Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, has dispelled claims of victimisation and discrimination meted out to Afro-Guyanese by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, pointing out that this grouping of Guyanese has seen more benefits under this current Administration.
In a recent letter penned by the Prime Minister, he responded to a statement issued by a group – Institute for Action Against Discrimination (IAAD). The missive was sent by the agency’s Secretary, Lelon Saul, and outlined alleged “persistent acts of racial discrimination and victimisation” by the Government.
But according to PM Phillips, the statement makes incredibly fraudulent and misleading statements that the Government is pushing Guyana to the ‘brink of civil unrest’.
“The APNU/AFC cabal and affiliated groups continue with desperate attempts at race-baiting, which they hope would incite civil unrest against the democratically elected People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, and end the tremendous benefits being experienced by all Guyanese,” he stated.
The Prime Minister went on to remind that it was the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) regime, which failed to deliver a ‘good life’ especially to Afro-Guyanese, whom, he said, they now misguidedly seek to exploit for political relevance.
Phillips pointed out that Saul is a former senior officer of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), who later served as Chief Executive Officer of the Housing Ministry’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), where he failed to implement a viable Government housing programme.
“In less than two and a half years in office, our Government has rescued the housing development programme and turned it around where, to date, we have issued over 11,000 house lots and low-income houses. The beneficiaries are over 50 per cent Afro-Guyanese,” the PM stressed.
He went on to highlight that every relief grant paid by PPP/C Government saw Afro-Guyanese benefitting. Additionally, he said payments made in the sugar industry benefitted over 20 per cent of Afro-Guyanese, which is contrary to what the APNU/AFC would have Guyanese believe.
Further, the Prime Minister stated that many Afro-Guyanese are involved in rice, the production of other crops and livestock, and benefitted from flood relief and other support programmes for farmers.
Only recently, Phillips disclosed, that Saul was among a group that received agricultural equipment less than 96 hours after President Dr Irfaan Ali’s visit to Belladrum, West Coast Berbice, on a political outreach in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).
“He had the temerity to ask questions of the President about security when visiting PNC strongholds, as if to suggest that the President should not visit these areas,” the PM stated.
Moreover, Phillips also disclosed that Saul also serves as Vice President of the Guyana Veterans Legion, an organisation that was addressed by President Ali at last Friday’s wreath-laying ceremony at GDF Headquarters, Camp Ayanganna.
During his address last week, the Head of State promised to have the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) deployed to address all issues related to benefits for veterans. That promise was kept and employees of NIS were at Camp Ayanganna last week working to resolve issues for veterans that the APNU/AFC inexplicably chose to ignore while in office.
“The author is an obsequious tentacle affixed to the scheming, manipulative and depraved APNU+AFC, that plunged Guyana into chaos and put Guyana on the brink of civil unrest following a clumsily hatched plan to strangulate our democracy at the 2020 Regional and General Elections. They would have gotten away with the heist of our country through stolen elections, had it not been for the vigilance of contesting political parties, the media, and the diplomatic missions of the ABCE (United States, United Kingdom, Canada and European Union) countries in Guyana,” the PM said.
According to Phillips, leaders in the APNU/AFC continue to push for civil unrest through attacks on the media, physically blockading Government officials from engaging with whole communities, unruly behaviour in the National Assembly, and adopting a confrontational approach to the President when there should be discussions on key national issues.
The Prime Minister further noted that while plans to railroad the country were not realised in 2020, law-abiding Guyanese, along with civil society, would continue to forcefully reject the deceptive actions of the APNU/AFC, and call for political maturity which would ensure greater unity and prosperity for all Guyanese.
