THE studio where the Freddie Kissoon Show is recorded is located on Laluni Street in Queenstown. The street is bordered by Peter Rose Street and Irving Street — both named after colonial administrators from the United Kingdom.

So, one day, one of the guests in the studio, the phenomenal cricket star, Sir Clive Lloyd, was chatting with us about Queenstown before the recording started.
Sir Clive shared that within a radius of one block in Queenstown, four West Indian Test cricket stars had lived. One of the streets in that block was named after the greatest spin bowler the West Indies has ever produced – Lance Gibbs.

Today, I write yet another column — as I have done many times over my 36 years as a columnist — to once again implore the authorities to name places, anything really, after the superb Guyanese who have made immense contributions to this country.

This column here was motivated by the news that a street in Bel Air has been named after the famous politician from the PPP – Boysie Ramkarran – who grew up in Bel Air.
His Worship, the Mayor of Georgetown, made the announcement a few days ago. I welcome the honour bestowed on Mr. Ramkarran. He deserves it.

We have a reluctance in this country in naming things after great Guyanese. Please correct me if I am wrong, but within the last ten years only four places have been given the names of nationalistic Guyanese.

They are: The Arthur Chung International Convention Centre; Ogle airport now bears the name of Eugene Correia; part of New Garden Street is now Shiv Chanderpaul Drive; and now Boysie Ramkarran Street.

I can understand if the president of Guyana is a lawyer, economist, accountant, doctor, engineer and has no special fondness for the subject of history, but if he or she is a historian then you would expect the president to have a special place in his/her heart for the recording of history.
In this respect, David Granger has been an exasperating disappointment.

He was trained as a historian and edited a book on Guyanese history and authored several others on the historical evolution of certain institutions.
Yet in his five years of presidency, he only honoured two Guyanese by naming places after them — Arthur Chung and Eugene Correia. You would have expected that under a president that was a historian there would have been a deluge of streets and buildings named after famous Guyanese.

What is Guyana waiting for when literally dozens and dozens of worthy names should be recognized through something being named after them?
I still cannot fathom why North Road remains North Road when it should be changed to Desmond Hoyte Street. Hoyte rejected the trappings of majestic state buildings and as president he lived in his modest private home on North Road.

I am not one who believes that his presidency was excellent, far from it; I think the Economic Recovery Programme was a devastating blow to the welfare of the working people who built this country.

The way Mr. Hoyte sold off state properties is one of the lowest moments in governance in the history of this country.
But in the final analysis, Hoyte was a decent president who chose country over power. He deserves to be remembered.

One of the enigmas of this strange and esoteric country is the absence of Rohan Kanhai’s name on anything. If Guyana ever produced ten sports superstars, Kanhai is one.
He remains one of the great Guyanese to have been born in and grew up in Berbice. I believe without hesitation that Gibbs, Lloyd and Chanderpaul deserve the accolade. But so does Kanhai.
Ramnesh Sarwan is the only cricketer of international fame to come out of the small island of Wakenaam. Why not name the Wakenaam stelling after him. Eddie Grant was a Guyanese superstar long before Rihanna was born.

Barbados and Jamaica have named places after Rihanna and Marley respectively. Name something after Eddie Grant.
The state should fund a doctoral scholarship in science in the name of Dr. Joshua Ramsammy. Dr. Ramsammy fought for the right of Guyanese to vote, and for Guyana to be a free country.
In those patriotic contributions, he almost lost his life when at the Stabroek Square an attempt was made on his life. We do not have to change the name of Stabroek Market but we can change Stabroek Square to Josh Ramsammy Square.

The state should fund a scholarship in journalism in the name of Jesuit priest, Andrew Morrison. He was a one-man army that took on President Forbes Burnham. With his little newspaper, The Catholic Standard, he took Guyanese journalism to the highest point.
I could go on but I am keeping other names for forthcoming columns.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.