MINISTER of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett extolled the virtues of the PPP and urged that come Elections Day, voters throw their support behind the ruling party to continue development and progress.
The former Minister of Amerindian Affairs spoke on Sunday at the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) grand rally held at Wismar, Linden.
She said that because of the record of the government, Amerindians can be proud of who they are. She later shocked the crowd by making a bold declaration of such pride in her heritage.
“Comrades, I am here tonight with a message, a message to vote for the PPP/C. In 1992 the PPP/C received Guyana bruised and battered. We did not only have to repair infrastructure but our image,” she said. “Today I stand proud as a Guyanese woman to represent this country because Guyana is going places under the PPP/C,” she said.
“We were known for fraudulent elections. We were known for malnutrition. We were known as a dilapidated country,” she said. She said that under all of the presidents since 1992, “we have been able to rebuild this country.”
“We are able to pay our bills and no longer are we in debt up to our eyeballs,” she said.
She said that the opposition doesn’t like the fact that Government has been able to achieve positive growth in the economy for a number of years in succession. “Our country has been growing and come November 28, I know you will allow us to continue to make our country grow to even further [levels],” she said.
She called President Bharrat Jagdeo a visionary. She said what Guyana under Jagdeo has put forward in terms of climate change is seen as unprecedented. She said that Jagdeo accepted his Champion of the Earth Award on behalf of Guyana. “Wherever we go now people ask us about our Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Comrades and friends we must be proud of what we have been able to achieve under the PPP Administration,” Rodrigues-Birkett said. “Guyana’s image in the international community is a positive image,” she said. “I would like to ask you that come November 28 we build on our image,” she said.
Speaking on the strides made by Government on non-discrimination, she said that if a country cannot treat its women, children and indigenous people properly, it isn’t worth its salt. “And Guyana leads the hemisphere in terms of the way we treat our indigenous people,” she said. She added that many persons of indigenous heritage from many communities were able to get their land titles. “Today Amerindian people own their land and Guyana, we must be proud of this because all of our people are treated fairly,” she declared.
She said that while there was just one Amerindian doctor when the Government changed hands in 1992. “You know how many we have today? We have more than 20 that we have trained in a short period of time. Many of them have returned from Cuba. We have over 100 students studying at the University of Guyana under a Hinterland Scholarship Programme,” she said.
She spoke of how the previous administration stripped the country of its dignity. “I’m going to tell you…I know Amerindian people who used to be ashamed to say they are Amerindian because of how they used to be treated. I am going to tell you something. Today I am a proud buck ‘oman…and I know there are a lot of you out there who are proud,” she said to thunderous applause. “That is one of the policies of the PPP Government, that all of our people must move together,” Rodrigues-Birkett said.