– stresses equal opportunities for all in the run-up to first-oil

AS Guyana celebrates Emancipation Day today, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) is calling on citizens and leaders to do away with ethno-racial inequality once and for all.
Challenging all ethnic groups in the country to actively participate in this cause, the WPA said in a statement Monday:
“However uncomfortable it is, the issue of ethno-racial inequality must be addressed if Guyana is to realise its full potential as a viable, diverse society, in which all its citizens enjoy a sense of security.

“It is for that reason that the WPA urges Guyanese to use this Emancipation anniversary as both a moment of remembering and another opportunity to reaffirm our collective commitment to ethnic and racial equality in word and deed.”
The group is also calling for equal access to opportunities, even more so, as the country approaches the beginning of oil production, and for these opportunities to be safeguarded by firm policies.

**“We urge the leaders to devise and support policies that would ensure that all ethnic groups share our common economic benefits. It is particularly important that we begin to think about ways to democratically distribute the potential benefits from the imminent oil- and-gas sector so that increased wealth contributes to national cohesion, rather that exacerbate our already fragile ethnicity.

“Economic development cannot be managed outside of our ethnic realities. WPA, therefore, reiterates its long-held view that economic advance must be hinged on a political solution of which ethno-racial respect and unity is a central plank,” the document said.

Within its message, the WPA also recognised its members who continuously played important roles in the African-Guyanese community, singling out former politician Brother Eusi Kwayana.

They credited him with pioneering the cultural awakening of many African- Guyanese, resulting in black empowerment and pride.

“That we observe Emancipation Day as a public holiday in Guyana is due in large measure to Brother Eusi’s example, advocacy and leadership. His dedication to the cause of black dignity and uplift will forever be etched in the consciousness of African-Guyanese and he continues to serve as an inspiration to all who raise the banner of black empowerment and black pride,” the release said.

The WPA celebrates with African-Guyanese on this the 180th anniversary of the end of chattel slavery and states that Emancipation Day must continue to be a moment of rejoicing over the defeat of slavery.

The body related: “The WPA salutes African-Guyanese on this their special moment of memory and celebration. Memory of the period of enslavement is necessary as a reminder of how the lust for power and accumulation of wealth could lead to institutionalised exploitation…any people who overcame such a brutal system should be proud of themselves. That Africans continue to survive the dread realities of post-Emancipation is a tribute to their resilience.”