PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali’s stirring address at the 77th Anniversary of the Enmore Martyrs was more than ceremonial remembrance; it was a necessary reminder of how political decisions devastate real families and communities.
Standing before thousands gathered to honour the five sugar workers gunned down by colonial police in 1948, the President drew a direct line between historical struggle and recent suffering under the APNU+AFC coalition government.

The parallels are indeed striking. Just as the Enmore Martyrs, Rambarran, Pooran, Lallabagee, Surujballi, and Harry died fighting for dignity and better working conditions, thousands of Guyanese families faced their own economic martyrdom between 2015 and 2020.

The APNU+AFC administration’s decision to shutter the Wales, East Demerara, Rose Hall, and Skeldon Sugar Estates represents one of the most devastating policy failures in modern Guyanese history.
The statistics President Ali cited from the International Labour Organisation’s study paint a horrifying picture of institutional callousness. A 43 per cent drop in household income among affected families is not merely an economic indicator; it represents children going hungry, families losing their homes, and communities dissolving under financial strain.
When one out of six cut workers never got paid their just severance pay, this was not administrative mismanagement but a breach of the social contract between State and citizen.

The cost in human life extends far beyond policy briefs and spreadsheets. The ILO report documented high incidence rates of alcohol consumption, criminality, and suicide, all social pathologies that occur when hope is lost and opportunity is denied.

These were the harsh realities of the APNU+AFC’s reckless experimentations with human lives; their neglect of working families as disposable variables in their failed economic models.
The rice industry also fell prey to the mismanagement of APNU+AFC. Rather than learning from these errors, the Coalition intensified its destructive policies, implementing over 200 new taxes and fees which strangled small businesses and ordinary citizens.

This stands in dramatic contrast to PPP/C’s governance. The government has restored confidence in the rice sector, achieving record production. And infrastructure development, social programmes, and economic diversification have replaced the Coalition’s legacy of stagnation and suffering.

President Ali’s call for national conscience resonates because it demands accountability from those who would lead again.
The APNU/AFC’s attempts to rewrite their record of failure must be met with the stubborn persistence of truth.
Just as we honour the Enmore Martyrs’ sacrifice for workers’ rights, we must remember the thousands of families sacrificed on the altar of the Coalition’s incompetence.

Guyana’s remarkable transformation under the PPP/C from economic basket case to regional powerhouse proves that competent leadership matters.
As the nation moves forward with unprecedented opportunities in oil, infrastructure, and social development, Guyanese cannot afford to gamble their future on those who have already proven their capacity for destruction. The memory of both historical and recent martyrs demands nothing less than continued progress under proven leadership.