GUYANA Post Office Corporation (GPOC) yesterday put on sale a stamp commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth.

Schoolchildren look over the collection of Commonwealth Stamps. (Carl Croker photo)

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who officiated at the ceremony in the GPOC Headquarters, said the Commonwealth of Nations is a body of countries that share much and it is important for them to look for ways to make the grouping real.

“We look to ways of marking the 60th anniversary, so as to make the Commonwealth more real for the average persons in our country,” he said.

“Out of something that we would complain against (colonialism), there have been bonds created that link us all across the world,” the Prime Minister remarked.

He said: “Today, we must look towards the future. Guyana is happy to be a member of the Commonwealth, to be among people with whom we share so much.”

A collection of the stamp commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth on display yesterday.

Chairman of the GPOC Board, Bishop Juan Edghill observed that development in Guyana in taking place at a rapid pace and stamps are a means of documenting changes and, by extension, a country’s history.

“A stamp is not just for posting mail. We can preserve history. We can tell the story of our country,” he posited.

Edghill reminded that the Commonwealth commemorative stamp, which depicts the Public Buildings, the Golden Arrowhead and a symbol of the Commonwealth, is the fifth published by GPOC this year.

He said the availability of this latest stamp was also assisted by technical support from Mr. Ron Robinson and his affiliates, after the Commonwealth Secretariat requested that such an effort be undertaken.

The release of the stamp also precedes the start of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Trinidad and Tobago.
CHOGM is a biennial summit of the Heads of all Commonwealth nations.