THE Guyana/Venezuela territorial controversy and local government elections 2018 were among key issues brought to the fore when the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) held its first General Council meeting for 2018 at party headquarters, Congress Place, Sophia, on Saturday under the theme, “PNCR – The Vanguard of a Green Economy”.

Party Leader and President of Guyana, David Granger, in referring to the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy, said the country is currently in the best place it has ever been in 52 years. Guyana has been successful in having the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres refer the territorial controversy to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for final settlement.

Calling for citizens to be vigilant, President Granger said that the best guarantee of Guyana’s defence was its people. In this regard, he said “the militia was on the march again”.
Iterating the importance of the Guyana People’s Militia (GPM) to the security of the nation, he called on party members and supporters to enlist. The party leader noted too that community policing plays a critical role in the security of neighbourhoods and the suppression of crime, and as such, urged that Guyanese come forward and volunteer for community policing.
“We have to establish a system which can guarantee the safety of every citizen of this country,” the leader said.

Acknowledging that 2018 would be a very challenging year for the PNCR, the party leader said more must be done to improve the party’s work in communities all across the country in preparation for local government elections.
The leader of the PNCR recommitted the party to A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). “We are better together, we are not leaving APNU, all five parties will stay together and contest the local government elections,” he said, while adding that “as a nation we are heading for great times”.

He urged the party leaders to stand firmly in the face of those who were peddling negativity. “We have to ignore the negativity, our economy is growing, it is being prudently managed,” the party leader said, while pointing out that there was a 3.5 per cent growth in the economy over the last year.

SUGAR
Turning his attention to the sugar industry, the leader said, “we are reforming the sugar industry, we are consolidating the industry, not closing the industry.” He told General Council that a plan was being put in place to keep the sugar industry alive and that workers who were terminated will get their benefits.

In an address that covered several areas of national interest, the party leader called for a revival of the village economy; stressed the importance of agro-processing, buying and eating local produce and the creation of jobs for youth and women.
PNCR Chairman Basil Williams, in his welcoming remarks, also took stock of the developments surrounding the Guyana/Venezuela territorial controversy, and used the opportunity to applaud President Granger on his leadership of the country over the last 30 months in securing this outcome.

Williams also noted Guyana’s commitment to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to implement all of their recommendations and so remove Guyana from the blacklist of FATF and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force.
“Many good things are happening in our economy as billions have been spent and will continue to be spent for the benefit of the people. Comrades, unimaginable prosperity looms for the Guyanese people. To guarantee that prosperity we must win local government elections this year and General and Regional Elections in 2020,” the chairman said.

In her report to the General Council, Party General-Secretary (GS), Amna Ally brought the Council up to date on the state of the party and the work of the party secretariat over the period between General Councils. She informed members that the party was already in campaign mode for the upcoming local government elections. She called for regional leaders to work harder in their communities in order to secure victory in the 62 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and nine municipalities. Ally also called on all party leaders to work relentlessly to achieve success; she called for good leadership, good governance and a united party.
The General Council is the second highest decision-making forum of the PNCR and meets once every quarter.