The problem of inequality – the widening gap between the rich and the poor – was recently highlighted by Ms. Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), at a forum on March 17, 2022. Ms. Bárcena said, “Inequality conspires against recovery, against development, nutrition, health, education, employment, poverty reduction, against everything. That is why we must address all of its facets.”
Regarding the cause of the growing gap between the rich and the poor in Guyana, Dr. Collin Constantine, an economist, wrote in an academic paper, “My research shows that the socio-economic structure created by colonial elites in British Guiana persists in independent Guyana. In other words, the structure of economic and ethnic inequality has less to do with skills, education and technology [and more to do with some politicians inserting race as a distraction from fundamental economic disparities.”
One local political analyst interpreted Dr. Constantine’s writings to refer to the ruling party’s demonstrated tendency to use racial rhetoric and policies to divide and rule Guyana, as well as to distract poor Guyanese from the fact that they are suffering under the heavy hand of a cruel regime. “This practice is not only unfair but downright dangerous,” said the analyst. Regarding money from overseas-based Guyanese, Dr. Constantine wrote, “It is the good fortune of remittance inflow in-kind and cash from overseas-based Guyanese in the UK, US, and Canada that supports the bottom 50%. Remittances are so substantial they outpace Foreign Direct Investment and official development assistance.”
The local analyst pointed to one specific observation. The observer noted the numbers of homeless people around the Bourda Market who make the pavement their home continue to rise every day. The observer, who consults with this publication, pointed out that even as the homeless people occupy the pavements on Regent Street, The Prados and expensive BMW vehicles belonging to the elite pass within a few feet of those desperately destitute Guyanese. “The Prados don’t even slow down. But, the analyst added, “such is life under the PPP regime.
More, In The Ring.
