– President Granger stresses equity in printing of stamps

THE Government of Guyana will announce shortly, national symbols to celebrate the lives and works of former Presidents of Guyana, Raymond Arthur Chung, OE and Dr Cheddi Jagan, OE, within the context of set criteria for honouring eminent Guyanese.

This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the births of both former Presidents. In a release, the Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP) said President David Granger said that the Cabinet has taken a decision that commemorative stamps, which are national symbols, must adhere to national criteria. He added that such symbols must not be used for private, partisan or political messages, but ought to be used for national purposes.
The Head of State made these comments in light of press statements issued by the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (CJRC) and former Chairman of the Guyana Post Office Corporation, Mr Juan Edghill, regarding the printing of commemorative stamps to honour Dr Jagan as proposed by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic. According to the MoTP, President Granger said that there is no objection to honouring the life and legacy of Dr Jagan, whom he described as “one of the founders of the Guyanese nation”, but added that Cabinet is of the view that there should be equity in the printing of such commemorative stamps, which are national symbols.

The Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) had announced the launch of a Cheddi Jagan Commemorative Stamp to mark his 100th birth anniversary. At a news conference back in February, Public Telecommunications Minister Catherine Hughes disclosed that the GPOC had entered into an arrangement with the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, to produce a philatelic stamp to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Dr Cheddi Jagan – one of Guyana’s founding leaders. The former president was born on March 22, 1918. “The stamp was designed and is being produced by the Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation located in New Jersey, USA. This company is a long-time philatelic contractor with the GPOC, and I understand that it also produces stamps and related materials for postal services all across the Caribbean,” the minister detailed.
The special Cheddi Jagan Centenary stamp will be unveiled and made available to the public in March, she added, while stating that the corporation looks forward to continuing its relationship with the CJRC.

Due to the delay in the printing of the stamps, the centre says it “views this as a deliberate attempt on the part of the government to frustrate an activity planned on March 20 to launch the stamp.” It added that it was given all assurances both by the GPO and the subject Minister Cathy Hughes, that the stamp would be available on time for the launch, only to be told by the post office that it should contact the Office of the President for release of the stamps. “We find it strange that what should have been a routine transaction between the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre and the Guyana Post Office Corporation has now been politically interfered with.