GUYANA has lost another prominent academic, child psychiatrist and former Minister in the Peoples National Congress Government, Dr. Faith Harding who died yesterday at the age of 68.

The Guyana Chronicle was informed that Dr. Harding passed away at the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Georgetown where she was recently admitted.
This publication last spoke with Dr. Harding on Friday when we were trying to secure an interview on her Impact Programme which she launched in 2012 targeting several women’s groups and underprivileged communities.
The former government minister was reportedly being treated for a severe cold at the time of her passing according to sources close to her.
Yesterday when this publication visited the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital a hearse from the Merriman’s Funeral Home arrived at the facility and removed the body which was taken to the funeral parlour located on Lime and Bent Street in Georgetown.
Efforts to contact the woman’s husband Patrick Harding last evening were futile. Dr. Harding lived in Queenstown with her husband and would usually use her home as her office where she would see patients.
During her lifetime, Dr. Harding worked with the PNC Government from 1989 to 1992 when that party lost the general elections. During her stint as the Minister of Public Service, Dr. Harding is reported to have transformed the way the agency did business in her time.
She was also regarded as a woman who used her parliamentary presence to push for legislation that brought about avenues regarding the rights of women and children.
Following her stint as a minister of the government she then moved on to travel around the world on behalf of the United Nations and other organisations.
When her tenure with those agencies were over she returned to Guyana and again became active when she entered the race for the presidential candidacy of her party, the Peoples National Congress Reform which she claimed cheated her of her true number of votes.
Harding then settled down working with communities, children and women’s issues and spoke out on several issues which she considered to be pivotal to the development of Guyana and its people.
Dr. Faith Harding leaves to mourn her husband, Patrick Harding, son, Patrick Harding Jr. her grandson and daughter-in-law among other relatives and friends.

(By Leroy Smith)