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Guyana is a happy country – PPP GS Rohee
– Says he is unable to figure if happy people commit suicide, leaves it to academics
By Abena Rockcliffe
Despite the fact that Guyana has been listed as the suicide capital of the world, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is maintaining that most Guyanese are happy. It is also taking credit for such happiness wherever it exists.
PPP General Secretary, Clement Rohee
The party announced, yesterday, that it “joins with the rest of the world in the observance of International Day of Happiness.” International Day of Happiness is to be observed on March 20.
At a press conference he hosted at Freedom House, PPP General Secretary, Clement Rohee told the media about the millions of people worldwide who are still condemned to a life of poverty. He then boasted that the PPP has played a significant role to reduce the level of poverty in Guyana. Rohee also pointed to the “strong advocacy role it (the PPP) has played in the creation of a better and just society.”
Rohee went further to tell media operatives that Guyanese are happy as a result of the “hard and painstaking work by the PPP/C government to empower our people in particular young people through the creation of a knowledge society where Guyanese from all walks of life are today in a much better position to realize their dreams of a good and satisfying life.”
Against this backdrop, Rohee said that the PPP takes strong objection to statements made by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Leader, David Granger, to the effect that Guyana is an unhappy country.
Granger based this on the fact that Guyana has been deemed by the World Health Organization to be the suicide capital of the world. The Opposition leader concluded that happy people don’t kill themselves.
Rohee told the media yesterday that Granger’s statement is not only unfounded but is in stark contradiction to the findings of a Latin America Public Opinion Poll (LAPOP). According to the General Secretary, the recently concluded LAPOP survey has found that the happiness level of Guyanese has risen significantly within recent years. He said that LAPOP found 73 percent of Guyanese to be happy.
Rohee said that the findings are “particularly applicable to the current generation of young people who are today the main beneficiaries of the new development paradigm.”
The politician also referred to a “wave of prosperity” which he said is manifested in the increasing number of Guyanese who are the proud owners of their houses, cars “and other consumer durables which under the PNC regime were a distant dream.”
Rohee declared that the fact that Guyanese now own houses and cars flies in the face of remarks made by Granger that Guyanese are unhappy with the quality of life they are enjoying today.
He said, “Whatever unhappiness exists can only be the figment of Granger’s biased and jaundiced imagination and is completely at odds with objective reality. The PPP stands proud of its record of achievements and pledges to continue to propel this glorious country along the path of sustained progress and prosperity.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) in its first global report on suicide prevention revealed that Guyana is the country with the highest estimated suicide rate.
This report has attracted attention from international media. Fox News had reported “Guyana, a largely rural country at the northeastern edge of South America, has a suicide rate four times the global average, ahead of North Korea, South Korea, and Sri Lanka. Neighboring Suriname was the only other country from the Americas in the top 10.”
Yesterday Rohee said that he does not see any nexus between the level of suicide and the level of happiness in Guyana.
He said that it is up to the academics at the University of Guyana to figure whether happy people commit suicide as he is unable to figure it out.
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