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CHANGE IS COMING!

Jun 14, 2015 Editorial

In his first inaugural address at the ceremonial opening of Guyana’s 11th Parliament on June 10, 2015, the Head of State Brigadier David Granger touted Guyana’s development potential and promised to unleash all the forces needed to move Guyana forward.
Among the 15-member CARICOM, Guyana is indeed perhaps the only country in the region with tremendous potential for development. It has untapped resources such as oil, minerals, timber and bauxite, just to name a few.
Viewed as the bread basket of the Caribbean in an earlier time, most of Guyana’s territory is uninhabited virgin forest with the vast majority of its population living on the coastal belt. It is blessed with fertile lands that yield an abundance of sugar, rice, fruits or other food crops. Guyana is also rich with mineral deposits of gold, diamonds and bauxite, among others.
Its trenches, streams, canals and rivers provide a bounty of more than ten different types of fresh water fishes. And the largest American oil company, Exxon Mobile has just discovered significant deposits of crude oil, which provide additional economic benefits for this multiracial and multiethnic country of just under 750,000 people.
Despite possessing such huge territory and vast natural wealth, Guyana has unfortunately lagged from a development perspective behind most of the CARICOM states, including Barbados which gained its Independence from Britain in 1966, the same year as Guyana. In fact, the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago which were on par with Guyana or just ahead of it in economic growth have moved ahead, leaving it way behind.
One of the reasons is that racial politics has led to the marginalization of a large section of the ethnic population. A second reason is that for over a decade, the country has been hurt by rampant corruption which has stifled economic development and made it the second most corrupt country in the Caribbean after Haiti.
A third reason is that Guyana has been hit by a major exodus of skilled personnel since the 1970s because of political and ethnic problems, and even though it had started to show encouraging signs of an economic rebound in recent years, it remains the second poorest country in the region after Haiti.
The recently concluded general and regional elections which saw the defeat of the PPP government, presents a golden opportunity for Guyanese to embrace change and to carve out a new path to move the country forward.
However, the main obstacle is an angry and badly wounded PPP, which has refused to accept the results of the election even though international observers certified the poll as generally free and fair. The PPP continues to claim that the election was rigged and has rejected an invitation from President Granger to form a governmentof national unity. The PPP has also refused to attend the ceremonial opening of Guyana’s 11th Parliament.
Mr. Granger’s promise to be the president for all of the people is reassuring to the nation that race which has historically been the cause of racial division in Guyana would not be tolerated by his administration. This is unlike the defeated PPP administration which catered to Indo-Guyanese in the same way that the People’s National Congress (PNC), under the country’s first president Forbes Burnham served Afro-Guyanese.In the eyes of many, racism has stifled the political, human and economic development of Guyana.
There is no doubt that Mr. Granger has assumed the presidency with credibility and a lot of support, which he can effectively use to unite the races and chart a vibrant and positive course for the country. However, this needs the support and unity of all the people to send a powerful message to the world and foreign investors that change has come to a blessed Guyana and that the country is open for business.
This will improve the country’s image both locally and internationally and build confidence among the citizens that the Granger led-Coalition Government is working in the nation’s best interest.

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