The convergence of members of Guyana’s Cabinet at State House preceded an action-packed day as Ministers of the Government, led by the President of the nation, and accompanied by departmental heads and representatives of various sectors, reached out far and wide to communities in Berbice in efforts to bring relief to problem-prone areas affecting citizens.

As the President remarked at one of the meetings in Corentyne, his and successive PPP Governments’ developmental strategies and operational methodologies are anchored in the welfare of the people – all the people, in the nation

According to Guyana’s Head-of-State, this is the motivating factor behind all the synergies driving endeavour and achievement – at national, regional, and international fora, by government functionaries, who work indefatigably to ensure the nation’s wellness, in all its dimensions, for current and future generations, because posterity would inherit the blueprints we design of our country, and the footprints we leave behind.

The President is determined that the foot and carbon prints of this generation, at least under his watch, benefit the future generations for a long time to come.

During an interview at Little Rock television during this week’s Cabinet outreach in Berbice, the President informed viewers that this is why he is determined to put the big projects in place to ensure a continuum of development so as not to derail the momentum of development in the nation when he demits office.

President Jagdeo said during that interview to the effect that, of all his duties he enjoys meeting with the people in the nation more, and that it is during these outreaches, where he can interact with the people in an ambience of camaraderie and an atmosphere of relaxation and rap with them with cordiality, on a one-to-one basis, where he gets to learn, first-hand, whether the systems the Government has put in place are successful, and where and how the breakdown occurs, if and when it does.

The President’s hectic itinerary does not allow him much time for relaxation, so when he responded to a question during the television interview as to his plans after he leaves office, his prompt response was: “catch up on my sleep.”

Listeners were amused, but if one listens seriously, behind this light response is a picture of a young man thrust unceremoniously into the leadership of a nation in the throes of political upheaval, infrastructural devastation, bankruptcy, and severe social dislocations, coupled with problematic neighbours and a distrustful, uncooperative international dynamic, which saw its major industries taking a battering in the global marketplace, with the added advantage of an international identity paralleling that of Jonestown.

And one could only imagine the sleepless nights he endured to take this nation away from the brink, where even the animosity of our neighbouring countries have been largely ameliorated, to the extent where our respective countries are successively engaging in joint initiatives and cooperative endeavours that are structured to ultimately benefit everyone; where the image of a dynamic President lobbying for a LCDS and advocating the Jagdeo Initiative on Agriculture to benefit other nations in the hemisphere, and the world in general, has given little Guyana an identity and respect within the global construct.

As this editorial was being written, a statement arrived from Guyana’s President commiserating with the people of Haiti and President Rene Preval for the damage caused that nation by the catastrophic earthquake that devastated their country on Tuesday last.

We in this country remember President Preval’s courageous stance, in view of the vulnerability of his impoverished country, against the draconian EU-driven EPA, when his was the only voice supporting our President’s call for a restructured EPA that would not compromise the sovereignty of CARIFORUM nation-states.

President Jagdeo’s pledge of an immediate US$1M, pending a meeting with national stakeholders yesterday afternoon to coordinate a national response to aid the recovery effort, hallmarks the caring and compassionate nature of Guyana’s President.