RICE magnate Kayman Sankar passed away on Tuesday night at the age of 87.

In a tribute to the prominent Essequibo rice farmer and miller, General-Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA) Mr. Dharamkumar Seeraj, M.P., described Mr. Sankar and his achievements, thus (excerpts): “Guyanese icon and pioneering entrepreneur…great son of the soil – in figurative and actual terms…took rice farming in Guyana into the age of mechanisation….his sole and innovative endeavours were often the catalyst for many improvements in the agronomic enterprises of this country…”.

QUOTE: Icons, role models, legends: These words can be used to describe all Guyana’s pioneering giants of industry. The iconic Sattaur Gafoor, who created an empire out of the hardware business his father Abdool Gafoor established, never wore shoes before he was eleven years and does not possess formal education; Toolsie Persaud, Glen Khan, the Mings, the Vieiras, Edward B. Beharry, the Kissoons, the Gajraj’s, John Fernandes, Peter D’Aguiar, the Woon-a-Tai’s; et al started from very humble beginnings. However, these men (and women – Lyla Kissoon, for example) of vision and leaders of men were not content with their lot. They were not content to sit back and cry about their lack of opportunities, but they were determined to carve their own destinies; thus Guyana has many epic stories of real heroism.

Seeraj noted that like other pioneering giants in and out of Guyana, Kayman Sankar was so poor during childhood and formative years that he was forced to truncate his education and formulate his own opportunities for wealth-creation and advancement, never depending on others but his own efforts, strength, and self-sacrifice, even while supporting his family on subsistence wages – all achieved without any enabling factors then extant to aid him in any way. However, perseverance, determination to succeed (mainly to propel his loved ones out of a life of penury and provide them with better lifestyles than he ever enjoyed); frugal spending and clever management of the pittances he earned by simultaneously doing a multiplicity of jobs – no matter how menial, to acquire the wherewithal for investing in wealth-creational ventures – ultimately in rice production paid off – and a legend was born. If one can describe ‘humility’ in conjunction with ‘magnate’, then they would be describing Kayman Sankar, because, although he rose to unimaginable heights, he never lost sight or feel of his groundings and thus was very humane in his dealings with his fellow humans. He was a veritable giant of industry and commerce; and a great human being and role model.
Icons, role models, legends: These words can be used to describe all Guyana’s pioneering giants of industry. The iconic Sattaur Gafoor, who created an empire out of the hardware business his father Abdool Gafoor established, never wore shoes before he was eleven years and does not possess formal education; Toolsie Persaud, Glen Khan, the Mings, the Vieiras, Edward B. Beharry, the Kissoons, the Gajraj’s, John Fernandes, Peter D’Aguiar, the Woon-a-Tai’s; et al started from very humble beginnings.
However, these men (and women – Lyla Kissoon, for example) of vision and leaders of men were not content with their lot. They were not content to sit back and cry about their lack of opportunities, but they were determined to carve their own destinies; thus Guyana has many epic stories of real heroism: Heroes who changed socio-economic landscapes without guns, without destroying lives, livings, or anyone’s properties. They achieved all that they did through unrelenting sacrifice, back-breaking toil, thrifty lifestyles, prudent management of the pittances they earned, commitment to endeavour – bravely venturing into uncharted territories (literally and figuratively); but more importantly, with a vision to carve and create synergies that catapulted them and their dependents into unimaginable spheres of success – breaching frontiers and horizons to touch the skies.
These champions of commerce and industry have, in the course of their own strivings, also enhanced and uplifted the lives and lifestyles of others, through job and wealth creation; and contributed immensely to the general socio-economic development of Guyana through acquisition of international markets for local products – thus creating empowering avenues for many other micro-investors to produce and market local products, with the snowball effects of generating jobs – directly and indirectly for thousands of Guyanese, thus making provision for thousands of Guyanese families to have better lives where they can dream of rich futures for their offspring.
They also bolster the nation’s fiscal paradigm through the taxes they pay and the foreign currency they earn, and in a multiplicity of other ways.
So kudos to Guyana’s pioneering giants. You will never die, because you will live on forever as long as society perpetuates and generations to come are nurtured from the fruits of your own endeavours and achievements.
On behalf of the Chronicle newspapers, ‘Observer’ would like to salute today a man of great stature, who reached the skies through nurturing God’s gifts of the earth; and extends condolences to Beni and the rest of the Sankar family, and to the nation at large on the passing of a legend and an icon – a man whose legacy will endure forever, a true Guyanese patriot and hero.