THE MOST dynamic figure in the history of Guyana’s freedom fight, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, wrote in the ‘West on Trial’: “In January 1950 we replaced the ‘PAC Bulletin’ (the mimeographed forerunner to the ‘Thunder’) with the printed ‘Thunder’, as the official PPP organ, to help counter the propaganda of government (Colonial) and big business (the ruling class elitists). Cyril Shaw courageously undertook the printing in his small printery, with hand-set types and a fist-operated treadle press. The name ‘Thunder’ was taken from a William Morris poem: ‘Hark the rolling of the thunder/ Lo, the sun, and lo thereunder/ Riseth wrath, and hope and wonder.’

“Like the Guiana Graphic”, the other two dailies, the Daily Argosy and the Daily Chronicle were voices of big business. These three newspapers and the radio station had, in fact, interlocking directorates. To ensure support from the daily newspapers, the government gave them liberal support at public expense. The Daily Argosy was the main mouthpiece of the government.”

So, in essence, the average working class citizen had no mouthpiece, no voice, in the media, except initially the ‘PAC Bulletin’, and then, subsequently, the ‘Thunder’.”

The fight for Guyana’s freedom, both against the imperialists and the neo-Nazis, was decades-long and brutal, and the ‘Thunder’ played an integral part in the conference of independence and the restoration of democracy to this nation.

When Burnham split the PPP in 1955, for three years he continued calling his new political party the PPP, and printing his new party organ under the name ‘Thunder’, so from 1955 to 1958 there were two publications called ‘Thunder’, which elated the elitists, because this split heralded a disunity and consequential weakening in the ranks of the working-class.

The ‘Thunder’ and the PPP were both, along with other arms of the Party, established in January of 1950, so they are both celebrating 60th anniversaries this year.

At a commemorative event on Wednesday 27th January, held at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, to mark the birth of the Thunder, MC Bheri Ramsarran said that this activity is merely one of hundreds of celebratory events planned countrywide by the 60th Anniversary Commemorative Committee, which is headed by Minister Clement Rohee, to celebrate the PPP’s 60th anniversary, some of which have already begun; such as the PPP’s Old Year’s fund-raising ball at Castellani House. Dr. Ramsarran mentioned some of the activities that have already happened, including the commissioning of Party offices and/or sites for same acquired countrywide, with special celebrations in Linden.

According to Dr. Ramsarran, ‘Thunder’, at its inception, was touted as the official, theoretical, educational journal of the PPP.

Delivering the feature address, Mr. Navin Chanderpaul spoke of the role of the Thunder in the political and ideological struggle.

Referring to Morris’ poem, Chanderpal said that, over the past sixty years, the words of the poem have aptly described the way this theoretical journal has made its contribution in shaping the foundations of the process of people’s thinking in this country.

He reminded the audience that the Thunder has its genesis in the ‘PAC Bulletin’, which was published by the Political Affairs Committed, the forerunner to the PPP, when it was established in 1946 by the late founding members, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, Janet Jagan, Ashton Chase, and Jocelyn Hubbard.

Chanderpal explained that a clear indication of Thunder’s role was made manifest when there was a re-organization of the journal in 1969, and it became a quarterly publication.

He quoted from a projected slide being shown to the audience: “As announced in the last issue in September 1968 of the monthly Thunder, which supersedes this quarterly journal, all Party news has been appearing in the monthly PPP group newsletter, which may be regarded from October 1968 as the official organ of the People’s Progressive Party.”

Chanderpal continued, still quoting from the power-point slide, “Vol. 1, No. 1 is the new quarterly theoretical and discussion journal of the PPP.

“Its new format, Thunder, will adhere to its original mission to enlighten, but will pursue its educational work with greater intensity.”

According to Chanderpal, this was a transition point, because the Thunder of the 1950s was more a news-disseminating organ, with some articles of a discoursive nature.

Chanderpal informed his audience that the intent behind this transformation of the organ was “to inform and educate, to help create a better understanding of the social, economic, and other grave problems that faced Guyana and the rest of the capitalist world, and to urge workers to organise so that they may act decisively to inaugurate a new and better social order.

“Exposition, commentary, and interpretation will be made as brief and simple as possible, but always consistent with clarity, and will in no way conceal essential facts, compromise truth, or prevent the grasping of essential facts.”

According to Chanderpal, the preceding were the guidelines that were set for Thunder. He said that, when one reflects on what Thunder has produced over the years by way of literary material, it would be discovered that the journal has been true to these stated objectives.

Chanderpal drew attention to the display of issues of Thunder, which he said provides excellent research material.

In his presentation, Chanderpal traced the diverse ideas and range of subjects in the various editions, as well as the editors and contributors, many of whom were, and are, prominent regional, international, and national figures.

Dr. B
heri Ramsarran advised that Thunder could be found, for purposes of research, at the National Library and archives, the University of Guyana Library, and at the Cheddi Jagan Reading and Research Centre.

World Wetlands Day 2010
Theme: ‘Wetlands, Biodiversity, and Climate Change’
WORLD Wetlands Day is February 2 and will be celebrated under the international theme, ‘Wetlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change’. This theme coincides with the theme for International Year of Biodiversity: ‘Biodiversity is Life; Biodiversity is our Life’. 2010 was designated International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations, and the theme focuses on celebrating life on earth and reflects on the value of biodiversity to human existence. The wetlands are special ecosystems and this year’s theme focuses on biodiversity in wetlands, the impacts of climate change on biodiversity loss and the implications of these impacts.

What are wetlands?
Wetlands are areas where water is the dominant factor and influences the environment and the types of plants and animals living there. Wetlands are very diverse and include ponds, marshes, coral reefs, peat lands, lakes, mangroves etc. They all share one fundamental feature: The complex interaction of their basic components – soil, water, animals and plants – fulfils many functions, and provides many products that have sustained humans over the centuries. Evidently, not every wetland performs all these functions, but most wetlands perform many of them.

Origin of World Wetlands Day
World Wetlands Day has its origin in the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 1971. However, celebration of wetlands day did not commence internationally until 1997.

The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Wetlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change
This year’s World Wetlands Day focuses on the relationship between biodiversity loss and climate change and the implications for wetlands and people. Although wetlands are very vulnerable to climate change, proper management can lead to wetlands biodiversity and ecosystems playing a pivotal role in mitigating climate change and helping us to adapt.

Water plays a major role in the impacts of climate change; therefore the sustainability of wetlands is vital to water and food security. It is quite obvious that present lifestyles, especially in developed nations, place a tremendous strain on resources, hence wetlands biodiversity is in big trouble. This should be of paramount concern to every individual, since climate change makes the situation worse.

Value and Function of Wetlands
Wetlands form a pivotal part of our wealth and are valued for their great economic benefits not only to individual countries but to the world. Some of the Values and functions of wetlands include:

• Flood Control – Wetlands ‘hold’ heavy rainfall, preventing possible flooding downstream by storing the water in the soil, or retaining it in the surface waters of lakes, marshes, etc.

• Groundwater Replenishment – An aquifer is a layer of rock containing water. Underground aquifers store 97% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater and they provide drinking water to almost a third of the world’s people.

• Shoreline Stabilisation and Storm Protection – Coastal wetlands such as mangrove forests play a critical role in many parts of the world by protecting the land from storm surges and other weather events. They reduce wind, wave and current action and coastal vegetation helps to hold sediment in place.

• Sediment and Nutrient Retention and Export – Wetlands tend to slow down the force of water, encouraging the deposition of sediments carried in the water. Nutrients which come with sediments can be deposited at the same time to be used by aquatic biodiversity.

• Climate Change Mitigation – Wetlands play at least two critical but contrasting roles in mitigating the effects of climate change: managing the release of greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide) and physically buffering climate change impacts.

• Water Purification – Plants and soils in wetlands play a significant role in purifying water. High levels of nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen, commonly associated with agricultural run-off are effectively removed by wetlands.

• Biodiversity Reservoirs – Freshwater wetlands hold more than 40% of the world’s species and 12% of all animal species. Wetland animal and plant species play a role in the pharmaceutical industry – 80% of the world’s population depends on traditional medicine for primary health care.

• Wetland Products – Wetlands are also crucial to our livelihoods since they provide a variety of products which we depend on for sustenance. The range is enormous: fruit, fish, tapir, deer and other meats, resins, timber for building, fuel wood, reeds for thatching and weaving, etc.

• Recreation and Tourism – The natural beauty as well as the diversity of animal and plant life in many wetlands make them ideal locations for tourists. Many of the finest sites are protected as National Parks or World Heritage Sites and are able to generate considerable income from tourists and recreational uses.

• Cultural Value – This is a function of wetlands that is often overlooked, yet there are many instances where wetlands have significant religious, historical, archaeological or other cultural values for local communities, representing a part of a nation’s heritage.

It is no accident that river valleys and their floodplains have been the focus of human civilisations for a number of years and that many other wetland systems have been equally critical to the development and survival of human communities. This simply reflects the key role that water and wetlands have played throughout human life.

Our advancing technological skills may seem to have overshadowed the role of Nature, but recent environmental catastrophes – floods, landsl
ides, hurricanes, tsunamis, droughts etc. have their roots in unsustainable land use practices. The reality is that we still depend on our natural ecosystems, and the biodiversity they support, for survival. This is now being threatened by human induced climate change making it necessary to take bold steps to conserve our wetlands.
Reference: www.ramsar.org
You can share your ideas and questions by sending your letters to: ‘Our Earth, Our Environment’, C/o EIT Division. The Environmental Protection Agency, 7 Broad and Charles Street, Charlestown, GEORGETOWN or email us at eit.epaguyana@gmail.com