HUNDREDS of Guyanese flocked to the Albion Community Centre Ground in Corentyne, Berbice on Arrival Day, May 5, to join the Indian Arrival Committee (IAC) in celebrating the 174th anniversary of the arrival of East Indians to Guyana. As part of its annual activities to commemorate the Arrival of Indians in Guyana, and to mark the 174th anniversary of the occasion this year, a grand International Mela was held in the ancient county of Berbice, which featured popular Kris Ramkhelawan, the leading Indian folk singer from Suriname, and his troupe.

The packed cultural programme also included performances by members of the Shakti Strings Orchestra and the crowd was also treated to thrilling performances by the Shellita’s Dance Troupe and the Farishtay Dancers.

Also joining in the celebration, which was the ninth Mela staged by the IAC in Berbice, were Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, and Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud.

Prime Minister Hinds, extending greetings on behalf of the government, said, “Today, we celebrate Arrival Day for all of our people in Guyana, because we recognise that all our peoples came here at different times”.

He said May 5 is particularly relevant to Guyanese of Indian descent, because it marks the first arrival of indentured labourers from India aboard the Whitby and the Hesperus, and he pointed to how difficult the journey was and what they had to endure.

“They came here and took their place working on the sugar estates of the day, and making their contribution, too, to building our country,” the Prime Minister stated.

“We were not brought together here to become a nation; we were brought together here to work on the sugar estates, and now we have a challenge to become a nation, to become a people, and to work for a common destiny and a common prosperous life for all of us,” he said.

Hinds made reference to the sterling contribution of the late ‘Father of the Nation’ President Dr. Cheddi Jagan, who hailed from Port Mourant, in Berbice, noting, “…throughout his life, he has made sacrifices and he has always thought of all of our people and worked for all of our people”.

He commended, particularly, all the people of East Indian descent, many of whom have made tremendous contributions in Guyana and other places.

“We can be pleased with ourselves that we have made a number of significant achievements; but lying before us is the future, and we in the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), we challenge our people to build also for the future,” he urged.

To this end, he said the administration has been concentrating on different areas of development such as education for the young people, health and infrastructure, and they want to keep on this path to make Guyana a great country.

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy in delivering brief remarks said, “You come out not to observe Arrival Day, you come out to celebrate Arrival Day”.

“Our forefathers were indentured labourers, they came to this country and they joined slaves, and together they have built this country to what it is today. It is our paradise and it was built by our ancestors and that is something to celebrate,” he insisted.

He said that in building the country, many challenges had to be overcome.
“We had to fight the imperialists and the colonialists for our independence and then after independence, we fought among ourselves, we had to fight people so that we could get the freedom that we enjoy today in our country”.

He said it is that freedom that has allowed us to have a national holiday on May 5, adding, “And we will continue that fight; but today, as we celebrate, I ask you to remember that what we have today and what we are building today came from constant challenges, not only from those in the past, but from those that we have now”.

“Even now we have people that are trying to take our freedom away; even now we have people trying to stall our development. As a country we want to make Guyana our El Dorado. This is our country, we want to make paradise right here in Guyana,” he insisted.

He promised that the PPP/C government will continue to work to ensure that this county is “our paradise”.
He assured, “We will stand up against anyone outside of Guyana or inside of Guyana who wants to take our freedom away, who want to take our development away; who want to take the dreams of our children away from us”.

“Those who want to go to our parliament and take away the rights that we have fought for, we will stand up against them,” Ramsammy stressed.

The following day, a cultural parade was held on the Essequibo Coast, and a cultural programme at the Anna Regina Community Centre Ground.

For the first time, the IAC will be holding a ‘Food Fair’ as part of its activities to commemorate Indian Arrival. It will be held on Saturday, May 19, 2012, from 16:00hrs on the lawns of the Indian Cultural Centre.
Food from a number of local restaurants will be on sale and the IAC promises that patrons will be treated to a rich cultural evening, featuring members of the Shakti Strings orchestra, students of the Indian Cultural Centre and other leading dance troupes.