GUYANA Defence Force paratroopers are heading to Barbados to be part of that country’s 50th Anniversary celebrations, Chief-of-staff of the military Brigadier George Lewis has confirmed
Lewis could not readily disclose how many paratroopers will be on the flight to Bridgetown and under whose command they will be. “Let me confirm that yes, we are sending troops,” Lewis told the Guyana Chronicle last evening.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, State Minister Joseph Harmon also confirmed that President David Granger will be attending Barbados’s 50th anniversary of independence on November 30, 2016. This was disclosed at the post-cabinet media briefing hosted by Harmon.
The Guyanese leader accepted the invitation from Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart, to attend the celebrations, Harmon stated.

“The honourable Prime Minister of Barbados was a guest of the Government of Guyana for our own celebrations in May of this year,” he said.
Prime Minister Stuart was awarded Guyana’s second highest national award, the Order of Roraima. The Barbados Prime Minister was presented with the honour in recognition of his support for the rights of Small Island and Low Coastal Developing States, his advocacy for CARICOM’s demand for reparations for the citizens of the Caribbean Region, and his contribution to the reduction of the impact of climate change in the Region.
President Granger had said, the Prime Minister distinguished himself as “a doughty defender of the territorial integrity of Guyana and Belize and the maritime space of all Caribbean states.”
Barbados gained its independence on November 30, 1966. The highlights of their 50th anniversary celebrations include the decorative lighting of Parliament Buildings, Independence Square, the Independence Arch and businesses throughout the capital Bridgetown, using the national colours.