…as President Granger urges residents to stick with ‘Coalition’

LEADER of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and President of Guyana, Brigadier David Granger, said as was done in 1964 when the electorate placed the mantle of leadership into the hands of Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham to lead the country into political independence, Linden and the rest of Guyana must now step up to the task, and throw their support behind the PNCR and its coalition partners as lead the country into an era of economic development.

“Give us a chance to continue…My brothers and sisters, in 1964 the electorate placed the burden, the mantle of Leadership on the shoulders of Linden Forbes Burnham, who gave his name to this beautiful town. He had the task of leading the country into independence, into political independence. Next year, we will launch a decade of economic development. Once again the PNC has the task of leading this country into an era of economic development. The PNC will provide that leadership to Guyana,” President Granger told the crowd. At the time, he was addressing thousands of PNCR supporters who had journeyed from communities across the country to celebrate the PNCR’s 62nd Anniversary at Co-op Crescent, Linden. “My brothers and sisters, the PNC was born 62 years ago when our people cried out for firm leadership and for fair government. They wanted a government for everyone, not just for a few,” the party leader told the mammoth crowd of supporters. He said Burnham, in full adherence to the cries of the people, founded the PNC.

“From the time we were born, we were born to lead. We led our country to independence in 1966, and we are leading the country with greater independence now in 2019 on our 62nd birthday,” he said.

While alluding to the fact that the PNC entered government in 1964, President Granger explained that the party, just seven years old at the time, entered into a coalition. That, he said, marked the era of massive transformative development in the country. Refreshing the minds of Guyanese, he pointed out that it was under the PNC Government that the Linden-Soesdyke Highway and the University of Guyana were built while housing schemes were rapidly established along with other key infrastructure in the health, education, water, electricity, agriculture and transportation sectors. Importantly, he said the Burnham-led PNC Administration encouraged economic empowerment and entrepreneurship in its quest to reduce inequalities and poverty. “We were the pioneers of the Caribbean Community, even before we became independent… On the July 4, 1965, Forbes Burnham went to Errol Barrow in Barbados and he launched CARIFESTA – even before we became independent, that’s a visionary man that founded our party,” he said.

SERVING THE PEOPLE
Now that the PNC is in government again, under a similar construct to that of 1964, as part of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change, he said it remains committed to serving the people of Guyana. He noted that the six-party coalition was elected to government in May, 2015 by the masses who believed in the notion of shared governance. Since then to now, he said the record shows that the coalition government has been delivering on its commitments to the people.

“We restored democracy by having two Local Government Elections in four years, and the PPP couldn’t have Local Government Elections in 20 years. The PPP removed 36 elected NDCs and installed IMCs. We have been in government for four years, and four months, and we have not installed one IMC,” he pointed out. Added to that, President Granger took note of the fact that his government established four towns – Bartica, Lethem, Mabaruma and Mahadia – in his push to empower local authorities while decentralising public services.

SECURITY SECTOR
Turning his attention to the security sector, the President said his government has brought an end to the “massacre,” “death squads,” “phantom units” and “troubles” that rocked Guyana under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

“We have restored calm and we will continue to restore calm after March 2 next year. The days of the ‘Troubles’ must never return. The days of the phantom squads must never return, the days of extra-judicial killings must never return, the days of drug wars must never return,” he said.

He added, “We have restored confidence in government, confidence to improve human safety, confidence to reform the security sector.”

President Granger, who is also Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, made it clear that his government will continue to sweep the Guyana Police Force clean of rogue cops, noting that there is no place for corrupt practices. To ensure safer communities and a reduction in crime, the PNCR, along with its coalition partners in government, will be establishing police divisions in all 10 Administrative Regions.

“My brothers and sisters, we are defending our territorial integrity against Venezuelan claims,” he further pointed out. It was after the APNU+AFC Government took office, that the Guyana/Venezuela Border Controversy was referred to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by the United Nations for a resolution.

Under his watch, the country’s economy has seen positive growth from 3.2 per cent in 2015 to 4.1 per cent in 2018. In 2018, Guyana also benefitted from $89B in new investment, which will in turn generate over 1,600 jobs. He told the PNC supporters that his government has been actively reversing the financial mismanagement in the rice and sugar sectors. “We are putting right a lot of the damage that the PPP left us with. We are fixing the school at Kato which could not have been occupied…We are fixing the stelling at Supenaam,” he said.

SERIOUS INJURIES
He said Bharrat Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar – the two former Presidents that served under the PPP – have inflicted serious injuries on Guyana through poor management of the country’s resources but his government will do all it can, though not easy, to remedy the situation.

With the Oil and Gas Sector on the horizon, the government has also established an Energy Department to manage the development of the sector and the petroleum resources of the country. “Everyone will benefit from petroleum. It is not for one little cabal; it is not for one little group of businessmen, all Guyanese will benefit because the bulk of the money is going to the Sovereign Wealth Fund and that Fund will be used for you and your children and for generations to come,” he said to loud rounds of applause.

Turning his attention to Linden, President Granger reaffirmed PNC’s commitment to the development of the town and its people. “Linden loves the PNC and the PNC loves Linden…You have stood by us through hard times and easy times and we will stand by you. PNC will never let Linden down,” he said to loud cheers. He said the PNC, and by extension, his government, has not forgotten Linden. His government, he said, is reversing the decay and the neglect that Guyana was left in after 23 years of PPP Government between 1992 and 2015. Linden, Region 10 has benefitted from more than $4B from the State Budget, as government improves public service.

The establishment of the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN), the construction of the Linden Magistrate’s Court and the Linden Passport Office among others, are just a few of the developments in the town he said. The Linden Hospital Complex has also benefitted from a donation of over $6M from the People’s Republic of China. Under construction, he pointed out, is the town’s first synthetic track. “So things are happening in Linden and life will become better. We will continue to support the improvement of Internet access in Linden, we will establish a call centre at Kara Kara to create 150 jobs, and we have collaborated in the construction of a women’s centre and we built two new community centres in Amelia’s Ward,” he added. Five hundred additional houselots will also be developed and two wells constructed. The Linden to Lethem Road will also be upgraded, he further pledged.
“We know we have much work to do, but give us a chance to complete the work,” he urged Lindeners and rest of Guyana.

“My brothers and sisters we are approaching March next year, one more time we will be put to the test but it is a test that we have passed before and it is a test that Linden passed with flying colours. We deserve another five-year term to continue the work that we have started. We are confident that this is what you want,” President Granger said.