Sunday March 31, 2013
Kaieteur News
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Page 5
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Rising inequality and financial abuses are The GDF institutionally and the PNC common practices of the PPP regime changed the face of aviation in Guyana DEAR EDITOR, I have been following the centennial celebration of aviation history in Guyana and I, like many others, think it is fitting that we pause and pay homage to, and remember the men and women who were and continue to be, a part of our rich aviation history. However, there have been some glaring omissions, for the story of aviation in Guyana cannot be fully told without mention of the integral role played by the Aviators of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). The GDF institutionally and the Peoples National Congress (PNC) government (as a matter of policy) changed the face of aviation in Guyana. Prior to the 1970âs aviators in Guyana mostly belonged to a privileged class. Not many sons or daughters of the working man could ever dream of flying an airplane, and even where those dream existed the opportunity did not. Prior to the early seventies, the familiar names of Guyanese aviators were; Williams; Mekdeci, Da Silva, Chan A Sue, Murphy, Grandsoults and Vasconcellos. This soon changed when the GDF started recruiting pilots for its Air Wing. The recruits came from varied backgrounds both geographically and economically and the names and ethnicities changed also. The prevailing political conditions and the policies of the government of the day, created opportunities for young men and women of all ethnicities and economic backgrounds to pursue careers in aviation. Young dashing Army pilots like Lawrence âLarryâ
London, Phillip Payne, Egbert âEggyâ Fields, Chris Cameron, Gerry Gouveia, Jeff Roman and Butch Green changed lives and created indelible impressions of many young men who came from similar backgrounds. Becoming a pilot was now an achievable ambition and many personal career goals were altered. To support a growing Air Wing, that before the end of the decade would become an Air Corp; engineers and flight mechanics were trained, men like Aubrey Henry, Scott Joseph, Gavin Huntley and the Wilson Brothers Michael and Cecil. These men would form the nucleus of technical experts that kept the GDF fleet flying and airworthy. Just after the first International Year for Women was celebrated world-wide, the GDF saw its first two female fixed wing pilots, when Beverly Drake and Cheryl Pickering graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with their commercial pilots licenses. During this period (mid 70âs) the Army introduced several new Bell Helicopters to its fleet and more young Guyanese were given the opportunity to fly. In 1977 Barbara Adams, along with her classmates David Totaram and Owen Sandiford graduated from helicopter flight school in Scotland. Barbara Adams (then a resident of Durban Street Lodge) has the distinction of being the first Guyanese woman to be trained to fly a helicopter. As the decade ended and the new one began more and more Guyanese young men and women of all races and social status were trained as Army pilots and aircraft
engineers; Pilots like Lloyd Nurse, Claude St. Romaine, Rohan Sharma, Williet Lord, Peter DaSilva and many others too numerous to mention earned their wings, thanks to the GDF. In those days also, it was not a strange sight to see an army pilot flying for the Guyana Airways Corporation. Thousands of mercy missions have been flown by Army pilots. These missions have saved the lives of many of our citizens, in faraway places, who needed to be airlifted to receive medical attention. The search and rescue capabilities and the humanitarian flights flown by Army Aviators along with the many other countless, thankless hours spent behind the throttle have all added to the rich tapestry that we celebrate this year. Mr. Editor, the GDF not only revolutionized aviation in Guyana, moving it from a small elite club to egalitarian status, but it paved the way for the explosion of civil aviation opportunities in Guyana today. The young aviators of today can thank their Army predecessors like Larry London, Egbert âEggyâ Fields, Selicia Baker, David Totaram, Beverly Drake, Cheryl Pickering and Barbara Adams for kicking down doors for them to walk through. The enlightened vision of the Burnham government also cannot be ignored, for it was due to the policy decisions of his government, which made this possible. One would hope that during this 100 th year anniversary, the GDF would in some way remember and pay the right homage to these pioneer Army Aviators. Mark Archer
Surprised that a sworn affidavit from a Commissioner of Oaths not accepted as proof of identity DEAR EDITOR What an intriguing experience the âpoor customerâ had with the commercial bank in Regent Street, when he tried to apply for a re-loadable VISA card. Could it be that the nature of the transaction caused the problem? Or does the chap not hold an account with the bank? It was rather surprising that âa sworn affidavit from a Commissioner of Oathsâ was not accepted as proof of identity. Years ago when I requested (in writing from the UK) that payments from my savings account with a Guyana bank be made to named local recipients, the bank refused to do so unless I submitted a sworn affidavit from a Commissioner of
Oaths. The matter was resolved when I objected, and complained in print. I hope Lenno Craig asked to speak to the General Manager at the time. Perhaps the matter might have been handled differently at the Water Street branch. Up to a few years ago, in the UK, if one had a relative working at a bank with which one wished to do business or could mention the name of a member of staff of that bank - that was acceptable for most transactions. I remember once, in an emergency, when I needed a substantial amount of cash and could not get to the City branch where my savings account was held, I had to approach their local branch to make a withdrawal. The cashier asked me certain
questions to establish identity (date of birth, address, when the account was opened, roughly how much money I had in it, etc). Answered correctly, I got the money. I remember the incident as comical, because the cashier apologised for asking so many questions âbecause it was a large sum of moneyâ. When I mentioned how much was in the account, his jaw dropped and his eyes stood out on stalks - I had to be rather âcarefulâ with money in those days. When will commercial banks in Guyana get their act together? At times, their antics could be construed as delaying tactics, for one reason or another. Geralda Dennison
DEAR EDITOR, In Guyana, rising inequality and financial abuses by the business friends of the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal and disrespect of the people and for the rule of law remain the common practices of the PPP regime. These along with unchecked corruption, illegal trafficking of narcotics and the high crime rate are some of the key issues that have led to the stagnation of Guyana and prevented the human development. At the start of the millennium the UN launched the Millennium Development Goals project( MDG) to help countries like Guyana eradicate poverty, reduce maternal mortality and social inequity and create full employment and decent work for all. Today, not much progress is made on these issues in Guyana but yet a country so rich in natural resources is not on target to successfully reduce poverty by 50% or to address social abnormalities like maternal deaths at child birth and extremely high levels of crime. Under the Jagdeo/
Ramotar cabal, the poverty level continues to rise and will soon hit 50% of the population, and youth unemployment has risen to almost 50% of the youth population (16-24 years) in 2012 from 30% a decade ago. This information on youth unemployment was sourced from the just released Human Development Report. So as the UN prepares for the post-2015 development agenda, it is moving with the majority of those developing nations that want the process to move up the chain to issues such as âhonest and transparent governance and the reduction of corruption.â But Guyana will not be ready for such a transition thus rendering itself again into the dustbins of the world d e v e l o p m e n t movement. Guyana is no where close to reach any of the goals set by the UN-MDG or to even empower our civil society. The evidence shows that the civil society is under constant massive attacks from the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal to fall in line and become surrogates of the corrupt
regime. But this is not how you engender participatory democracy. In Guyana; it is either you are a devotee of the dictatorial Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal with all their economic gangsterism, corruption and disrespect for the people and the rule of law or you are considered the enemy of the state. If you are the enemy, the corrupt and uncaring Jagdeo/ Ramotar cabal unleashes the state propaganda machinery on you, your family and your business or workplace all of which are funded by all Guyanese. Both Carl Greenidge and Janet Bulkan were deemed enemy of the state by the wicked Jagdeo/ Ramotar cabal and were forced out of their jobs overseas. In total there are more than thirty (30) media outlets for the PPP regime to carry out their attacks against the appointed enemies of the State such as Kaieteur News and Stabroek News. Such public mischief and rogue misbehavior by the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal does nothing to help Guyana achieve economic growth