PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo has said the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Administration, during its years in office, can boast of a proud track record.
“…we took a country characterised by hopelessness, according to the Caribbean Council of Churches mission that came here in 1990 and changed it,” he said at the 13th annual wreath-laying ceremony and memorial for the late Presidents Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Mrs. Janet Jagan, at Babu John, Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice.
“We have a proud legacy and I say this to you, every year you come here, you must be proud to say that you are associated with this great party. There is nothing to be ashamed of,” the Head of State declared.
He said:“We have led every struggle with dignity in this land and we have led every struggle for improvement of people’s lives.”
Tracing the history of Guyana, President Jagdeo said it was not just a run down economy; it was not just a stalemate in the political situation where the People’s National Congress (PNC) was maintaining power through rigged elections and not just a destruction of the infrastructure right across the land.
He said the PPP found a sense of hopelessness. “…when people don’t have hope, there is no future, so we have changed that comrades.”
President Jagdeo added: “Today, because of our hard work, our country is on the move, going strong. Our people are renewed in their strength that they will continue and we have a bright future ahead of us.” 
Alluding to the changes over the years, he said, last year, despite being a year with the global economic and financial crisis, Guyana managed to secure the second highest growth rate in the entire Latin America and the Caribbean, with the largest budget ever, this year.
“Last year was a crisis year in the world, a year when most countries had a shrinking economy, had losses of jobs in millions, lost millions of homes through people being unable to pay mortgages and, generally, the world shrunk by a third, if you use the stock exchange as an indicator of wealth,” President Jagdeo recalled.
He said this country ended that year with close to three-quarters of a billion United States (U.S.) dollars of foreign currency reserve, the highest ever in its history.
“We had the largest budget last year and an even larger budget this year for roads, water, electricity, health care, education and all of these things are being implemented. That is our track record,” President Jagdeo recited.
He said: “If you go around the country today, you will see a buzz and it is a buzz that is hard to reverse, with people coming back and small and large are investing in their homes, businesses and infrastructure.

DRUG MONEY
“It is not drug money. Every time people see you build a new house, the Alliance for Change (AFC) and PNC say drug money.
“But, you check the growth in wealth because of the growth in our economy and you will see the financial growth, as characterised by aggregate deposits in our banking system, reflects the growth in the economy and that is where the money is coming from.”
“Greater confidence creates greater inflows of money for investment purposes, as well as self-generated wealth in this country and, if they have any modicum of sense and, if they could read the estimates as the recent debate demonstrated that they can’t in the National Assembly, they would be able to trace these indicators and see where this vitality, where this energy, where this enthusiasm is coming from in the growth of our country,” President Jagdeo maintained.
He acknowledged that the sugar industry in Berbice is critical to development there and the largest single contributor to the Gross Domestic Product in that Region and largest contributor to wages and employment.
“We have a difficult patch. Last year, we saw the accumulated effect of a 36 per cent cut in the price of the sugar that we export to Europe. It took a big dent on the finances of the corporation. We are losing over US$40M in revenue because of that cut,” President Jagdeo explained.
He also admitted that there are problems in production, among other issues, facing that industry.
Criticisimg the political Opposition, President Jagdeo said: “…when it comes to testing how much they support the sugar industry, when, at the end of last year, we gave Guyana Sugar Corporation $4 billion in exchange for 2,000 acres of land on the East Coast Demerara so that we can develop 10,000 low income house lots, the same people who are saying you should give the industry more, now, suddenly, are not supportive of it.”
He insisted that the AFC and PNC are hostile to that proposal and they keep raising issues of technicality.
“But, for me, there is a story behind every number. It is not the $4 billion; it is the survival of the industry and the maintenance of jobs for thousands of workers. For me, the 2,000 acres of land is 10,000 house lots to poor families. That is the picture and that is what we are about,” President Jagdeo explained, urging that people understand those issues.
“You have to sieve the untruth from the truth and see where the real support lies in this country, that when it matters they were found wanting. They don’t really support sugar workers. What they support is confusion in the industry. They want to prey on the problems associated with the sugar industry now, so that we will have difficulties,” he charged.