People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Leader, Aubrey Norton says that Afro-Guyanese are experiencing a new brand of racism, where they are denied farming lands in the country by the powers that be. This “racial approach” he said, can have dire consequences for the country and it can lead to an increase in tensions which can “put Guyana to a place where we don’t want to go again; where there is a battle between ethnic groups over the resources of this country”.
He said, “Anybody who travels the Linden/Soesdyke Highway now, will now see the PPP has virtually given away the resources on the Highway to one ethnic group. And I challenge them on every occasion to put out the information including ethnicity who were given these lands.”
The PNCR Leader added, “And across the country, they are distributing the lands. A house lot, yes [but] real lands for economic empowerment, no! That is a sophisticated form of racism, but once uncovered, it is simple to understand. And so, we see that as a clear indication of where the government is going.”
Norton went on to state that there are disparities in the sums of the monies given to Neighborhood Democratic Council (NDCs) controlled by the Opposition and those headed by government-aligned persons. According to him, those NDCs in Opposition strongholds received little compared to others in government-supported areas.
The politician reiterated his party’s intention to govern Guyana in a manner that benefits all Guyanese. He said that the former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), of which the PNCR is a member, governed Guyana between 2015 and 2020 in a “fair” manner.
“We were doing projects in all communities,” he said, rebuking the “audacity” of the Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo to say otherwise.
Indeed, Jagdeo has said repeatedly that the former Coalition government did little or nothing for the Afro-Guyanese community. In fact, he said that the David Granger-led regime focused more on self-enrichment.
Norton said that Jagdeo’s commentary is tantamount to a “racial approach”, and smacks of deceit when he says that nothing was done by the APNU+AFC in black communities.
“Well, plenty was done. The PPP neglected virtually all the Afro-Guyanese backlands on the East Coast [of Demerara]. It took the APNU+AFC to come to government, rehabilitate them, put drainage and irrigation so that those villages can produce again,” he said.
Why will the blacks want lands when they have too dainty fingers to farm? They want lands for lands sake. They live in towns and want others to provide them jobs.
Norton prefers to disregard what the PNC did – more than a dozen housing schemes were created ONLY for blacks.
They destroyed Indian, White, Chinese and Portugese businesses and created the Knowledge Sharing Institute – run only by blacks.
They created the National Cooperative Bank and affiliates, managed by blacks for the benefits of blacks.
Norton should be happy he is Guyana. If he was in his mudda Africa, then he would still be a slave to those which captured his forebears and sold them to the Whites.