An unflinching and versatile son of the soil…. Retired GECOM Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally, is a ‘Special Person’

Oct 06, 2019 News, Special Person

---

“I was about six years old when my little dog Pepe got knocked down on the road. He came running in my yard and died in my arms. I couldn’t do anything to help him. I was traumatized. So, I knew from then I couldn’t be a human doctor because if I felt so badly for an animal I don’t know what a human death would do to me….”

By Rehanna Ramsay

For any nation — an elections period is possibly the most crucial time for its politics and people.
It is imperative therefore, that those burdened with controlling the narrative in such a sensitive political climate, possess the qualities and mechanisms needed to keep the election torrents at bay.

This week’s Special Person is no stranger to the public in this regard.
In fact, he has held the reins of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) — the nation’s electoral body for 16 consecutive years and is best known for his ability to remain composed, while skillfully shutting down critics of GECOM with his shrewd rebuttals, especially at crunch time.
Though now retired, the name Dr. Robert Stephen Surujbally still resonates with the public as having the resolve and eloquence needed to quell the emotions of the voting Guyanese populace during the difficult transition period.
And while his service to the nation in this regard is laudable, Dr. Surujbally still has many other accolades attached to his name.
Just to name a few, the passionate animal lover who spent more than a decade as President of the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA) championing their cause. For this and his other contributions to regional animal agriculture, he has been dubbed the most distinguished veterinarian in the Caribbean by the Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association.
He is the holder of the Golden Arrow of Achievement —Guyana’s second highest national service award for his services to livestock development; the prestigious Hind Rattan and Navrattan Awards from India which are bestowed on persons of Indian origin who have been declared successful in the diaspora; and in 2014 he was the recipient of the Society of Non-Resident Indians the Mahatma Gandhi Gold Medal Award which was presented to him at the House of Lords, in England.
In addition to that, Dr. Surujbally has travelled the world and worked in production, research, advisory and consultancy capacities associated with veterinary medicine and livestock management.

His research and development work took him through four continents— Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa.
But in spite of all his achievements, Dr. Surujbally leads a quite modest life. These days, most of his time is split between his private veterinary clinic and the lawn tennis court—a sport, which he copped several doubles national champion prizes in various categories.
And when he is not engrossed in these, Dr. Surujbally enjoys spending time with his closest family members, who consist of his wife Nisa and daughter Raiyah.
He was keen to note that his happiness comes from knowing that his services may have provided some form of relief to the citizens of Guyana.
In fact, happiness is the feeling, he most associates with success.
“I don’t do pride… Too much of it pulls a nation down; it is the never ending vice of fools as Alexander Pope reminds us.”
And if he is not working, playing tennis or spending time with family, the retired Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman spends time travelling. So much so, that he terms himself somewhat of a global citizen.

“I love to travel. My job and my own wanderlust dictate my global jaunts to over a hundred countries,” he says
Added to that, Dr. Surujbally loves a good book.
His interest in reading is something he traced back to his boyhood years.
“I love books. In fact, I own tons of them,” Dr. Surujbally said pointing to his personal collection stacked neatly on shelves in a corner of his home library.
“Reading material is something I must have. It is something my parents instilled in my brother and me, growing up. So much that we would fight over which one of us could get our hands on a certain book first.”
EARLY POLITICAL EXPOSURE
Talking about his boyhood years, Dr. Surujbally became reminiscent of how some of those experiences helped shaped his career and choices.
He noted that growing up in Robb Street, Georgetown at a time when Guyana was now gaining sovereignty from British rule made it quite interesting for him.

He witnessed firsthand the political drama that was unfolding as the nation struggled for independence.
Despite the turbulence, Dr. Surujbally declared, “I had a happy childhood.”
“It was an interesting period in which to grow up.”
By the time he was born he recalls that his father, Joseph Surujbally had been married twice.
“So I had my biological mother Evelyn, and then there was my father’s other wife — my stepmother Gertrude Farnum.”
Dr. Surujbally spoke fondly of both women but noted that it was his stepmother, a woman, whom he says he owes most of the successes of his life, who had the most impact.
“Even though my father was a taxi driver, my stepmother was quite an accomplished woman. She worked at Bookers in the accounts section, and spoke French fluently…” Dr. Surujbally recalled.
From a young age, he noted that “My parents understood the value of education and would ensure that my brother and me always had books to read.”
Nevertheless, Dr. Surujbally said that his education didn’t get off to a smooth start. In fact, he says that he skipped school for a whole year without getting caught.
“That‘s because I wasn’t initially good at school. My parents were busy, so nobody knew that I skipped school and went to the cinemas in the afternoon instead… and that went on for a whole year.”
Naturally after sometime, “someone noticed” and as he put it “squealed” on him.
“I’ll never forget Mr. Mentore my class teacher, who decided to put some licks on me with a wild cane. After that I never skipped school again.”
Dr. Surujbally said that his love for the cinemas did not subside. It was natural, given his Robb Street, Georgetown neighbourhood was the prime location for the city’s biggest movie theatres.
He explained that “Robb Street was not then a high class area but it was not a ghetto either. My home was surrounded by cinemas.”
“But besides the cinematic backdrop, Robb Street served as the center for something else. According to Dr. Surujbally, the winds of change were blowing and the politics of post-independence Guyana was in its embryonic stage.
“It was an intense period for Guiana, Dr. [Cheddi] Jagan and Mr [Forbes] Burnham had merged forces and garnered enough support to form a strong resistance to the British rule….”
Dr. Surujbally recalls that some of the meetings took place at Freedom House—a place he frequented.
“Those were interesting times, for me as young man. I remember, my friends and I would get together and pope the meetings at Freedom House and at Itabo bottom house in Murray Street (now Quamina Street) just to hear some of the intellectuals and revolutionaries talk socialism.”
In retrospect, Dr. Surujbally said he can safely deduce that those experiences served as an indicator of what the future held.
Growing up there, the young Dr. Surujbally got into his fair share of tiffs with his peers but learned early on never to allow himself to be bullied.
He noted that those instances gave him the grit he needed to survive life’s toughest challenges.
“That lesson served me well later on, during my time at GECOM. I never accepted that from people. They can try but they can’t bully me,” Dr. Surujbally exclaimed.
SERVICE TO GERMANY AND AFRICA
But even before Guyana recognized Dr. Surujbally as a public figure, he travelled through Germany and Africa working in production, research, advisory and consultancy capacities associated with veterinary medicine and livestock management.
This was however not before he concluded his studies at University of Leipzig, in Germany.
As he remembers it, the stairs of academic success began at.
the Indian Education Trust College in Guyana.
“That‘s where I would say I caught myself and my grades began to improve drastically.
He later attended Queen’s College evening classes for his GCE A level.
As a result, Dr. Surujbally was offered a scholarship to study overseas. And by then he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life— a decision which was made several years before.
“I was about six years old when my little dog Pepe got knocked down on the road. He came running in my yard and died in my arms. I couldn’t do anything to help him. I was traumatized. So, I knew from then I couldn’t be a human doctor because if I felt so badly for an animal I don’t know what a human death would do to me….” Dr. Surujbally said of his decision to become a veterinarian.
A Government of Guyana scholarship to study in Germany sponsored his childhood dream.
Dr. Surujbally enrolled at the University and he graduated with his Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral Degrees in veterinary medicine studies which took nine years.
He recalls that learning German, during the first three years of studying at the University, was tough.
“But after that, my studies got a lot easier because I perfected the language.”
After graduation the young veterinarian returned to Guyana and could not find work so, he returned to Germany and there he married his wife.
“I was coming from a communist country and Guyana at that time was not willing to entertain my employment.”
The couple married and had two beautiful boys, Roger and Lance.
Dr. Surujbally admits however that the marriage didn’t last “because I think we were too young.” He was 21 when he wed his German bride.
“I got a job working at the small animal clinic and my wife worked as a librarian,” he recalled.
Impressed with the German society, Dr. Surujbally travelled throughout the Western Europe and established contacts.
He noted that the Germans held a sense of patriotism and nationhood that he hardly experienced anywhere else.
“I was impressed because even after the war, in 17 years they were rebuilding because everybody had a skill – a plumber, an electrician, whatever skill they had, they used to rebuilt their nation,” Dr. Surujbally said of his then adopted homeland.
By the time he decided to leave Germany, he was versed in his craft. Still not ready to return to his homeland, the young veterinarian applied for work in Africa.
“I always wanted to go to Africa. So after nine years, when I decided to leave Germany with my family, I sent out applications to a number of African countries; I think I only got one reply which said that there was no vacancy.”
Dr. Surujbally’s luck would change suddenly after he visited a friend in Zambia.
“I went to visit him and within one day I was hired,” he recalled.
His new job took him miles away from the Zambian capital—Lusaka. “The company I worked for had 60,000 acres of land and I was the manager of 3000 heads of cattle. My wife had to adapt to the change but oh my boys loved it.”
The move to Zambia posed other challenges.
Dr. Surujbally explained that in the eastern province of Zambia, the local herdsmen spoke a language called Chinyanja.
“So once again I had to learn to communicate with them in their language. It was funny because my children spoke better Chinyanja than me.”
Dr. Surujbally continued to work in Africa and in time, became the officer -in- charge of the Animal Production Research Institute at the National Council for Scientific Research.
After three years of research work, Dr. Surujbally became nostalgic.
He was looking for a shift in his career and remembered that a few years before, while on vacation in Guyana, the then President Burnham offered him a job if he came back to Guyana.
“He told me my services were needed here.” When he decided to return home, his first wife decided to return to her homeland. Dr. Surujbally along with his sons headed to Guyana.
NATIONHOOD
His return to Guyana saw him working in agriculture and livestock development. He spent years being a Director at LIDCO before becoming a general manager of the national milk plant and working with the Ministry of Agriculture in an advisory capacities.
During those periods, Dr. Surujbally published several papers, many of a scientific and peer-reviewed nature.
His research would lead him to be Guyana’s representative for many years at the International Organization of Epizootics (OIE) in Paris, and at the South American Organization against Foot and Mouth Disease in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while at the same time being the technical advisor to several Ministers of Agriculture.
Dr. Surujbally later geared his effort to alleviate suffering of livestock and companion animals.
As his work gained more international recognition, Dr. Surujbally was awarded a Fulbright scholarship/Hubert Humphrey Fellowship (University of Davis, California) in 1991.
In 1992, he returned to Guyana and continued his stint as the director of the national dairy development programmme, which was an initiative of President Desmond Hoyte.
GECOM
Around 2001, the career shift which Dr. Surujbally had been yearning for, came. He was appointed Chairman of GECOM.
In that capacity, Dr. Surujbally was open to much public scrutiny.
But his ability to cope with the pressure gave him the balance he needed to effectively manage the Elections Commission.
Dr. Surujbally also had a historical understanding of Guyana’s political system, which gave him an edge.
“I was there from the beginning so I knew who the players were and how they all started and I never took sides.”
His commitment to the work of GECOM would see Dr. Surujbally becoming the longest serving Executive Chairman of an Elections Management Body in the Caribbean and perhaps in the western hemisphere.
He was instrumental in drafting key electoral policies such as the protocol for media workers covering the elections and the code of conduct for political parties.
Through GECOM, Dr. Surujbally developed a credible reputation in all areas of elections management and international monitoring of pre-, post- and inter- elections periods in North and South America, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.
He was on the panel of several renowned institutions as an international elections Observer and served the president of the Association of Caribbean Electoral Organizations (ACEO), and represented GECOM at the inaugural meeting of the Association of World Electoral Bodies (AWEB).
He also represented Guyana on electoral matters at the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR); at the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Political Affairs Division and its electoral network.
Under his stewardship, Guyana’s elections were not fraught with turbulence and GECOM was recognized nationally and internationally as a credible, reliable and trustworthy institution for implementing its technical functions optimally on electoral matters.
Despite all his electoral work, Dr. Surujbally still found time to be a newspaper columnist, a contributor to television and radio programmes, and a frequent Guest Speaker at important National and Caribbean occasions, as well as at the Rotary and Toastmasters Clubs.
Today, Dr. Surujbally is widely travelled and has been exposed to many cultures, some of which he has written papers about.

 

 

 

---

---