A case supporting Forbes Burnham

May 16, 2013 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I have followed the debate that ensued after President Jacob Zuma and the ANC-led South African Government’s decision to name the Late President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham as a recipient of The Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo Award, South Africa’s highest Award.
I will now present my case to support the conferring of the award.
I was born in the village of Bachelors Adventure on the East Coast of Demerara on the 26th of July 1954, my father worked as a cane cutter at the Enmore Sugar estate, I began Primary School in 1960 under a headmaster named MR Worrel at the Paradise Primary School, during this time, almost ninety percent of the students attended school bare footed, simply because there was no paved road in our community except the Georgetown-Rosignol Public Road.
This was the situation in almost all villages bought by the former enslaved Africans. The colonial Government and later the PPP led by Premier Cheddi Jagan did very little to promote the development of these communities.
This led to a fall out between Forbes Burnham, the General Secretary of the PPP, and Cheddi Jagan, the Chairman, resulting in the formation of the People’s National Congress.
In 1964 the PNC and the UF (United Force) coalition defeated the PPP at the polls and were accused of rigging.
To date the PPP has never accepted the results and from that day worked to undermine the work of the elected Government, massive sabotage of the sugar industry was used to destabilize the Government, these acts never allowed the sugar industry to grow, rice farmers were encouraged to stop planting rice for export, and today the industry is still struggling to stay alive.
With the violence and tension in the society during the sixties, Forbes Burnham granted an amnesty to all firearm holders to turn in their guns, to which many responded and Guyana returned to peacetime. Today the guns are back on the street making life difficult for us all.
The nation was now on the road to development, our community was encouraged to pave our streets through self-help, Forbes Burnham was there on the ground to advise and guide the leaders of the communities across Guyana.
As a student of Queen’s College, Burnham recognized that every student must have access to Education from nursery to University this he made a reality , many poor families that could not have paid tuition fees at the Secondary School benefitted from this noble initiative, so too did many of our Parliamentarians.
Hundreds of German trucks and TATA buses were imported to boost our transport system and work on our many development sites, this again was sabotaged. Parts were stolen routinely to make these vehicles obsolete and hence affected the national development drive.
Forbes Burnham touted Linden as the new capital of Guyana, realizing the threat posed by the encroaching Atlantic Ocean, and so the building of the Linden Highway, today the gateway to our rich hinterland resources, then for quick and safe access the Demerara Harbour Bridge was built.
The textile mill with the Guyana National Service producing the cotton was a model for other countries in this hemisphere, we produced and exported cotton cloth, evidence of a once vibrant claybrick industry is readily available on buildings and roads in many communities across Guyana, and one such is Lake Mainstay Resort that was built for training youths.
The National Service was the Premier organization for training out of school youths; they acquired training in a variety of skills that complimented Guyana’s development thrust. He worked assiduously to create jobs for young Guyanese.
The National Insurance Scheme established by his Government to protect the citizens of this country is today plundered.
He was one of the key players in the Establishment of the Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA) now CARICOM (Caribbean Community).
Staging the first ever Caribbean Festival of Arts in 1976 and establishing Festival City where the participants from around the Caribbean were accommodated.
In the 1970s, Burnham vibrantly promoted the feed, clothe and house yourself campaign with the aim of a better life for all Guyanese, but the detractors were at work undermining his many efforts, he crafted a Constitution that was condemned vehemently by the opposition – today that opposition which is now in power, is stoutly defending this carefully crafted document.
This is merely a few of the highlights of his twenty-one years as leader of this nation, constantly under attack for his role in confronting capitalism, imperialism, victimization and racial discrimination.
Like Hugo Chavez condemned by his opponents Forbes Burnham was a freedom fighter for the cause of liberation at home and abroad.
RAS Aaron Blackman

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