…during tree planting exercise at Linden

The Region 10 arm of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) on Sunday kicked off the party’s 60th Anniversary celebrations with a tree planting exercise during which President David Granger who is also leader of the party, emphasised the need for Guyana to up ramp up its fight against climate change.

The exercise saw the participation of President David Granger who is also the PNCR leader, PNCR Chairman Basil Williams, PNCR General Secretary Amna Ally, Minister of Communities Valerie Patterson- Yearwood, Chairperson of the PNCR Region 10 Sandra Adams and several regional party representatives and well as government officials.
The party’s symbol which is the palm tree as well as coconut trees were planted alongside Burnham Drive by President David Granger and several other party executives. At the short ceremony which saw the gathering of several PNCR supporters and Lindeners, President Granger in his feature address stressed that the tree planting activity should be taken seriously as it is a means of celebrating ‘greeness’ and the environment- something that he was recently highlighting internationally. The importance of this, he said, is evident in the catastrophic hurricanes that devastated several Caribbean islands. “What happened in Barbuda is worse than warfare, what is happening in the Caribbean is worse than war and that damage is caused by global warming, that damage is caused by climate change,” Granger posited.

Linden, he said, is not disaster-proof, especially from flooding which is caused by the river system. “Therefore, residents are dealing with a climatic phenomenon which was also caused by the over 100 years of bauxite mining. When you fly over these areas, you will see, that it looks like old sores and once we continue to extract minerals from the soil, once we continue to cut down trees, we will be faced with the challenge of climate change and global warming.”

It is on this premise that the PNCR leader stressed the importance of tree planting since it will aid in saving the environment, since trees are more profitable standing than being cut down. For those that are cut down, he urged the gathering, to replant them since it will not only benefit us but the future generation. “This exercise is very important and I refer to Guyana as the green state and we need to protect our biodiversity and wildlife…wildlife like our trees are more valuable alive than dead……..where do these animals live, they live in our forest, they live under the trees and if you cut the trees down, you remove the habitat, you destroy the habitat,” Granger articulated.
In his short address Mayor of Linden Carwyn Holland said that the tree planting exercise is indicative of adding new life to “ourselves and the next generation so as to ensure the regeneration of new life.” This, he said, was practised by the founder leader and is therefore “incumbent upon us to continue along that path. As we sow new life into our future, we must nurture it, guard it, guide its growth and development to ensure that our yields are indicative of our values,” Holland said.

Regional Chairman Renis Morian said that it is a time of celebration and that as a party, the members have stayed resolute. “The tree planting exercise will encourage residents of Region 10 to plant more, since a large percentage of our agricultural produce come from out of the region. Today’s exercise lends support that we in Region 10, should up our game as it relates to producing for our people in Region10.”
National Tree day will be officially celebrated on the first Saturday in October and President Granger urged all Lindeners to celebrate this event of ‘greeness.’