A Vision Deferred

Feb 16, 2018 Editorial, Features / Columnists

As we get ready to celebrate Mashramani in Guyana, we must remember the contributions of its two outstanding leaders, the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham. Both had aspirations of leading Guyanese to the promise land. However, that responsibility fell on Burnham.
In October 1963, the British government ordered the electoral system in then British Guiana be changed from first-past-the-post to proportional representation and that new elections be held under the system in 1964.
Unfortunately, Dr. Jagan’s party did not win the plurality of the votes; as a result, he was deprived of his aspirations that would have laid the foundations for the flowering of Guyana. Forbes Burnham became the Premier and led Guyana to independence on May 26, 1966 and to the first Cooperative Republic in the world on February 23, 1970.
As Prime Minister, Forbes Burnham told the nation of his government’s goal to end racism, unite the races and develop the country. With characteristic modesty, many have grossly underestimated his achievement and those of the generation he led.
In his development plan, Burnham created a blueprint for the industrialisation, diversification and expansion of Guyana’s economy. By the mid-1970s, he expanded the agriculture, manufacturing, mining and tourism sectors.
Under Burnham’s leadership, education was revolutionised with free tertiary education and the doubling of the enrolment in high schools throughout the country. The modernisation of the curriculum in technical schools provided the skilled labour required in the manufacturing and mining sectors.
The nationalisation of the bauxite and sugar companies increased the rate of earnings from the sectors for a short period which was known as the “golden age.” The trade deficit was eliminated and Guyana became an economically viable nation.
The dynamism of economic growth and social policies including the creation of the Agricultural School and the Common Entrance Examination pulled many out of poverty and ignorance. Despite such unprecedented progress, Burnham was keenly aware that too many had been left behind, and the wealth had been concentrated in too few hands.
His deepest regret was his failure to develop rural Guyana with a radical land reform programme as the basis for diversifying the economy. The collapse of the sugar and bauxite industries had lowered production and a reduction of foreign currency earnings. Guyana had to virtually depend on rice and small scale farming for foreign currency earnings and to boost the economy.
Forbes Burnham realised that in order for Guyana to develop, the people must have access to land, credit, technology, and markets, thus making agriculture the centerpiece of development. Despite his passion and pioneering spirit, agriculture production grew by only 2.3 percent. Unfortunately, rural migration accelerated due to the creation of jobs in the cities, thus ending his agricultural revolution.
However, there were some achievements due his programme to feed, house and clothe the nation. A sound constitutional and political order and a functional democracy were established even though some claimed that elections were rigged. In this period, our cultural, social and political life had a vibrancy second to none and has caught the attention of our neighbours in the Caribbean and beyond.
Many believe that the Forbes Burnham government had carved out a place for Guyana in the international community with its pivotal role in the Non-Aligned Movement.
While no one could deny Burnham’s quest for justice, equality and social rights, and his drive for higher education and modernisation, yet, today, 50 years after independence, poverty has risen and the economy is struggling.
In terms of education, we are leaving behind some 50 percent of school-leaving cohorts without adequate certification to further their education and become productive citizens.
We cannot be complacent, nor can we, as his political heirs give up on his vision of nationhood.

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A Vision Deferred

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