IN his New Year message to the nation, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali re-assured Guyanese of the new and exciting prospects that lie ahead of us. He also took the opportunity to highlight some of the progress made during the course of the last year and some of the challenges the country faced and continue to face as we enter the new year of 2022.

It was a message of hope and confidence. The President was passionate in his desire to see a Guyana where the spirit of unity, cohesiveness and oneness will be the defining characteristics, fully cognisant of the fact that there are challenges that have to be overcome. The road to a harmonious and prosperous Guyana is not one without its challenges, but the President is optimistic that with genuine commitment and real resolve to put in place the necessary programmes and policies, it could happen. According to President Ali, “I agreed to seek the presidency of our One Nation because, to the marrow in every bone in my body, I wanted to help fashion and implement policies that would benefit every person in Guyana, regardless of race, colour or creed.”

These are indeed profound words coming from someone who in the early stages of his professional and political life sought to change society in deeply profound and fundamental ways. His contributions to the housing sector, to water and policy formulation and implementation were evident even before he was elected to the presidency of Guyana. Now that he is in the driver’s seat, that desire and passion to improve the quality of life of the Guyanese people in a more holistic and comprehensive manner is further energised.

Guyana is a plural and diverse society, one in which there is no privileged race or ethnicity. Guyana belongs to all Guyanese in equal measure, regardless of ethnicity or political affiliation. Whatever developments or economic and social progress the country has made or will make in the coming period ahead must redound to the good of the entire society. Political power, for the President and his PPP/C administration, is not an end in itself, but the means to a much greater end, namely to create the conditions for a better Guyana, one in which there is peace, progress and prosperity for all.

This is why every ounce of energy and resource of the President and his PPP/C administration is expended with only one objective in mind, namely to advance the quality of life of the Guyanese people. This is reflected both at the policy and programmatic levels in almost every facet of life that matters to the Guyanese people. It is in the above context that the government has aggressively confronted COVID-19 to a point where Guyana is ahead of several countries in the Region in terms of its vaccination programme against the deadly virus. Over 441, 000 persons have already received their first doses of the vaccine and more than 317,000 have already been fully vaccinated. This is ahead of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) projected global target, a clear indication of the effort made by the administration in the interest of the health and well-being of the Guyanese people.

In addition to the vaccination programme, over $7.5 billion worth of COVID-19 relief cash grants to households across all 10 regions of Guyana have been disbursed, which provided a lifeline to countless families, while at the same time injecting critical liquidity into the economy. The same could be said for the several other cash interventions such as billions spent in flood relief to farmers and a one-off cash payment to retrenched sugar workers. These and several other policy interventions have impacted positively on the quality of life of the Guyanese people, especially the more disadvantaged groups in our society.

The benefits to the nation since the PPP/C administration took office in August 2020 are substantial, but it is only the beginning of bigger things to come, both from a material and cultural standpoint. The face of the country is changing, thanks to the several mega-projects, some of which have already commenced and some which are soon to commence. But the developments we are experiencing go way beyond improvements such as the development of new roads, housing projects, bridges, harbours and ports. It is also about the consolidation of our democracy and the institutionalisation of a culture of transparency and accountability. It is about the rule of law and the creation of a society in which fear does not permeate the minds of law-abiding citizens.

But it is the idea of a ‘One Guyana,’ the brainchild of President Ali that is the philosophical cornerstone of our new Guyana, one characterised by mutual love and respect, one in which there is equality of opportunity and a pathway to higher levels of prosperity. In the words of President Ali, not a ‘rich Guyana of poor people.’ Guyana, he said, ‘must be rich so that never again should we be among the poorest countries in the world; never again should our poor have to be nomads, seeking survival in other parts of the world; never again must we be subjected to insults and contempt.’

The wealth of Guyana belongs to all Guyanese and it must be shared in a fair and equitable manner. This is a right and not a favour. It has been earned by virtue of being citizens of Guyana, the vast majority of whom are off-spring of slaves and indentured labourers, who toiled and made sacrifices for the cause of a better, dignified and cohesive Guyana.

That is essentially the thinking behind the idea of the President’s vision of a ‘One Guyana.’ There cannot be a nobler and more profound idea, whose time has clearly come.