2016 WILL BE GREEN AND GOLDEN

Jan 03, 2016 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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A Happy New Year to every Guyanese boy and girl, man and woman.
The Alliance for Change takes this opportunity to express our overriding confidence that 2016 is going to mark a significant step towards our ultimate goal to restore Guyana for the benefit of every citizen.
The year just over has been a challenging one, but we all faced those challenges head-on and the AFC is proud that our Guyanese people showed in very definitive ways their determination to make things right.
We faced down quite a few daunting circumstances and there will be many more as the political opposition does its level best to distract you from the goals you have set yourselves. Do not allow their hate-mongering to prevent you from enjoying the fruits of your labour.
We are all preparing to showing the multitude of visitors who will descend on these shores that this land is overflowing with hope, with prospects for development that were previously only dreamed of, and with certainty that good will prevail.
As 2015 dawned, we knew that the May 11 Regional and General Elections would mark a significant turning point in our lives. The tabling of our No Confidence Motion in the fourth quarter of 2014 against the incumbent PPP/C Government that led to the unwise prorogation of the Parliament had set in motion a train of events irrevocably headed for Change.
On Valentine’s Day February 14, we signed the Cummingsburg Accord with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). This significant event was like a tolling bell sounding a clarion call for the eradication of ethnic, traditional and other useless divisions within our society.
That bell morphed into a speeding train with the new catch phrase “National Unity” emblazoned on its sides. Thousands of Guyanese got on board the train and went to work to restore to this nation that we were once so proud of.
We are a people so proud yet so humble that Guyana used to be known before the 1990’s as the hospitality capital of the Western hemisphere. It was not because we were home to any opulent hotel chains from the developed countries. We weren’t, because the then administration failed to recognize the value of Tourism. It was simply because every Guyanese was socialized from childhood to accommodate strangers from anywhere with humility and grace.
No matter where they came from, no matter their nationality, no matter the shape or hue, we gave shelter and we shared our food if it was cooked on a fireside, on a kerosene burner or on a gas or electric stove.
Interestingly, this is how people around the world who knew us or had visited this land referred to Guyana, i.e., as the place with the most hospitable people they ever did meet.
We lost that accolade in 2002 when crime and brutality became an industry. The tone and mores of this nation went into a downward spiral.
In May 2015 you gave this government an unambiguous directive to right the wrongs.
You told us in no uncertain terms that every type of division should be eradicated since these divisions in every sector of business and society, were retarding your development and costing you money, time and opportunities to upgrade your standard of living. We heard you loud and clear.
So in comes 2016 ushering in the next stage of what President David Granger describes as our “Renaissance for a unified, peaceful and prosperous Guyana”. Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo declared that “Better must come!”
Guyana has been given a grand opportunity to change the trajectory of this nation, to transform the physical landscape to a place of beauty and cleanliness; to establish learning centres for out-of-school youths; to encourage the business and production sectors to expand and diversify which will throw open the job market in Guyana; and to provide a superlative education for all our children. These processes have begun and there is no shortage of stimulation or encouragement.
Our students have been performing well at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations.
This high level of performance of a few must be spread out to a much larger number of students to prepare more Guyanese youths for excellence at higher education.
Our overriding hope is that the youths who get the opportunity to study abroad would be encouraged by our infrastructural development and improved professional and social conditions and amenities all around them that will ensure their growth and personal development. These are but a few of the incentives that will be offered to graduates to return to Guyana and lend their skills to national development.
The majority of our hinterland airstrips and runways that were left untended for too many years became pitted and overgrown with years’ worth of bushes. This is already being remedied.
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure has started an intensive work plan to clear, resurface and generally upgrade and lengthen these airstrips. A few will be able to accommodate larger aircraft that require more than 4,500 feet of runway.
Three new towns were recently gazetted – Lethem, Mabaruma and Bartica, the latter to serve as a model ‘Green Town’ that will be replicated in parts of Guyana. In fact, Guyana’s green revolution has been set in motion. We’re assessing a number of interior sites that have potential for hydro-power stations, even while we explore the ways and means to provide renewable solar and wind energy to certain areas.
This is where we can really count our blessings. Our natural resources for renewable energy are being tied into that other natural resource – oil and gas – that was discovered in 2015. In just a few years when international companies begin to extract petroleum from the Stabroek and other Blocks, Guyana would likely be counted among the world’s oil-producing nations. The financial gains will no doubt bolster the government’s ability to provide the “Good Life” for every Guyanese.
We have taken heed of the warnings, especially about “irrational exuberance” and the possible migration of skills from agricultural, manufacturing and other production sectors. We have crafted the required legislation that will protect the environments in and around oil-producing installations. We have begun the very involved process of integrating Petroleum Engineering and related disciplines into our education system, and we continue to receive guidance from partnering countries.
We want every Guyanese to know that every developmental initiative is being tailored for town, country and the hinterland. Our citizens living and mining, farming and fishing, planting and reaping from the forests are also benefitting from social, health, educational and infrastructural developmental.
Late last year we launched the Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS) Project at Paramakatoi, Region 8 under the theme:  ”Our Youth, Our Future!” It will be replicated in other communities.
2016 holds much promise for Guyanese. ‘Project Restore Guyana’ has as its main pillars:
. Drainage
. sustainable urban, rural, and hinterland physical rehabilitation
. solid waste management
. welfare management for the indigent, addicted and mentally unstable
. restoration of ethical and social responsibility
. public and stakeholder consultations
Fellow Guyanese, may this year of our Golden Jubilee be a bright beacon that provides golden opportunities for our young, peaceful years for our elderly, profitable business for the private sector, and golden performances from our sports men and women.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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