“DEATH must not find us thinking that we die… too soon, too soon our banner drape for you,” were the words of famous poet, Martin Carter, in his poem, “Death of a Comrade”.
These words fittingly described Horace James at his funeral service on Saturday, which saw a large crowd of Lindeners joining his relatives, friends, colleagues and regional and government officials, to bid him farewell.

Present were Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Basil Williams; Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott; former President, Samuel Hinds; former opposition leader, Robert Corbin; and a host of regional officials.

While life’s journey has ended for the indefatigable James, it will never kill his legacy in Linden, and though he has indeed left too soon, all it will take is for each Lindener to take a page out of his book of humility, generosity, professionalism, voluntarism and activism, to finish the work he had started.

Using the opening poetic quote was Minister Keith Scott, who brought a message of condolence on behalf of President David Granger and the entire government. He hailed James as a game-changer, trail blazer, standard setter and an outstanding son of the soil, who made significant contributions toward the development of the mining fraternity, in particular the bauxite industry. James’ contributions will remain immeasurable and will always be remembered as a catalyst for development.

“His performance was of unquestionable standard, which qualified him, to being a true game-changer in the fields of both national and human development.” Minister Scott said that James took his last breath after fighting cancer for some time, knowing that he fought a good fight, kept the faith and laid a foundation on which others can build.

“He has certainly gone too soon, his achievements are so dynamic that he will live on for many generations to come, as we gather here today to celebrate his life, let us not fail to recognise that the community of Linden is what it is today because of the tireless inputs of comrade James. As we say farewell to him, I hope the younger generations will emulate the virtues and standards which he has left behind,” Scott posited.

While James did not display an ardent interest in politics, since he was more focused on community development, utilising his professional background as a mining engineer, he did accept the position as the first regional chairman of Region 10 by the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR).

TRUE HERO
Paying tribute on behalf of the party was Robert Corbin, who described James as being steadfast in and out of season. Corbin too alluded to Carter’s words of “too soon, too soon, the banner drapes for you”. He said James was a true hero of Linden and Lindeners must find hope in the fact that James did not live a purposeless life, but fought tirelessly for the survival of the bauxite industry and the general advancement of Linden so the quality of life for Lindeners can improve.

“Indeed his work on earth is done, and we must take comfort that it was a job well done….we acknowledge and thank him for his many contributions,” Corbin told the gathering at the funeral.

Former President Samuel Hinds, brought greetings on behalf of the opposition. He said that while James’ political affiliation differed from his, this however, did not have any bearing on his professionalism in his position as CEO of the bauxite company, or their friendship. Hinds said during the difficult years of bauxite mining, when privatisation was seen as the only option out, James fought to the end to keep the company alive. He gave the workers hope as it did not allow the economic landscape of Linden to be completely affected by privatisation.

“I can praise the work of Horace, through those very difficult and troubling times,” Hinds said.
With the downsizing of the bauxite company, the glory days of Linden slowly became a thing of the past. James’ successor at the Linmine Secretariat, Emit Alves, said that it was James’ only desire, to see Linden return to those glory days as he had a great passion for development.

LEGACY MUST LIVE ON
Even during his last days of life, Alves related that only talk of development would brighten James’ spirit. For this, he believes that his legacy should live on, through the naming of a street or building in honour of him. He urged Lindeners to bond together, put aside their differences and work towards the development of the community, as James would have done.

“In honour of his legacy, let all stakeholders join hands together and move our community, our region, our country forward,” Alves urged.

Representative from NICIL, Gary Reid, described James as “not a boss, but as a leader,” who was always ready to pass on knowledge to his subordinates.
“At NICIL, we really miss a friend, a senior leader, a father, a brother… he was never concerned about race, he was concerned about getting the work done, and that is the man… today, we miss not only a good friend, but a good leader,” he said. He urged other CEOs and leaders to take a page out of James’ book and this would make Guyana a better place.

In eulogising James, his brother Bryan James described Horace as an excellent performer at school, which led to him to become one of Guyana’s earlier scholars. While he wore many hats and many professional positions, he never turned his back on family and often travelled back to Mahaicony to hold family gatherings.

James was born on June 30, 1950, in Mahaicony and was the fourth of six children. He returned from studies in the United Kingdom as a mining engineer and served in the bauxite company as project engineer, senior engineer and deputy CEO before becoming the CEO in 1998. He served one-year, in 1980, as regional chairman, but because his heart was in the bauxite company, he returned in 1981. He became CEO of Linden Electricity Company in 2003. He was also CEO of the Linmine Secretariat.

James had also served as a Director of the Linden Technical Institute (LTI) and the Linden Community Development (LCD), the Bauxite Centennial Committee, the Linden Legal Aid, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and the Linden Museum. He leaves to mourn his wife Ann James, son Hillheir Emptage, brothers, sisters, other relatives and the town of Linden.