THE Late President, Dr Cheddi Jagan was hailed as a patriot, strong advocate of development and global reformer when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) hosted “A Night of Reflection” on the lawns of State House on Friday.The event organised by the PYO and attended by scores of activists, focused on the life and work of Dr Jagan and how it contributed to change both locally and globally.

Addressing a packed gathering, former President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo said Dr Jagan realised that with globalisation, there will be cross-border issues beyond the control of individual states that would require collective solutions.
These, he said, include human trafficking, drug trafficking and money laundering, noting that the New Human Global Order recognised these challenges and called for global action to have them addressed.
The New Human Global Order aims at promoting a new and enlightened partnership for peace and development, involving all actors of the world community, based on mutual respect, democratic governance and popular participation to deal with the challenges of development, poverty eradication and to address the growing disparities, among and within countries.
The visionary document tabled by Guyana before the United Nations General Assembly on November 24, 2000 was adopted by consensus.
Dr Jagdeo also noted that when the former President first spoke about debt relief, the ideal was viewed by some in the international community as a bit “wacko”, but Guyana under the early 1992 PPP Administration succeed in getting both bilateral and multilateral debt write-offs.
Guyana benefitted from US$1.8 billion in debt relief while it paid $1.5 billion, and today, many countries have also benefitted from the idea which is now a global policy.
Dr Jagdeo also told his audience that today, climate change is a big issue, contending that the planet is hurling towards a catastrophe. This matter, he said was also recognised by the founding PPP leader, who was cognisant of the likely devastating impact it would have on poor and vulnerable populations if not addressed by a global response.
Passionate advocate
Today, he pointed out Guyana is at the forefront in the global arena in advocating for a safer planet and for collective action to tackle climate change.
According to Dr Jagdeo, unlike what the People’s National Congress (PNC) Desmond Hoyte Government claims, the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) was not the work of the party, but rather an imposition by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to the poor state of the economy at the time.
He recalled as a young Junior Finance Minister, Dr Jagan advising his Cabinet to “Walk between the raindrops”.
He said what the late President meant was that the PPP Administration cannot escape the fact that it inherited the IMF imposition from the PNC Government, and will have to accept it, but would not do so wholly, as some maneuvering will be made.
He said Dr Jagan instead of slashing jobs in the public service as called for by the IMF; he adjusted expenditure, allocating more money to vital sectors such as health and education.
And through prudent management of the economy, he said Guyana eventually worked its way out of IMF management.
But he pointed out the road was not an easy one, noting that many hurdles had to be crossed. The bureaucracy, he said was overwhelming, recalling that persons had to get permit to import simple vital goods. This, he said was changed and the process is far much simpler today.
However, he said it was just one of the challenges to development, and it was these hurdles that led the Government to craft the National Development Strategy, outlining its developmental agenda and the direction of the country.
The process included inputs from civil society, and even though the PNC was invited to contribute to the plan, they refused, Dr Jagdeo said.
But he told the gathering that with or without the contribution of the Opposition, development under the PPP Government will continue as it is and will always be the duty of any PPP Government. This, he said is the vision and guiding philosophy of Dr Jagan.