Burnham was ahead of his time, Peeping Tom

Mar 04, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,

I noted your article in the Peeping Tom Column on Mr. Forbes Burnham being many years behind in his thinking.

I wish to challenge this article by submitting the following facts.

1. The University of Guyana, which started in humble beginnings, was allocated lands by Mr.L.F.S.Burnham and he built a modern university that had stood the test of time, several decades after its completion.

2. The primary schools controlled by the churches were taken over by the state and the delivery of education was revolutionised and stands out as a landmark for this son of Guyana.

3. The Common Entrance examination was only for a selected few, but Mr. Burnham changed it so that all children could have access to a secondary education.

4. Education was made free of cost from Nursery to University for all Guyanese regardless of colour ,race and religious learning during his life time.

5. Infrastructural – Development: The R.H Carr was the means of reaching the McKenzie settlement of bauxite mining, a journey that took an entire day of travelling. Mr. Burnham developed the dream of a highway from Georgetown to Mckenzie and most people called him a foolish dreamer.
Lo and behold, a miracle was born when the highway was completed and McKenzie came alive. The Highway was completed with bridges and connecting waterways. R.H Carr was eventually given a decent funeral. This feat is unmatched up to several decades later and the highway has stood the test of time.

6. The East Berbice Highway, Mr. Burnham transformed the old road that was built with clay and burnt bricks to a strong, durable well built road, asphalted with connecting bridges and waterways with tollbooths to assist with repayment of the project. Tollbooths were removed later and the population was eased of the financial constraints. The old Canje Bridge was also rebuilt to what it is today.
7. All the main access roads in Guyana were upgraded except for the Essequibo Coast Road, which Mr. Desmond Hoyte secured funding for.

8. Scrapping the Coastal Train Service with the advent of hire cars on the Coast. The trains suffered massive loss in operational costs as no one wanted to ride in trains when quicker means of transportation was available, especially with a small population that has not increased significantly from then to now.

Mr. L.F.S. Burnham made a choice that only a true visionary could make in scrapping the coastal railways. He supplemented the railways with upgraded and new roadways in West Coast of Demerara and Georgetown / East Berbice.

The only railway that existed after these was in the Kaituma / Matthews Ridge Area, and even in that area train had become too slow, even in modern days the train from Skeldon Estate to the waterfront to discharge sugar was scrapped.

9. The Demerara Habour Bridge: Several decades after Mr. Forbes Burnham’s demise, it is still in operation and just a few hours of non-functioning causes chaos in the country of Guyana. It has taken Mr. Forbes Burnham’s Party with its coalition partners to rescue that bridge with a new one that is being fast-tracked so that Mr. Burnham’s soul can rest in peace and for those who are gloating of a decayed corpse.

Mr. Forbes Burnham’s deeds for his country far exceed any bad deeds accredited to him. He has been weighed in the balance and was found not wanting. There are countless achievements too numerous to mention.
For the Burnham haters, when you travel on any main road; cross any bridge; go to the Timehri International Airport; send your children to High School free of cost; draw your hefty National Insurance benefits; those of you who earned large sums of money from planting local crops and coconuts from Pomeroon to Crabwood Creek, remember Mr. Burnham. Those who cross the Berbice River Bridge built with two Billion Dollars of N.I.S money, pay homage to the man who made all these things possible. Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham.

Mr. Bacchus

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