It was apt that former President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo was the main speaker at the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) business dinner two Friday nights ago at the Princess Hotel, where under the theme ‘A green economy – Opportunities for the private sector in Guyana,’ he explained that the “catastrophic” consequences of climate change necessitate a review in the planning process of development of countries and bemoaned the lack of concrete action to address this problem.

It is heartening to know that former President Jagdeo still strides tall in the consciousness of this nation because, indubitably, he has been the architect of modern Guyana and has globally brought honour to Guyana after Jonestown.

Guyana had been a little-known country, its name previously mistaken with places like Ghana and Guinea.  However, thanks to the brilliant leadership and dynamism that has characterized Bharrat Jagdeo’s presidency, Guyana and its President are on the radar of all the powerful nations and organizations in the world.

And this fact, and every successful project and programme that President Jagdeo has initiated in the nation, in the region, and on the international landscape, really hurts the sensibilities of his detractors. They certainly have lost their reason as they trump up an unending litany of allegations against Guyana’s former President.

But his attentive audience of the elite shapers of Guyana’s economy – what Dr. Jagan had termed Guyana’s “engine of growth” – the Private Sector, once again experienced the dynamism of a man who enabled this nation to become recognized at world fora as a “middle-class economy”.

One must be myopic not to see the massive development that has transformed this country, in all the sectors, since the PPP/C took office in 1992; otherwise one can readily gauge the transformation from 1992 to current times.

It’s not on the agenda of Opposition media to give credence to persons who are genuinely appreciative of the changes in the country, where everyone is provided an opportunity to thrive and enhance their lives and lifestyles.

A case in point is their lambasting and caricaturing of the Private Sector Commission for supporting Dr. Ashni Singh’s successive Budgets, while glorifying a slanderous and nebulous report emanating from COHA (Council on Hemispheric Affairs) – an organisation which has no credible base and no trustworthy source.

It is not surprising that this report has been debunked by former US state officials, because President Jagdeo has breached the frontiers and is recognized worldwide as an astute leader who has taken his country to hitherto unimaginable heights in the global dynamics.

A prophet is never honoured in his own country; but time and history will record his achievements – as a person in his own right, and, moreso, as a leader who has won for his country a prominent place on the global map.