up to announce a stadium without a clear roadmap connecting it to human development. Note I said human development.
This terrible accident has given our nation an electric shock. At this critical junction, we must pause, think, understand what motivates the “Jagdeo kinfolks,” and find forces of a similar mindset, to build a new coalition for the betterment of our country.
The agitation around failing safety standards within our maritime transport system has developed into a new movement of people without party membership cards. People are now demanding openly, a regularization of the systems and ensuring that professionals man each station rather than party hacks. I have witnessed a similar awakening akin to when the WPA was born under Dr. Walter Rodney.
Those who were contained in silos—whether of silence in their private circles, drunken stupor through state-sponsored entertainment, or religious distraction—have been shocked from their routines. They now ask: “If that was my child, partner, or parent on that boat, what would I expect from the system?”
While this is a time of great distress, we must reflect on how these lost souls are causing a seismic shift in the national thinking. When critical thinking emerges, people ask simple questions that can easily expose the Ponzi Scheme the PPP and PNC/APNU have created and perpetuated over the last 33 years.
How can we have a $1.56 trillion budget in 2026 with funds that can potentially develop housing areas and build 80,000 houses, yet 40,000 Guyanese remain on a waitlist for houselots? Even discounting for salaries and the cost of the public services, there is enough money to build 20,000 homes in well-designed communities across this country in 2026. But the “Jagdeo kinfolks” lack the will to share the nation’s bounty—it must all go to their elites, business buddies, and inner circle.
People are finally seeing what is happening. They are questioning why there is not adequate money to bury our dead with dignity, yet hundreds of millions are spent on rum fetes, religious crusades, and glittering “white clothes galas.” There is no money for basic livelihood, but plenty for glamour.
Frankly, I do not believe the “Jagdeo kinfolks” understand what a well-functioning society looks like. Out of this ignorance, they have been destroying what the British left us at independence. Consider the Transport and Harbours Department. A letter in the Kiskadee Watch from Mr. Lancelot Hyman on July 26, 2026, detailed the careful, well-trained, competent systems of T&HD in British Guiana, and even in 1975 under the Burnham-led PNC.[1] It was mind-boggling to compare that quality of systemic competence to what we see in 2026.
This tragedy has opened the door for critical questions. The Guyanese people are awakening. Though the pain is immense, this seismic shift in consciousness may finally expose the truth and create space for a new, movement demanding a functional, fair, and truly developed Guyana.
I will have a Part 2 to this statement outlining how the money has infiltrated the degradation of human development in Guyana and how the people are waking up to the financial oppression.