PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar on Monday joined with residents of Skeldon, Berbice and other surrounding communities to celebrate Indian Arrival Day. The Head of State was joined by First Lady, Deolatchmee Ramotar, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, PPP/C General Secretary, Clement Rohee, Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, Minister of Health, Dr.

Bheri Ramsaran and other members of the Cabinet.
In his address, President Ramotar urged the gathering to recognise the struggles of their foreparents and continue to build on them. “Today is 176 years since the first indentured labourers set foot on the shores of Guyana, and it has been years of struggles and trials for those who came before us. You can recall that in that time, slavery was about to be abolished and new labour was needed on the sugar estates in the then British Guiana, and our forefathers came here to work to help build this land.”

The President reminded the gathering that at that time Guyana was still a colony and was extremely oppressed, but their ancestors continued the fight for freedom and they eventually won.
“The struggle started with the time of slavery when slaves were fighting for freedom and …that freedom came only partially, but was replaced by bound labour, and that struggle became hard and mainly it was the immigrants from India who carried out that struggle to end indentureship.”
According to President Ramotar, it wasn’t until after that freedom was achieved that Guyanese were able to enjoy the right to practice their own religion, the right to vote, the right to an education and many other basic rights now being enjoyed.
Apart from achieving this, the President noted that it is equally important that the cultures of the various ethnic groups have been preserved and maintained.
“Our foreparents joined in the struggle for independence and democracy, and to be free …we have achieved with great sacrifice and we have managed to maintain the cultures, the dance, the food, and this should be a tribute to our foreparents, this was an enormous achievement.”
President Ramotar added that one of the objectives of colonialism was to wipe out culture, but they did not succeed.
“Today we must use the example of our foreparents as we carry on the struggle to build a better society, multi- cultural, multi- racial; and one good thing is that we want to build and we are building from the different strands from where we came.”

The President, speaking to the government’s development efforts being thwarted, pointed to the combined Opposition’s non-support to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill, as well as the recent cuts to the national budget.
He further called on all to show their support for continued progress in taking Guyana forward to make it a better place for all.
Meanwhile various groups from the area treated the large gathering to songs, dances and dramatic pieces.(GINA)