MELANIE, EAST COAST DEMERARA – Attorney-at-law and APNU candidate Ronald Daniels took the stage in Melanie on Sunday night and delivered what many called the most direct speech of the election campaign so far. His message? Guyana has oil, money, and headlines, but its people are still struggling to make it to the end of the week.
“From the time you get your salary or your wage, it done even before you get it,” Daniels said, cutting straight to the bone of what many in the crowd already knew: the cost of living is crushing, and the government doesn’t seem to notice.
Addressing the packed rally, Daniels described a country where public services are collapsing even as the national budget hits record highs. “This is an oil-rich country. And yet you can’t drink the water, you can’t trust the light not to blow your fridge, and you can’t call the police and expect help,” he said, drawing loud applause.
He referenced several recent incidents that hit a nerve with the public, including the killing of a Mocha resident and the death of a Linden teacher who was reportedly dismissed by police before her case turned fatal. “It’s not just the economy. It’s the system, failing, indifferent, and unfair,” Daniels argued.
One of the crowd’s biggest reactions came when Daniels mocked the quality of tap water. “People are saying it’s mauby water. It’s rust we getting from the pipes,” he said. “That’s not One Guyana. That’s two, one for the privileged and one for the rest of us.”
He accused the PPP government of corruption and discrimination, saying the country’s wealth was being funneled into elite comforts while ordinary citizens were left behind. He promised that under an APNU government, ministers wouldn’t send citizens to hospitals or schools they themselves wouldn’t use.
“We are not going to have you go to hospitals that we don’t want to go to. We are not going to have you drink water that we can’t drink,” he declared. “Guyana is too rich for any one of us to be so poor.”
With elections looming on September 1, Daniels’ remarks signaled a campaign that’s not just targeting the government, it’s aiming to rally the everyday Guyanese who feel ignored in the middle of a boom.
