Major General (retired) Joe Singh last evening gave a thought-provoking insight into the Desmond Hoyte presidency, examining key decisions that were made therein, and linking them to the continued developmental thrust that the country is poised to forge ahead. He spoke while delivering the Fourth Memorial Lecture in honour of former President Hugh Desmond Hoyte at the Pegasus Hotel.
The lecture was entitled ‘Vision or Pragmatism: The Transformational Role of Hugh Desmond Hoyte S.C.’ and examined the role the late president played in opening the country in various respects leading to the holding of free and fair elections in 1992.
“I have identified six decisions made by Hugh Desmond Hoyte that I consider to have a transformational impact on Guyana. These are undertaking the Georgetown to Lethem overland safari in 1973; instituting the Guyana Prize for Literature in 1987; launching the Economic Recovery Programme in 1989; committing to the Iwokrama Rainforest project in 1989; committing to free and fair elections in 1992; and ensuring the peaceful transfer of power in 1992 post-elections.
“I do hope that the presentation jogs the memory of those of my generation who remained in Guyana and were witnesses or participants of a specific period of our history – from 1973 to 1992. A period which provided Guyanese with excitement, stress, tensions, hopefulness, euphoria and also failed expectations,” he said.
Giving what he described as a snapshot of those times for those of the younger generation, he provided some perspective for a frame of reference as to the significance of the six decisions and their impacts on society in Guyana.
Commenting on the first of the transformative decisions, Singh said that at the time, the idea of constructing a major hinterland road utilising local and regional volunteers as a primary source of labour and skill was a very appealing one.
“It kindled among our youths the flame of adventurous romanticism with this hinterland project. However, this attempt floundered with the high logistics and administrative costs involved in the rotation and upkeep of volunteers in the field, and lack of specialised skills and equipment when confronted with challenging terrain and the requirements for major bridges to be constructed,” he said.
He said that the third attempt to open up a four-wheel drive trail to Lethem was made in 1973, by doing more substantial work on the Mabura to Kurupukari road, and then on the alignment of the old cattle trail from the Kurupukari landing on the West Bank of the Essequibo.
Singh said that Hoyte, then Minister of Works and Communications, and other members of the Cabinet made an overland trip to Lethem after making an earlier visit to the interior. “Minister Hoyte, as subject minister for the project, would have been playing a pivotal role in driving the project. The presence of his [Cabinet] colleagues would have been a clear demonstration of the importance attached to the completion of the road link as an essential infrastructure for the exploitation of natural resources and for trade and development…” he said.
“On December 11, 1973, two weeks after the pontoon crossing was established, Minister Hoyte led a high-level group in a convoy to prove the trail from Georgetown to Lethem. Unfortunately, the rains came … [but] Minister Hoyte persisted. They had to rely on the use of bulldozers and tractors at critical points on the road,” said Singh.
“The safari did not reach Lethem until December 13, 1973 – two days later, an accomplishment that generated such excitement among the residents of the Rupununi that there was much rejoicing in Lethem that night,” Singh said.
“This 1973 safari completed under challenging circumstances was in my view the catalyst for the incremental improvement of the road to Lethem. It was during Hoyte’s tenure as president that the Brazilian company, Paranapanema, was awarded a contract to improve the bridges that have made the Rupununi so accessible…,” he said.
The second decision – the Guyana Prize for Literature – Singh called visionary and transformational, as it gives deserving recognition to writers and poets. “It was announced on February 23, 1987, and is the most prestigious literary award in the English-speaking Caribbean,” he said.
“The continuation of the Guyana Prize for Literature has been complemented by the establishment of a publishing house – The Caribbean Press – which has been facilitating the publishing of the Guyana Classics,” he said.
Moving on to Hoyte’s decision to introduce his Economic Recovery Programme (ERP), Singh said it was transformational as it sought to break radically from the past and reposition Guyana’s economic recovery and growth. “In 1983, the writing was already on the wall, as far as the economy was concerned,” said Singh. “Presenting the 1987 budget, then Finance Minister Carl Greenidge said it was a bold, purposeful prescription for economic readjustment. He announced the devaluation of the Guyana dollar at a rate of 10 to 1,” Singh said.
The focus of the ERP in 1989 was macro-economic reform and in particular, sourcing external financing, devaluation, price deregulation, privatisation, and private sector wage control. “Towards the end of the 1980s, President Hoyte introduced the cambios, where foreign exchange could finally be purchased legally,” Singh said.
“Hoyte was pragmatic enough to realise that the ERP had to go hand in hand with other freedoms. No longer could he remain arrogant, stubborn and unmoved by the agitation of Opposition parties and civil society, including the churches,” said Singh.
The Office of the President has provided funding to the tune of $300,000 towards the hosting of the lecture series.
The event was graced by the presence of President Bharrat Jagdeo, who after the presentation, interacted jovially with members of the PNCR and others.