HAPPY HOLIDAYS, GUYANA

Dec 20, 2015 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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The Alliance for Change wishes every Guyanese from the Corentyne to the Pomeroon, from Mabaruma to the Rupununi a very Merry Christmas.  We take this opportunity to again extend sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed in any way to the evolution of our Movement from its rather humble beginnings in 2005.
It was your support, your belief in our capacity to effect the change you needed that brought the AFC to this position, one in which we are empowered to remove the enormous obstacles that were placed on the path of your development.
We do not forget and will be eternally grateful for the faith and trust you bestowed on us in 2006 to give us, the party, six (6) parliamentary seats in the General Elections, a mere nine months after the AFC was launched.
We started out with a strong intention to change the political landscape, to minimize and ultimately eradicate race-based politics in Guyana. That continues to be our raison d’etre.  It was your strength of conviction that propelled us forward.  You kept us on course and encouraged us to join forces with our brother in Parliamentary Opposition, A Partnership for Unity (APNU).
There IS strength in Unity.  Our combined forces, made up of a strong admixture of highly accomplished professionals, surged forward on the shoulders that you provided and placed us on course to change your lives, to give you back the platforms you require to build a good life.
We recognized from the very beginning that this is going to be a long, hard road, and that you are in no mood to accommodate any deviation from the plans and programmes we set out.  So we asked you several months ago to be patient because we knew that giving effect to any effort to right the many, many wrongs perpetuated on you by the PPP/C was going to be an arduous process.  Of course, we didn’t know as much then as what we do now, that the PPP was systematically giving away your patrimony to their friends and families and no doubt helping themselves to a portion of it.
You knew too, and we are grateful for the information that you have been providing which have led us to some jaw-dropping discoveries of the rampant theft, wastage of your hard-earned taxes, and the disdainful, disrespectful manner in which your property was taken away from you and given to the former President’s friends, most of whom do not even live in Guyana.
We still require your patience.  The discoveries we’ve made so far, albeit slowly, were hidden behind complex legalities and some Machiavellian machinations.  The process of unraveling these shenanigans is long and painful, and many require legal intervention to be undone.  In the process, we have made a few mistakes and may make some more, principally because we are very unfamiliar with this brand of dirty politics.
We are still operating on a steep learning curve, but the AFC reaffirms our promise to you that we will reclaim your resources and return them to you to raise your quality of life, to ensure that you and your children are able to benefit from Guyana’s rich resources.
Our number one objective is to ensure not only that you are able to exercise control over the administration of your own communities and villages, but that you could reap the products of the land on which you live, whether it is gold and diamonds, fruit orchards or wood.
Your responsibility is to do so in a sustainable manner to ensure that there is still plenty for generations to come.  Our responsibility is to ensure that you have the power, the rights and the knowledge.
The AFC and our partners in the multi-racial, multi-cultural Coalition, made a commitment to promote healing and reconciliation among Guyana’s six main races.  This commitment is more challenging given that the now opposition is determined to milk the race card, refusing to acknowledge that we all live in a modern world where people are more concerned about their livelihoods and their capacity to live comfortably.  People will throw their support behind whomsoever provides that capacity and respects their rights to eat, worship, clothe and house themselves as they wish.
So we have started down that road to creating a good life for all.  Our Ministry of Public Infrastructure, working side-by-side with the Mayor and City Council, rose to the huge challenge to restore the Garden City.  In four to five months residents and visitors alike are reveling in their clean environments.  For the first time in some people’s lifetime they found out that the roadside drains are concreted after years worth of silt and waste were removed.  The parapets are now properly landscaped and open green spaces have been created for our children and youth to play and compete at sports.
Georgetown, the East Coast of Demerara and Berbice lie below sea level.  Renowned Geologists have said that these areas could remain prone to flooding from excessive rainfall, but the Ministry of Public Infrastructure has ensured that all drainage systems in the city and surrounding communities are cleared to collect and channel waste water to the various outfalls without hindrance.  These works are not one-off jobs.  The drainage networks will continue to be desilted, the potholed roads upgraded, the kokers refurbished and maintained.  Our heritage buildings including the old forts in the interior regions, all irreplaceable aspects of our rich history, will shortly be restored.
These structures are also invaluable to our new Tourism thrust. The international campaign has begun to introduce Guyana to the world’s market of one billion tourists under the new brand: Guyana – South America Undiscovered.  The Minister of Tourism took advantage of the numerous opportunities presented e.g. by the World Travel Market in London (November), the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) annual Conference (October), the Guyana Folk Festival hosted each September by the Guyana Cultural Association in New York, to inform the world about Guyana’s unique eco- and adventure tourism and niche products such as sports and fishing.
To say that the word has spread to the other side of the world (New Zealand, Australia, Asia) is putting it mildly.  Avid Bird Watchers from Britain have added Guyana to their agenda.  North American mountain climbers and forest trekkers are interested in this new location, Swedish researchers in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, and vacationers wishing to experience more than sun, blue sea and sand, now know about the natural landscapes and variegated cultures of Guyana.  Plans are also in the making to encourage Guyanese living at home to see their beautiful country.
Tourism is also opening up the investment landscape.  Eco-tourism is the new catch phrase in the world’s tourism industry.  Guyana’s products and our ‘newness’ are a beacon to international investors with new ideas.
On the security front, the Minister and Ministry are working overtime to arrest crime in Guyana, every aspect of it.  It is a most unwholesome legacy spawned over the past two decades.  Taming this particular beast would likely be achieved via a process of trial and error, but we are beginning to see some light at the end of this tunnel.  The recently implemented Operation Dragnet is working, and the presence of more law enforcement officers on the streets gives us all a measure of comfort.
We remain positive that the relationships between police and communities will improve.  Just beware of the incessant PPP propaganda, most of which is aimed at Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Vice President Khemraj Ramjattan.  You already know that these leaders have always been at the forefront of the fight for peace and justice.
Guyana is moving forward fast and it is encouraging to see our people’s determination to participate in this re-birth.
The AFC wishes ALL Guyanese a very Merry Christmas.

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