HUNDREDS of Buxtonians and neighbouring villagers who attended the First of August Movement Emancipation celebration on Wednesday, were assured that the government is committed to their development.

This assurance came from Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, who spoke at Buxton Market Square on the African Guyanese Emancipation agenda and Guyana’s emerging oil and gas economy.

Also in attendance were Education Minister, Dr. Nicolette Henry and Cultural and African rights activist, Dr. David Hinds.

Harmon said the African Guyanese who gave their lives to build Guyana made a sacrifice that all Guyanese can be proud of.

He reminded, however, that the removal of slavery did not come easily and the barbaric system was only abolished because it became uneconomical due to the resistance of the enslaved.

On that score, Harmon told the gathering that while it is important to celebrate freedom from the physical shackles of slavery, Guyanese must be equally vested in freeing themselves from mental slavery.

“Emancipation is not only a physical process where the shackles are removed from one’s feet; the shackles must also be removed from one’s mind. True emancipation is a process that begins in the mind… in spite of the intense programme of de-humanisation of our ancestors by the colonial masters they never succeeded in removing the spark of freedom and economic enterprise from their minds. This spark will, with the garnering of oil and gas resources, now burst into flames of economic prosperity and social security,” he stated.

The director-general said the coalition government has and will continue to create enabling environments for the development of all Guyanese through funds from the oil sector.

He added that similarly to the way freed slaves pooled their resources to build schools, churches and communities, modern-day Guyanese must be ready and willing to do the same despite ethnic differences.

“No more should there be stretches of highways where the provision of street lights is determined by the people who live in the communities where those highways pass. No more should there be proper drainage and irrigation and farm-to-market roads, or the lack thereof, all based on the people occupying those areas. There is overwhelming evidence that these instances were all prevalent during the 23 years prior to 2015,” he said.

However, to prepare Guyanese to benefit from oil and gas, Harmon said the education sector must be upgraded to cater for curriculum reform and citizens must continue to tap into the advantages of information and communications technology (ICT).

“In this regard, the government has devoted the largest slice of its budget to education. This has allowed us to build new schools with smart classrooms and to provide Internet connectivity in our schools. We aim to do more in all of our schools. The work has started and will continue. I hope that you will allow us to continue that work when the next elections come around,” he said.

Giving examples close to home, he named the rehabilitation of the Buxton Secondary School and in the inclusion of a new Science Laboratory as improvements towards this end.

Buxton will also receive group training in ICT and website designing from the Ministry of Public Telecommunications and Harmon encouraged residents to take advantage of this opportunity.

Meanwhile, two students from the village were presented with new electronic tablets from the Public Telecommunications Ministry.

Harmon also informed the gathering that the second largest allocation in the 2019 budget went to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and this is proof that the government wants all of Guyana to benefit from improved infrastructure.

DEVELOPMENTAL WORKS

He also announced that Ministry of Public Infrastructure has approved contracts for the development of Company Path Road at $32M and for the rehabilitation of Middle Walk Road at $41M.

At the same time, an additional set of street lights will be donated to the First of August Movement to be placed in needed areas in the village.

He also indicated that the improvement of the state of farm-to-market roads and canals in the village, as requested, will be looked into by the government.

“It is in the interest of the Guyanese African communities to ensure that there is no return to the rampant corruption, nepotism and racial discrimination that existed between the years 1992 and 2015, all of which perpetrated a system that resulted in the marginalisation and oppression of large sections our country, especially the African Guyanese communities,” Harmon said.

He added: “The Government of President, David Granger, is particularly committed to providing the enabling environment for the development of our villages and communities; to do whatever it takes, when the resources become available, to ensure that our villages and our rural communities across Guyana are given every assistance, every opportunity for economic and social development.”

Leading up to the main cultural presentation at the Square, a libation ceremony was held at the Emancipation Monument nearby.

It was spearheaded by the First of August Movement in collaboration with several spiritual churches.

“Every year, for 50 years, we have been celebrating the first of August,” Chair of the Movement, Yvette Herod told this newspaper.

Noting that the monument signifies the abolition of slavery, she added: “Tonight, what we’re doing is celebrating the eve of Emancipation. It means that we have our libation here with these churches and then we go on the line top [at the Market Square] and we have cultural presentations.”

Over at the square, prior to Harmon’s arrival, the audience was entertained by poems, songs and dancing to popular folk songs such as ‘Timber Heavy Load’, ‘Brown Skin Girl’, ‘Sancho Lick He Lover Pon De Dam’, ‘Jane Engaged’ and more.

Music came from the beats of steel pans and drums. There were also calypso performances and the telling of ‘Anancy stories’.