PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo’s legacy as a highly successful leader is assured. It was rather unfortunate that a national newspaper chose to carry a one-sided assessment of the great man’s tenure as President.
While the article used a flurry of negative terms, it did not provide any concrete evidence to support its claims.
Furthermore, it ignored the fundamental parameters that are universally used to assess objectively, a leader’s legacy. I am therefore compelled to highlight the outstanding legacy of President Bharrat Jagdeo.

Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased significantly under his leadership. GDP is the total goods and services produced in a given year. It is a leading indicator of changes in a country’s standard of living. According to the World Bank, our GDP increased from US $713 million in 2000 to US$1.2 billion in 2008.

This is a whopping 62% increase under Mr. Jagdeo’s presidency. No other Caribbean country came close to matching our growth in GDP.
Despite the worldwide recession in 2008 and 2009, Jagdeo’s leadership ensured that Guyana achieved a GDP of approximately $1 billion in 2009 while the economies of many developed countries, including the United States and Europe, stagnated.

An editorial in (one of the privately-owned) newspapers ignored GDP altogether, a clear indication of its writer’s short sightedness.
Guyana’s infrastructure has increased by leaps and bounds. There is the Takutu Bridge that now serves our Amerindian community. And of course there is the Berbice bridge.

During the past year I visited Plantation Port Mourant and Skeldon to research the early childhood of the cricketers Rohan Kanhai, Alvin Kallicharran, Basil Butcher, Joe Solomon and Sonny Moonsammy.

The Berbicians’ gratitude to the President for the bridge was overwhelming. It was President Jagdeo’s vision and hard work that made both bridges a reality and now we can all enjoy it.

Specifically, we are no longer at the mercy of the Rosignol – New Amsterdam ferry. Again, these and other developments in our infrastructure were totally ignored by the aforementioned article.

The modern cricket stadium at Providence was another of President Jagdeo’s legacy. When the 2007 World Cup organizers said the old Bourda ground may not get any games, President Jagdeo flew to India and got them to build an ultra-modern stadium for the Guyanese people.

We duly had our share of World Cup games. Those of us who were present can never forget Sri Lanka’s “Slinga” Malinga’s historic four wickets in four balls against South Africa.

If Mr. Jagdeo had not secured that new stadium, Guyana would not have had the opportunity to host anymore international cricket. If you need the proof, just look at the ruins of the famed Bourda ground. The Lance Gibbs and Clive Lloyd’s stands are gone. The Providence Stadium has ensured that Guyana will continue to host international cricket. This is an integral part of President Jagdeo’s legacy.

His outstanding crisis management during the Great Flood of 2005 is now legendary. The mighty America could not get its act together in an efficient manner during its own disaster from Hurricane Katrina.

Little Guyana, under President Jagdeo’s leadership, surpassed all expectations. He visited the villages in small boats to ensure that his Guyanese of all races and classes were served.

When there was a crisis he was the man who got things done. This is another sterling hallmark of his legacy.
Health care is on the rise. Take a look at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

The once dilapidated buildings have been replaced by several state of the art facilities. Not only has new facilities replaced the old ones in Georgetown, the same has happened in the Rupununi region and at Port Mourant.

These are highly identifiable landmarks of progress that were achieved under President Jagdeo’s leadership.

His LCDS strategy elevated him to international stardom. It was a masterstroke of great vision. It earned him the Champion of the Earth award and Guyana will receive US$250 million as a reward from Norway.

It is a cornerstone of President Jagdeo’s legacy and one of which all Guyanese are very proud.

His roles at the World Bank and IMF are now legendary. No third world leader has ever simultaneously held the Chairmanship of the Board of Governors of both the World Bank and the IMF.

A son of Unity Village (also home of West Indies cricketers Colin Croft and Shivnarine Chanderpaul), gave us an international statesman. These are facts. They are integral to President Jagdeo’s sterling legacy.

Under his leadership we continued to enjoy a forgiveness of the national debt that was incurred in the 1970s and 1980s and squandered almost instantly.

Guyana’s credit worthiness has increased immensely since 1992 in the eyes of the leading lenders so that our borrowing cost has declined.
We can now enjoy interest rates at 0.75% to 2.00% above the London Inter-Bank Offering Rate (LIBOR).
This is much lower than what many other countries are charged. Lenders will only charge a lower rate if they believe a country is growing via its GDP and its government is credible.

Clearly, President Jagdeo and Finance Minister Ashni Singh are doing a great job in the eyes of the international lenders.
Under President Jagdeo’s leadership, our indigenous people are now being given equal recognition and opportunities.
Our Amerindian brothers and sisters are increasingly being afforded the opportunity to elevate themselves and their children. Surely, they will never forget His Excellency’s generous gift of US $40,000 that he made to them.

It was his prize money from the United Nations when it crowned him Champion of the Earth. There is a spanking new dormitory at Liliendaal for Amerindian scholarship winners from the hinterland.

For many of them, UG is now virtually in their sights. This is all part of His Excellency’s on-going drive to create equal opportunities for the Amerindians. It is part of his rich legacy.
His re-establishment of a Buxton connection with his historic visit last year is a major step towards improving race relations.

Along with Mboya Wood and Odinga Lumumba, he has  to be commended for making it happen. Already he has begun to deliver on his promises as the historic Tipperary Hall is being rebuilt.

Buxton is near and dear to me because my grandfather (‘aga’)was a Buxtonian and was mighty proud of it too.
It was a bold step by President Jagdeo to improve the country’s perception of that historic village.
President Jagdeo’s vision of giving 90,000 laptop computers took the first step to reality when 100 machines were distributed last week.
Dr. Cheddi Jagan had a vision that education was the backbone of our society and so he formed the University of Guyana.
President Jagdeo subscribed to this vision and has taken it one step further. He is investing in the poor people’s future.
Their children will have an opportunity to make a quantum leap into the 21st century.

It took vision and hard world to implement this programme.
The hard work included going to China to get the Lenovo machines, which are really the world famous International Business machines.

The laptop business of IBM was bought by Lenovo and they changed its name to Lenovo. This laptop vision can very well become Jagdeo’s greatest legacy because he has invested heavily in the future of the poor people’s children. Future generations will no doubt rejoice when they become doctors, lawyers and teachers. And they will remember that it was President Jagdeo who laid the foundation for their knowledge by making a laptop available to them.

It is the stuff that characterizes the President’s sterling legacy.
Of course all is not well in our dear land of Guyana. Crime is my pet peeve. I recognize that across all the Caribbean countries and the United States violent crimes are on the increase.

I want nothing better than to see crime reduced to a minuscule level. It is sad cycle that there are consumers of drugs in the United States and Canada.

They have a so-called ‘billion-dollar’ demand for drugs. So the Columbians produce it. Unfortunately, Guyana, Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica and other countries are caught in the geographical and economic middle of it.

The drug trade breeds gun violence. And those guns also spill over to other violence such as burglary. So yes, I want to see more done on crime.

The President’s legacy is outstanding and it deserves a book. It is imperative that he writes his memoirs immediately after leaving office so that it can illuminate the minds of future generations.

All of us need to know more of his challenges and his successes. His stints at the World Bank and IMF, his challenges during the Great Flood of 2005, the story behind his LCDS initiatives, his vision to enhance the Amerindian communities and his thoughts behind re-establishing the Buxton Connection are events we can all learn from.

His outstanding legacy will be an everlasting one that all Guyanese will be proud of. Thank you for your sterling service, Mr. President!