LET me get to the point (as in reading ‘Faust was in Venice; heading for the National Stadium in Guyana,’ proved to be an arduous exercise-it truly was a tedious ‘verbal perambulation.’) and declared a ‘state of emergency’ for the columnist who wrote that kind of garbage. First, President Jagdeo is not inundated with ‘mundane desires’ that are ‘insatiable.’ This man, for sure, at the national level, can do and get whatever he wants. However, his conduct has proved that he is wise and stoical. His example as a leader is worthy of emulation. This particular columnist has obsessively singled out Guyana’ president as his personal object of odium, to the point, that his writings now evoke sneers. He himself has become a sad and withered figure. In the process of seeking to browbeat President Jagdeo, he has consumed himself in his own wrath. I find the reverse of his statement to be true; Jagdeo does not possess ‘mundane’ and ‘insatiable’ desires. Instead, the writer is in deep ‘Freudian’ crises. He needs attention, and currently he is being ignored.
At the personal level, to ignore the dirty and puerile remarks that this ‘commentator quack’ is in the habit of making, calls for inner strength, nobility of character and purpose of living. At no time did President Jagdeo ever become rattled. If he wanted to, he could have resorted to some dastardly act. However, the man is above trifles and gossip. He is a genuine leader, who refuses to ‘become a fool, by answering a fool.’
Now as regard Friday’s “Day of Appreciation” which is in honour of the sixth Executive President of Guyana, (and yes) Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, the event is most timely. Just consider the fact that President Jagdeo is really an ‘in spite of’ leader, who rose above difficult and trying obstacles. The examples to buttress this are quite many, but in the realm of economics alone, the anticipated tributes are more than warranted, and thus the event is quite fitting.
In the fatal 2005 era, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) estimated economic losses to be some 60% of GDP, as a result of the floods. However, Guyana’s GDP growth per capita in this said year and since has been a whopping average of 9.4 %. Is this a mean accomplishment? Can anyone seriously trivialize this? Furthermore, at this critical juncture, Guyana’s net International reserves moved from US$ 160.5 million in 2005 to US$724.4 million in 2010. Also, local inflation declined from 8.2 % in 2005 to 4.5% in 2010. These figures more than suffice in confirming Jagdeo’s merit, as being most deserving of overwhelming accolades.
At this juncture, there is no need to comment on housing or education, or any other thing for that matter. I only ask that ‘columnist skewed’ take a neutral party, or better yet, get an anti-PPP gathering, and try to stymie the celebration. I was hoping that the columnist would have gone to Berbice to enlighten the citizens, since that Babu John occasion was misused. I solemnly call on him to do this now. He needs a reality check and the sooner the better.