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Jagdeo stated that while the administration has been guided by various manifestos, there have been many achievements outside of those.
Commenting on Dr. Jagan’s dream for Guyana, he said, “I think, overall, we have been faithful to many of his ideals, particularly education.”
He noted that current access to education and health care, and the development of the housing sector are very important for poor people, “because poor people can educate their children if they have proper health care and a proper house. They can make a big difference, they can change their status,” he said.
The former president said he was at peace with the administration in the hands of President Donald Ramotar. He noted that it was a continuum.
“I am sure that the new president would do extremely well in picking up all the dreams that the PPP had, and we still have, and taking them forward,” he said.
“I see the country continuing to grow, I know it’s going to grow rapidly because we have fixed the fundamentals in the economy, and that took us a while. Once the fundamentals are fixed, it’s a good base for growth. Today, we see Guyana, for the last six or seven years, growing continuously while the world sees recession,” Jagdeo said.
He expects that there will be many more transformative projects which are going to come on stream, adding that there will be rapid growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This, he posited, will result in the expansion of the country’s revenue base, which would allow much more to be done in terms of the social sectors.
“I can only see us going upwards. I hope the politics doesn’t become a humbug and stymie us. Because, for quite a while in the late 90s early 2000s, politics and negative politics sapped the energy of the country, and I hope we don’t return to that,” he said
Having led Guyana forward through the transformation process, there are parts of the journey Jagdeo wished were different.
“It is only after 2006 that the country really settled. The period between 1999 and 2005 still had the residual protests and things associated with
non-acceptance of elections results. I wish that we had a longer period for development,” he said.
Additionally, the former president is thankful that children of today would neither have to witness nor experience what their parents endured in the past.
In a tribute to the late President Dr. Cheddi Jagan, Jagdeo had this to say about the greatest achievement in his (Jagdeo’s) life: “For me, (it) was not being President of Guyana, it was being Dr. Jagan’s Finance Minister.
“I think he was a wonderful person. Although he aged physically, he never aged mentally, and he was always open to new ideas. He was the ultimate democrat; and because he was constantly open and searching for new ideas, he laid a proper foundation, when we returned to office, for the subsequent development that followed.”
Jagdeo served as president from 1999 to 2011, and during that period, many achievements were made, including an economy that grew about 5% annually over the past six years, and physical infrastructure such as roads, schools, hospitals and bridges being rebuilt. New structures evolved, such as the Berbice River Bridge; the four diagnostic centres; several new hospitals, including at Linden, New Amsterdam, and at Lethem; and the Ophthalmology hospital, the four-lane road, expansion of the banking sector, blossoming of the housing sector, and tremendous increases in foreign direct investments. (GINA)
