-Patrons unreservedly support Ramotar’s bid for the presidency    
IT WAS an events-packed fundraising weekend of breakfast meetings, dinner with the business community, evening Bar-B-Q and huge lunch date with over 500 turning out last Sunday to warmly welcome PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Donald Ramotar and President Bharrat Jagdeo.

At one point, many in the Sts. Peter and Paul Banquet Hall in Scarborough where the latter event was held, including head-table guests President Jagdeo; Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Ms. Jennifer Webster; Consul-General (Ag.) Sattie Sawh; Presidential Candidate Ramotar; Minister of Housing and Water, Mr. Irfaan Ali; and Guyana’s High Commissioner to Canada, Harry Narine Nawbatt were brought to their feet, Guyana flags in hand, by Guyanese vocalist, Monty Hamer’s rousing improvisation of Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’.

Among other prominent Guyanese present at the function was Head of the Health Sector Development Unit (HSDU) and Chairman of GoInvest, Mr. Keith Burrowes, who also attended and contributed to other related events in Canada.

The luncheon was sponsored by the Canadian-based ACG (Association of Concerned Guyanese) to raise funds for the PPP/C election campaign. As former Consul General, Danny Doobay, who emceed the event, exclaimed: “Four exceptional terms deserve a fifth!”

Paying tribute to President Jagdeo, Doobay said: “You give our people reason to be proud of our heritage; reason to be hopeful; and reason to feel confident that Guyana will continue to prosper for years to come.”  

On taking the podium, President Jagdeo expressed great confidence in passing the torch onto the competent and hardworking hands of Donald Ramotar. “The struggle to make a better life for our people continues,” he said, in obvious reference to what will obtain under a Ramotar administration.

Tracing the roots of the struggle at reference, he noted that that the goals set by Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Janet Jagan are evergreen, in that it was their desire that we should all live in freedom and dignity; that we should all have equal access; and that one should not be judged by either appearances, religion, race or gender.

“And that is why I am happy that we have chosen Donald Ramotar,” the President said after noting that many of the younger generation did not have a clue as to the long and hard struggle the country has had to endure to regain freedom, as they would most likely have grown up under the present administration where such freedoms are taken for granted. 

Ramotar, he said, has both the charisma and leadership qualities to bridge that generational gap and continue bringing Guyanese together, “because that’s the only way that the country will make lasting progress.”  

Noting that Ramotar is eminently qualified to take up the challenge, President Jagdeo said he is a trained economist who has represented the country on numerous occasions on the world stage on African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States business, to the extent that he was once Vice-Chairman of the group of more than 70 countries, and also has experience in dealing with issues of trade and governance at high levels.

Such a wealth of experience, he said, is vital in dealing with the huge challenges that will no doubt face the country in the future in the areas of environmental and trade policies and global finance.  

While Guyana and the rest of the world are just emerging from the global financial crisis of 2008-09, the underlying issues have not been completely resolved, and there remains considerable downside risk of future crises, which will require an understanding of the complex financial instruments that caused the problem in the first place.

Ramotar’s background in economics, and experience in dealing with matters at the international level well prepare  him for complicated reciprocal and asymmetrical trade issues, not to mention preserving the special facilities obtained over fifty years of struggle within the WTO.

As the President observed in light of the challenges that lie ahead for a Guyana under Ramotar’s watch: “It will not be easy for him, but I’m confident that he has the skills to lead us in this regard; he has my full support and my full confidence.”

Taking a dig at the opposition’s presidential hopeful, who, unlike Ramotar, has a history of taking away people’s rights, President Jagdeo said: “David Granger is still stuck in the 70s: Unrepentant; still talking in terms of failed economic policies of that painful era in Guyana’s history, and has no meaningful plans to develop Guyana.” Rather than being constructive, he said, the Granger campaign is mired in innuendo, rumour mongering, and contrived scandal.

Humbled no doubt by the heavy responsibility that has been placed on his shoulders, Ramotar recounted for the benefit of his enraptured audience his gradual rise through the ranks of the PPP to General Secretary, and now being chosen from among its many capable and qualified leaders to take up the mantle handed down from Cheddi Jagan, Janet Jagan, Sam Hinds, and Bharrat Jagdeo. 

Besides bringing the audience up to speed on the progress being made with the party’s manifesto, which he said is near completion, Ramotar urged the Canadian Diaspora to come home to Guyana and see for themselves the improvements that have been made thus far, and to lend their talents and financial resources to the further development of the country which is now being recognised as one of the brightest lights in the Caribbean.

Noting that he’s always believed that Guyana’s most precious resource was its people, Ramotar said: “…during my Presidency, I want to promise you that we will have universal secondary education in Guyana.”

And where health care is concerned, he promised that those wishing to return home but worry about what’s available in terms of health facilities will soon be able to access in Guyana the same type of service they enjoy abroad at a fraction of the cost.

He also committed to preserving the PPP as a party of the working people, and encouraged those Guyanese doctors abroad to return home so they can make the same type of care available to the poorest people.

“We will take Guyana to new heights with modern infrastructure; we will concentrate on energy production; and we will modernize the country with ICT centres,” Ramotar said, adding:

“In fact, in the very near future, Guyana may well have to start importing people to fill the jobs that we will create in our country.  Even though our economy may not be the biggest, we will ensure that the quality of life enjoyed by our people will be as good as any.”