Upcoming elections will determine Guyana’s future
THE  upcoming general and regional elections will determine the future of Guyana and, as such, the involvement of all Guyanese is critical.

This is the shared view of President Bharrat Jagdeo and People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) Presidential Candidate Mr. Donald Ramotar.

President Jagdeo and Ramotar made these remarks while addressing a series of community meetings on the Essequibo Coast on Monday last.

“Comrades and friends, these elections are very important – and are very crucial  elections because, in my view, they will make a decision in our country…if we will go forward, or if we will go backwards; and we, as a country, had that experience in the past” Ramotar said.

He referred to when the PPP was thrown out of office in 1964 in what is now confirmed as an act that was orchestrated by the United States of America and Britain, which had marked the beginning of a decline of Guyana’s economic standards, that lasted until 1992.

“When the PPP changed (was ousted) in 1964, Guyana had the highest standards of living in the whole Caribbean but, by 1992, we were the poorest country in the western hemisphere, according to the Commonwealth team of economists who came here to look at our country in 1991; so all the progress that we made in the seven years the PPP was in office – from 1957 to 1964, was reversed under the PNC,” Ramotar explained.

He noted that it is this very “tainted record” of the PNC, is what makes the movement upset when their history in office is discussed.

“Every time you talk about the 28 years (the PNC term in Office), they say that is the past don’t talk about that, but  if you are going to compare us to the PNC, you have to compare us on our record, and they know that if you compare them  on their  record, it is like cheese to chalk; they have  no record to talk about, and they have become so ashamed  of their own past…. so they decide  to change their name and to call themselves APNU (A Partnership for National Unity)…”
“…so what they are trying to say is  that we cannot speak about the PNC  and the wrongs and the evil that they did, because  it is no longer PNC; it is the APNU, but it is the same people,” Ramotar posited.

The PPP Presidential Candidate also took a swipe at David Granger, the Presidential Candidate for APNU, as he reminded Essequibians of Granger having been a member of the PNC for over 40 years, even while at the helm of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

“He (David Granger) was in the leadership of the Army for most of his life.  They put him in the Army, coming from the YSM (PNC youth arm) they put him there; they changed our army from being a professional army to being a PNC army.  Only since this government came into office, in fact in 1992, that we moved the Army to being once again a professional army and a people’s army” Ramotar said in the midst of thunderous applause from Essequibians, as he explained Granger’s role in pushing party paramountcy in the army and his role in rigging of elections and killing of civilians who were fighting for freedom.

Ramotar warned Essequibians to vote wisely as “…we cannot allow our country to go backwards anymore.  We therefore have a very, very clear choice, our country, our party as a PPP/Civic government:  We have a record that we can stand on… so in the next period ahead, we have to build on what we have achieved”.

The PPP Presidential Candidate also spoke of the many transgressions of Khemraj Ramjattan, who now heads the Alliance for Change (AFC) and whom Ramotar said has no vision for Guyana and has been one of the key lawyers representing the many drug lords which caused him to be “thrown out” of the PPP.

“You must also know that Ramjattan, who is the head of the AFC, the Presidential Candidate of the AFC… he used to be in our party and he  got angry with us, because Janet Jagan and I  summoned him at  our office when he became a member of the central committee of the PPP,  to tell him that we do not like the cases  he was taking, that he was being the lawyer for all the alleged drug men in this country.  He was one of the major lawyers for the suspected drug men in Guyana  and we spoke to  him about it…he got angry and said that  is his business.”

Ramotar also spoke of the many developments in Guyana, specifically on the Essequibo Coast, ranging from health services, roads, nursery, primary and secondary schools, tertiary level educational facilities, the government’s “One Laptop Per Family” (OLPF) initiative, drainage and irrigation and housing, among others.

“The two roll-on and roll-off ferries to improve transportation between Parika and Supenaam will be delivered by the end of this year and that will significantly improve your transportation” Ramotar added.

He noted that Essequibo will forever maintain the reputation as the Cinderella County, but has not remained the way it was in the past when development moved at snail’s pace.

“It is not the Cinderella in rags, it is not Cinderella the beggar, it is Cinderella the princess now-a-days. That is what we have transformed Essequibo to,” Ramotar said.

Meanwhile, President Jagdeo also shared similar sentiments as Ramotar regarding the importance of the elections and the continuation of progress in Guyana.

“ …they are critical because, when you have a party in power that is being very clear about what it wants to achieve… it has outlined that from the very beginning that is…when it was formed in the  1950s, of bringing people together, achieve progress  for all our people, regardless of their race or religion, fighting to enhance freedom, giving the opportunities to people, ensuring that they have better social services… these are all very  important things for us, so we have  a clear plan and you have seen us executing those plans since we returned to office,” the charismatic Guyanese Head of State noted.

He highlighted the effectiveness of parliament, the independence of the Judiciary and the tremendous economic, social and democratic progress in the country.

He noted that these are the records on which the PPP/Civic administration stands as compared to the “others”.

“We have a clear vision; we have made progress; our country is moving forward: The others, if you listen to  them carefully, they only talk about what the  PPP is doing, they don’t have a clear  vision where they want the country to go,” Mr. Jagdeo explained, adding that “any party that lacks vision…anyone who  contest elections and campaign only on complaints, they don’t have the foresight to develop this country; so the APNU people (are) the PNC hiding from the old PNC record,” the President posited.

He said that Granger, whose plan is to send young people who cannot find jobs to the National Service, is stuck in an era of backwardness and dictatorship.

“This is a modern world”, the President remarked, adding that the advancement of technology has made the world a different one and youths must be prepared for this new world.

The president, in endorsing Ramotar as the clear choice to be the next president, said that there is no other presidential candidate for the upcoming election who can stand alongside Ramotar.

“We have a candidate too who worked with Cheddi Jagan and Janet Jagan, who grew up in our party, fighting for freedom, we can trust him because he knows the value of freedom: They (other presidential hopefuls) come from a different era (of) snatching people’s freedom, (whereas) he (Ramotar) is an economist; he was manager of Freedom House; he then became General Secretary for over 10 years; (so) he has all  the experience and he has been an integral part  of policy-making, (and) that is why we don’t have any fear that we have a  good candidate who will continue the PPP programme into the future,” the president noted, adding that Ramotar has been General Secretary and saw the PPP overwhelmingly win the last two elections.

The Head-of-State urged Essequibians to get onboard with the PPP and not to be “laid-back” but become active in the process.

“I ask all of you to make sure that you go out and vote…we must not become  arrogant, we must not become complacent…,” the president charged.

He also warned Essequibians of the “new opposition” as in the Kaieteur Newspaper and the Stabroek Newspaper, all pro-opposition newspapers that are trying to paint a bad picture of the government.

“So we have to be very clever, (because) we are fighting forces that would like to see us go backwards and we need your help in going out there,” the Head-of-State urged.

Turning his attention to the progress in Essequibo, the President noted the investment of his government over the years in the various sectors and assured residents that the range of economic opportunities in Region 2 will be broadened so that more options are available to residents of the predominantly agricultural county.

“We have to make sure that more job opportunities come here, of a different kind, and that we create the infrastructure to solve other problems that people have here,” President Jagdeo said.

Residents were hailed for the sustaining of the clean environment, and were assured of the continued patronage of the government to the region.

“Every time we come to the Essequibo Coast, it’s almost like a new county over again,” President Jagdeo said.

Approximately $170M has been budgeted for capital works in Essequibo for 2011. With the Amaila Falls Hydro Power (AFHP) project being the next major investment for Guyana, Ramotar assured residents of Region Two that services that heavily rely on electricity will be much improved, such as processing of agricultural produce.

The president and Ramotar were accompanied  by Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, Minister of Public Service Dr. Jennifer Westford, Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira, and Chairman of Region Two Ali Baksh, at the community meetings held at New Road, Charity, Maria’s Delight, Better Success, Westbury, Paradise Jib, Devonshire Castle and Hampton Court – all on the Essequibo Coast. (Edward Layne)