…Minister Irfaan Ali
MINISTER of Housing and Water, Mr. Irfaan Ali, has said that Guyanese need to recommit to the values that identify us and “our unique celebrations”. He was addressing staff of his ministry and the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) yesterday at the traditional activity to celebrate the country’s unique cultures and diversity – this time, Easter.
“I am very happy that our celebrations are continuing, and we are able to reflect today on a message that I think is so relevant,” he noted.
He said, “we are living in a very challenging world where basic things that religion teach us, like peace and forgiveness, are easily lost.
He stressed that this is not something that only affects Guyana, adding, “We live in society and in a world that is moving away steadily, I will say not gradually anymore, but very steadily from important moral values, ethics, and human principles and responsibilities.”
“And as a small society like Guyana, we have to be very, very conscious of this, and our first role is to become conscious of the problems that we are facing, not only as a country now, but internationally,” he insisted.
He referred to the El Nino problem of El Nino and the water crisis, pointing out, “It is nothing that relates directly to Guyana; if you look at where the problem is, the source is not Guyana, but it is half a world away in the Pacific, but yet it has a tremendous effect on us here in the Caribbean.”
He concluded that this shows the interconnectivity of the world, stating, “And when we talk about interconnectivity and globalization we are also talking about interconnection of cultures and values.”
He went on, “When we interconnect all these cultures and values, we have to be very careful that our own identical value is not lost in the process.”
Looking at how events are unfolding even in this small society, he observed that Halloween is celebrated in Guyana and there is the summer holiday.
“I say this for us to understand that if we do not celebrate these events, then history is going to judge us cruelly because we are going to lose the essence of the important significance in the first instance of the event itself, and then how our own identical culture as Guyanese have developed this event,” he explained.
He cited, that for example, society has lost its skills for making our own kites, noting “The market, itself, has destroyed that, and that was a great opportunity for bringing families together.”
He deemed Easter in Guyana as one of the most amazing celebrations, adding, “If you go throughout the Caribbean and further afield you would not see the type of celebration we have here with thousands of families out on the seawall and so on.”
“And that is very important, too, so I think the Ministry of Housing and Water CHP&A would like to send a strong message this Easter, and that is we need our society, we need our people, all of us need to rekindle our moral values; we need to re-evaluate our ethical standards and principles that we stand for as a people”.
“I hope that this Easter you will all be spending it with your families and friends, and the society as a whole. Do not sit down in your homes, but be part of the big celebration,” he advised
He told the gathering, “I want to wish everyone a wonderful Easter celebration, and may the richness of the religious significance of this event not be lost and your hearts be changed for the better.”