SOME years ago there was a mad rush for national recognition by way of the issuance of public holidays. The government of the day crafted a few of these and was soon heading for a  record whereby this country might have been entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most public holidays.
Of course Guyana is one of those countries that has quite a number of public holidays which quite naturally infringes on productive hours.

A time when everyone downed tools and a wild expressions of  bacchanal – party all day and party all night. With such a partying people this country was certainly going nowhere. This is why the public holidays issue obviously died a natural death when the leaders saw the folly of their ways. They had to sensibly rethink their position and placed a moratorium on public holidays.
In recent times, we have seen a resurgence of this trend of thought in the renaming of public places to honour certain very important people, a highlighted dogma of notable achievements of certain individuals who have made their mark on society.
While these are all good gestures, we have to ask ourselves if they are necessary. I say necessary because we are talking about affixing a name to a place that already had a name. The removal of a name just to put another is foolish. It just does not make sense. The point is names are important because they carry significant meanings whether good or bad. Names are treasured commodities for posterity so that the historians, anthropologists, scientists and social commentators can engage in meaningful analysis and come up with a thesis.
Simply put, I, John Public, want to know what message those names carry.  Therefore, I would like to research of Murray, Lethem and Cowan. I would like to dig deep into the history of Plantation Lochaber, my very own village, a place that is sacred and of which I hold fond memories .
I would vehemently reject the renaming of my village to Cheddi Jagan or even Ramotar, all because they were good men. Nonsense! Plantation Lochaber is unique and precious to all of us and must remain. Other names such as Murray, with the heinous crimes attached to it, I still want to know. It is like my researching in the Biblical pages which is not all happy reading of Christ feeding the multitude with five loaves and fishes, but many heinous things like very same priests and rabbis he fed concocting a story to crucify him on a cross. Some of its contents are very gruesome, very revealing, and deleting those aspects of it would have done succeeding generations a great disservice. If I should crave your indulgence, do you think the old city Jerusalem could be renamed let’s say “Ali Fatah city” and let all the history surrounding that Holy Land fade into the shadows? That’s unthinkable! So we cannot rewrite history.
 
My argument is, and I am very dogmatic about it, why should we remove an existing name with all the history that it carries for the so called new and modern name? It simply does not make any sense. Just because someone thinks his/her personality is important then the best way to honour him is to tear down what exists then put up yours. Utter nonsense!
I want to learn of the history in those names that are already there as well as the newer ones.
And here’s my point: please let the names of existing persons and places remain there while you explore the possibilities of naming others such as the numerous housing schemes that are springing up all over the place. Or I shall propose a grander scheme have a “Hall of Eminence” where all this country’s greats can be housed, each replete with its own history. Another route that can be taken is to have our sportsmen and women, our politicians, poets, intellectuals, writers and other notable persons, each memorialized in their respective locales. Guyana has a rich past and an even interesting present so let’s preserve it properly.