As Guyana celebrated 56 years of Independence with pomp, ceremony, and opulence in Essequibo, on the other side of the country the nation watched the horrific loss of three innocent children, 8-year-old Timothy Kippins, Triston Kippins, 6, and one-year-old Zhalia Flue, as fire gutted their home. As we examine the circumstances that led to their deaths, we begin to see a clearer picture of the struggles that face the working poor of Guyana’s society. It takes a village to raise a child and this nation must take steps to make sure that such horrors never visit another struggling mother.
The young mother, Tracy Flue, who now faces this unthinkable loss, was in the process of seeking police assistance to protect herself and her children from an abusive ex-boyfriend who she said had threatened her life and the lives of her children. She feared for her life as she traveled to work. Once again, we see the system failing to protect our women and children from abusers.
After 56 years of Independence and with ten billion barrels of oil, no Guyanese mother should have to choose between being at home at 1:00 am to protect her sleeping children and working to earn the money she needs to feed them when they wake up. 552 billion was budgeted for 2022, this amounts to 2.6 million per Guyanese household or 220,000 per household per month. How much of that went to this struggling mother? How much went to her innocent and vulnerable children?
Firefighters reported that the conditions of the road leading to her home prevented them from getting there in a timely manner. We are left to wonder if a small investment to make the roads simply passable would have saved the lives of these children. After 56 years of Independence, this most basic of public infrastructure is still severely lacking in the poorest of communities.
It takes a village to raise a child and we have failed these children. Immediate measures to end poverty in Guyana must be placed at the front of national discussions and government policy.
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