PRESIDENT David Granger on Thursday issued a rallying call for Guyanese not to dwell on the past, but to look with faith to the future, contending that 2016 presents an opportunity for Guyana to be more united and to hasten economic development.Guyana on May 26 will celebrate 50 years as an independent nation, and the President urged that the sacrifices of those who died in the struggle serve as an inspiration to guide this country tomorrow and beyond.
The President and Commander-in -Chief of the Armed Forces in an address to Parliament yesterday, struck an optimistic note as he outlined his vision for Guyana in the years ahead.
“We are proud of our accomplishments since achieving political independence over the past 50 years. We now look forward to the achievement of economic independence over the next 50 years. We shall be prouder when we employ our energies and efforts in this special year of our ‘national renaissance’ to remove the remaining obstacles that still keep us disunited, and to chart a course that will bring happiness to our people. It is now time to set forth on a new pathway to progress,” he told attentive parliamentarians from both sides of the House.
Over the past 50 years, Guyana has toiled to repair a country that had been damaged by disunity and division. It strove to create a community of comity and unity and sought to satisfy the needs of her people by expanding public education, health, communication and transportation services.
Guyana has also built an airport, bridges, highways, housing schemes, schools, a university and established new national institutions such as the Office of the Ombudsman and the Court of Appeal.
Aside from these, President Granger also noted that Guyana created a credible foreign service and has cemented international friendships and alliances to secure its territory from external aggression.
RENEWAL
“Our Golden Jubilee year presents us with the challenge of renewing the “Independence Covenant” and of rekindling the enterprising ‘spirit of 26th May’,” the President said, noting that it will be devoted to the rebirth and the renewal of the promise of economic independence and resilience.
“Independent statehood vested us with the responsibility of being guardians of our territory, custodians of our national patrimony and masters of our own destiny. Our new status imposed an obligation to improve our citizens’ access to public services.
“Independence promised expanded opportunities and enhanced security. It engendered hopes of a “good life” for all. The fulfilment of these hopes rested, in part, on the new nation’s capability to build a resilient economy upon the remnants of the old order. The old colonial economy had produced an army of landless and impoverished peasants and workers. It had consigned the mass of our people to an existence of persistent poverty. It had doomed our country to a destiny of dependency,” he said.
The new state was expected to surmount the legacy and impediments of three and a half centuries of economic exploitation, educate masses of unemployed young people; enhance the productive capacity of workers; eradicate poverty; and to ensure everyone’s well-being.
These, Mr Granger told Parliament, have not been easy tasks. The old economy was dominated by six commodities – rice, sugar, bauxite, gold, diamonds and timber.
And excessive economic dependence on the export earnings of these six primary commodities exposed Guyana to the volatilities of global commodity prices. The old economy was susceptible to external shocks.
UNCONSUMMATED
“The ‘Independence Covenant,’ therefore, remains unconsummated. Our task today is to complete our mission by securing, within the next decade, a ‘good life’ for all Guyanese. The necessity of economic transformation cannot be denied or delayed. We must act resolutely to implement the reforms that are essential to building a resilient economy — one that is adaptive to the changes and responsive to the challenges of the global economy,” Mr Granger said.
He urged that in doing so, Guyana must recognise some of the other impediments imposed by the circumstances under which it attained Independence 50 years ago.
These impediments must now be overcome, the President said, if Guyana is to achieve the economic basis for a higher quality of life.
“Our Golden Jubilee is a propitious moment for all Guyanese to put an end to hateful and unhelpful political discord, disaffection and disunity. Our Golden Jubilee is a golden opportunity for us to cement national unity at the political level and at the economic level,” he stressed, adding that it is time to redouble efforts to eradicate poverty.
“Our gvernment is committed to promoting sustained economic growth with enhanced, distributive justice so that inequalities are reduced and opportunities are increased. Our vision is for every Guyanese to be able to enjoy a ‘good life.’ Achieving a ‘good life’ is not a wish or a dream. It requires greater equality of opportunity in order to attain economic growth. A ‘good life’ is about removing inequalities and providing opportunities for every citizen to be the best he or she can be,” the President said.
By Tajeram Mohabir