The five challenges of Independence (Part 2)

Jun 26, 2016 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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(Address by His Excellency Brigadier David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana at the Dinner in honour of Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary, in New York)

Guyana did suffer two major ‘rebellions,’ even after Independence. They remind us that deep divisions persisted in our nation. The first was the Rupununi Rebellion, in 1969. The second was the so-called ‘Civil Rebellion’ in 1979. Consider that Guyana, after fifty years, still faces five challenges:
· National identity: We are a pluri-cultural country; we must strive to embrace citizens of different religions, races and beliefs; we must give meaning to the idea of ‘Guyaneseness!
· National unity: We are a multi-party democracy; we must seek common ground in order to achieve greater unity of purpose;

· National security: We are a nation under threat; we must struggle to preserve our territorial integrity and security; we must ensure the human safety, especially of women and girl children;
· Economic viability: We are a poor country; we must search for ways to diversify our economy which remains structurally unchanged; greater diversity could lead to greater prosperity;
· Equality: We are an unequal society; we must embrace measures to ensure equal access for all to education, health, social protection and other public services.
Independence created a common citizenship for all of us. It distinguished Guyana from every other country on earth. Independence allowed us to adopt our own symbols of nationhood – our national flag; our national anthem; our national awards; our national coinage and stamps; our national motto; our national festivals; our national monuments; our national coat-of-arms depicting the jaguar, Canje pheasant, the great rivers and other national emblems.
Guyana’s symbols of nationhood are not ornamental. They define our identity. They express our commonality. They remind us of our common homeland and that we are citizens of a country like no other.
Guyana’s development as an Independent state required the creation of institutions suited to realizing the common aspirations of our people.
Our leaders recognized that, if the new state was to be developed, if our territory was to be defended and if the rights of our people were to be promoted, those institutions would have to be respected and protected. We must respect:
· Our national
constitution;
· Our National Assembly;
· Our judiciary;
· Our Defence Force;
· Our Ombudsman.
The new state created services to improve people’s access to education, electricity, health care, housing and potable water. Agriculture and industry were boosted through the establishment of agricultural, drainage and irrigation schemes and industrial estates.
Banking institutions were established to generate savings and to serve as sources for investment. We constructed highways, fortified sea defences, laid down aerodromes and built bridges over our rivers.
Guyana’s foreign policy successes were remarkable for a small state. We have been audacious on the global diplomatic stage. Guyana played a leading role in:
· supporting the struggle for decolonization;
· bringing an end to apartheid in South Africa;
· breaking the diplomatic isolation of Cuba;
· being midwife at the birth of the Caribbean Free Trade Area, the Caribbean Community and the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of states;
· defending states’ rights in the Non-Aligned Movement, the United Nations and the Commonwealth.
Our role on the international stage is inestimable and ineradicable.
– We are proud of our achievements over the past fifty years.
– We are proud of our efforts to deliver our people from dreary logies, shanties and tenement yards and to open the doors to their own family homes.
– We are proud of having established a University of Guyana, a College of Education, multilateral schools and technical institutes.
– We are proud of having expanded access to education for our children throughout the ten administrative regions.
We, Guyanese, must continue to pursue the path to the good life, this time, along the ‘green’ way. The architecture of our ‘green’ economy will rest on clean energy; a secure environmental and ‘green’ enterprises and employment.
We intend to fully satisfy our energy needs from the abundant sources of renewable energy – solar, wind, hydro and biomass – available in the country.
We will develop, as part of that ‘green’ economy, a comprehensive coastal zone management plan to protect our populated areas, farming communities and ecosystems. We will employ a ‘green’ strategy to improve solid waste management and to transition more rapidly towards the introduction off ‘green’ technologies, industries, products and jobs.

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