The Guyanese Dream – Economic Prosperity

Jan 23, 2009 Features / Columnists

Peter. R. Ramsaroop, MBA
Chairman, Vision Guyana

INTRODUCTION:

This week has been historic with the inauguration of President Obama. The world celebrated; even our President tried to compare himself by announcing that he was facing the same issues in Guyana.
I placed an advertisement in this paper congratulating the President of the United States and even attended a rally in support of this historic event. As I spoke to the crowd assembled at (Independence Park) the Parade Ground, I realized as the world celebrated, we Guyanese are yet to realize “our dream” as millions in America have.
In 1992, the dream was to get rid of a political party that had taken the country almost to ruins, even though the Economic Recovery Programme of President Desmond Hoyte had made significant changes and would have put the country on track had it continued. Seventeen years later, many in our nation want to see a change again, realizing that we have not made any significant economic progress since 1992.
Yes, roads have been improved, only to be in need of improvement after a few months of building or fixing; schools have been built or repainted, only to be without teachers or computer laboratories and only now have we realized that the government is borrowing at a higher rate than the previous administration in a Tax, Borrow and Spend programme.
The Last Vote:
Recently, I visited Unity, the birthplace of my mother and where most of my family are buried. Many of the residents who had suffered because of the failure of the government to maintain the drainage system said that the PPP had already got their last vote. It was not after I left the village that the reality sunk in.
They had finally realized the incompetence of this administration. We all know without any alternatives, many of these people will either stay home or vote again for the current government.
What we know, is that the PPP has thrown Dr. Jagan’s values out of the window. Dr. Jagan believed in ensuring citizens were taken care of. He is known in the history books as a working class President.
He did his best, just as President Hoyte did in reaching across the aisle and taking care of all of our citizens
The current administration leadership, according to a former first lady is “powerful and vindictive”. Dr. Jagan would be appalled had he been alive to see what President Jagdeo has done to the values of his vision.
Our Guyanese Dream:
Our dream for our nation is one of greatness. We are tired of being known as the begging nation. We, the citizens, want a government that we can be proud of. When the Minister of Agriculture puts a full page advertisement in the papers telling the farmers that they need to come to a community centre for help after he failed to ensure the $1.7B dollars spent on drainage was effective, is not our dream.
Our dream is to work on programmes where we can move our farming communities to higher ground, where we can hire our own in the villages to maintain our infrastructure and where economic initiatives are not about travelling for debt relief but where a socio-economic plan is initiated with the focus of placing jobs at the village level.
The study for the Lethem to Georgetown road is out and validates what we have been saying for years; that this must be done and that we are already years behind. In addition, we need to start off with maybe a rail system from Brazil to Georgetown so we can start on exporting our products to one of the world largest economies right next door.
CONCLUSION:
Let’s stand up for our rights; it is our democratic privilege and our responsibility as citizens. We cannot allow Guyana to turn into a dictatorship once again. This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever we grow weary of the existing government, it is our Constitutional right to replace it.
Though we grow weary of our government, we cannot become wearisome in our faith that Guyana does indeed have a future. If we lose heart and falter, then surely our dejected nation will once again plummet into the troughs of tyranny.
We cannot lose our will to fight for a better tomorrow, for if we do, we will have sentenced our children to a lifetime of misery and sorrow.
We must protect our republic from every ruse that would subjugate us to one person or one party. Our hearts are strong and our cause is noble; we can take Guyana back and set it on a course for which we can all be proud.
With the courage we need to stand against those who would try to impose their will on us. It is the will of the people that must prevail – for we know best what our own country needs. Let us create our “Guyanese Dream”, let us become involved, let the voices of Guyanese everywhere be heard. We need our Economic Prosperity. Until next time “Roop”.