We have assembled here today to commemorate our national independence.  We are determined to deepen that independence by liberating our people from the threat of one-party domination.  By thwarting the threat of dictatorship.By averting the threat of damage to our democracy.  By protecting our Parliament from the threat of premature prorogation and dissolution.

We have assembled, also, to acknowledge the democratically-expressed will of the people of this great country, Guyana, as expressed in the recent general and regional elections.

We have assembled to proclaim openly our intention to pursue relentlessly the goal of inclusionary democracy and to reaffirm our respect for our Constitution. The results of the last two elections have made it clear that the majority of the Guyanese people yearn for national unity.  They desire an ‘inclusionary democracy.’ People, increasingly, are abandoning the “winner-takes-all” approach to governance and adopting the collective path to building ‘One Nation.’

We cast our votes in record numbers. We chose our representatives who will soon enter the National Assembly.Our Constitution has been glorified. Our democracy has been fortified.  Our people are satisfied.  We must now look to the future. We must turn our efforts and our energy not towards destroying one another but towards defeating the real enemies of our people – corruption, crime, disease, ignorance and poverty - the four horsemen of the Guyanese Apocalypse.

The Guyanese people have chosen to inaugurate a ‘government of national unity’. We are convinced that working together is the best way to overcome our historic divisions.We are, indeed, more determined than ever to refashion society.

We honour our youth.  Our young people should be learning incolleges, not languishing in prisons. That is why, this Independence day, I have granted amnesty to several young men and women who have been sentenced to short terms in prison for petty, non-violent offences.  We shall allow them to leave prison to rejoin their families, to get back to school and to take their place in society as citizens, notas denizens of prisons.

We aim at ensuring that our young people attain higher educational standards and can look forward to finding satisfactory jobs when they leave school.  Too many of them start at the Onderneeming Primary School then graduate to the Camp Street Secondary School and matriculate at the Mazaruni University.   Their time and talent are wasted in the penal system instead of in gainful employment.

We honour our womenfolk.  We want them to be able to look forward to working for ‘living wages’ to enable them to cope with the cost of living.  We want a society in which old folk can enjoy adequate pensions and social protection.We will build a country in which women and girl children can look forward to living in safety and to being protected from abuse and violent crime.

We honour the people who want greater inclusion, not exclusion. They want consultation and cooperation between the legislative and executive branches of government, not confrontation.National unity will bring national benefits including the elimination of one-party domination of the government; the enhancement of local, municipal and parliamentary democracy; the enlargement of multi-ethnic space; the elimination of ethnic insecurity; the expansion of economic enterprise; the enrichment of cultural life and thedeepening of national consciousness.

We shall infuse the spirit of ‘inclusionary democracy’ into every municipality, every neighbourhood, every region and into the National Assembly.  We shall together resume our work, both through the legislative process in the National Assembly and in the country at large, to engage the major sections of society – including other political parties; trade unions; private sector and civil society – to realise our common quest for consensus on a national programme to move the country forward. We shall continue to work to harness the talents of a broader constituency, to foster the conditions for social cohesion, to deepen the democratic process and to develop the economy.

We continue to be committed to ensuring equality for all and to protecting citizens’ fundamental rights. We need, most of all, to remain committed to achieving national unity and to building bridges to all communities and groups which are interested in the well-being of our citizens and the progress of our country.

We all know that this celebration of Independence finds our nation in the midst ofseveral crises.

We must reduce poverty.  Too many very young and very old persons are still classified as ‘extremely poor’ with an expenditure level that is below what is required to purchase a minimum daily low-cost diet.  Poverty is not an act of God. Poverty can be reduced and, perhaps, eventually eradicated, with good governance and sensible public policies.  We shall continue to battle against poverty, to establish working people’s economic independence and to improve their livelihood.  Our policy will be geared to finding ways to increase wealth…not to perpetuate poverty.

Youth are in crisis, but there is hope.  Young people are our nation’s future but they face monumental challenges. The spate of suicides among adolescents, the large number of school dropouts, the unavailability of new job opportunities, the rising number of teenage pregnancies and the growing prison population (of which youths are said to comprise 75 per cent) are all indicators of their plight.  We shall promulgate a Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment to give our youths faith in the future.

The public education system is in crisis, but improvement is on the way.    Our schools have been producing an increasing number of illiterate and innumerate youths.  We shall provide fresh opportunities for young students to be educated as engineers to build bridges and roads to open our vast hinterland and to develop schemes to exploit our hydro-electrical potential. We shall train geologists to develop our bauxite, diamond, gold, manganese and quarrying resources.  We shall train biologists, botanists, zoologists and agriculturists to expand food production. We shall expand opportunities to improve communication and human learning, and to drive our economy forward at a faster rate.We shall improve information, communication and education infrastructure in hinterland and coastal areas. 

These opportunities cannot be exploited by the impoverished, the ignorant or the illiterate. They cannot be achieved while so many primary school children cannot qualify to enter secondary school or when thousands of children drop out of our primary and secondary schools every year.They can be achieved only by an educated population.  We have much work to do to fix the broken public education system.

The hinterland is in crisis, but that too will change. The hinterland comprises over three-quarters of this country’s territory.Parts of the country west of the Essequibo River can be lawless and dangerous places. Banditry is rampant; contraband smuggling is commonplace; disease is prevalent; poverty is pervasive and educational standards are among the lowest. Its people, for the most part, are poor.  Its small, scattered population must bear the burden of a high cost of living while being vulnerable to criminal violence, human-trafficking and environmental hazard.

We support the responsible exploitation of the hinterland’s mineral and other natural resources. We shall ensure, however, that the livelihood of the residents is sustained, and that the environment is protected. We shall, as a start, upgrade the four hinterland regional administrative centres – Bartica, Mahdia, Mabaruma and Lethem – to township status with their own mayors and town councils. We must stop treating the hinterland as ‘bush’ and start regarding it as part of ‘One Nation’.

Labour is in crisis, but there is hope. Strong trade unions and a vibrant labour movement are essential for social security, a fairer society, effective governance and national development.We aim not at generating social conflict, but at improving productivity, strengthening democracy, reducing poverty and enhancing the people’s quality of life.There is much to lose, on the other hand, by fostering conditions for permanent confrontation and crisis in the labour movement.

We shall reestablish cordial relationships with civil society, religious organisations and trade unions.  We have the responsibility to restore the integrity and viability of working people’s and non-governmental organisations which have been gravely undermined.We promise improvements that are relevant to people’s everyday experiences and expectations.   Our resilient and resourceful people and communities are eager to play their part in rebuilding our country as ‘One Nation’

Public security is crisis but better must come.   Crime disproportionately hurts the poor.  We are pained by the surge in serious crimes.   There is a continuing increase in the number of armed robberies.  Other everyday crimes – including banditry in the hinterland, murder, piracy, fatalities on the roads and interpersonal violence – have escalated.  Violent crime is scaring foreign investors, driving away the educated Élite, undermining economic growth and impeding social development.   High rates of crime are stifling the manufacturing sector, strangling local enterprise and scuttling the economy.

Public health is in crisis. All Guyanese – whether they live on the coastland or in the hinterland, or whether they are poor or rich – should have access to good health care.  The primary health care system is now failing women, children and the aged. This failure has been most evident in hinterland and rural areas. The primary health care system was meant to promote equity and social justice.  It should be seen as an initiative to make health services more accessible. It should be seen as an investment in human development that avoids more expensive medical treatment at the secondary and tertiary stages.   We have much work to do for the health-care system.

Local government is in crisis, but there will be change.   We shall continue to struggle to restore democratic Municipal and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils which have been damaged or dismantled.   We shall fortify grass-roots democracy by ensuring that the people are allowed to play a greater role in managing their towns and villages by finding solutions to rural and agrarian problems.Guyana cannot become ‘One Nation’ if gross disparities persist between the hinterland and the coastland, between the educated and a mass of semi-literates and between the very rich and very poor. A united nation ought to be one in which cooperation prevails over confrontation and national integration over communal disintegration.

We shall strengthen our economic relations with CARICOM and the Caribbean community.  We met the Secretary General of the Community on our first working day.   One of the foremost tasks of the Vice-President for Foreign Affairs will be to work tirelessly with every single state of the community to ensure complete compliance with the Treaty of Chaguaramas and the fulfilment of the needs of all the Caribbean people. 

A Bambara proverb teaches us that “God gives nothing to those who keep their arms crossed.”  We must, therefore, uncross our arms.  We must unlock our talents, undo the damage to our country and undertake the task of rebuilding our economy.  Our engineers must build bridges across our great rivers.  Our scientists must seek solutions to our cycle of flood and drought.  Our manufacturers must make more products.  Our diplomats must open more markets.  We must make more jewellery from our raw gold.  Our factories must make world-class furniture from our logs and more packaged and preserved products from our fish, fruit meats, milk and vegetables.

We reaffirm our friendly relation with our neighbours - the Federative Republic of Brazil; the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of Suriname.  Our four neighbouring Republics together have much to contribute to the security and stability of this continent, to the success of the Union of South American States and to the happiness of our peoples.

Guyana is a great country.  Its lush Amazonian forest possesses some of the finest specimens of feral cats, eagles, fish; rodents and snakes; the rarest orchids and other flora; the most breathtaking lakes, mountains, rivers, savannahs and waterfalls.   Our land and sea space possess rich mineral resources including bauxite, diamonds, gold, manganese and petroleum. Our country is large enough to accommodate all the islands of the Caribbean Community within its boundaries.  Our people have their origins in the rich cultures of Asia, Africa and Europe and have blended with the indigenous people of the Americas.  We are talented and resourceful. There is no reason for us to be poor.  There is enough to satisfy everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed.

Independence Day, today, signifies an opportunity for a new start.  The state of the nation requires vision and leadership.  We have assembled a Cabinet of men and women who have the enthusiasm, expertise and experience to repair the damage which has been wrought over the past two decades.  We came together as a team because we know the dangers of division. 

Today, my heart is filled with hope, joy and gratitude.  I thank our visitors, especially the Honourable Prime Minister of Barbados Mr Freundel Stewart, and His Excellency Ulises Rosales del Toro, Vice-President of Cuba and the distinguished Guyanese Statesman Sir Shridath Ramphal and other guests who have travelled from overseas and the regions of Guyana for attending this ceremonial inauguration.

I thank the 408,000 Guyanese who expressed their democratic choice by participating in the recent general and regional elections.I thank my wife Sandra who campaigned with me in town and country.  I thank the entire APNU + AFC Coalition Campaign Team which worked day and night for me to be able to stand here before this magnificent congregation.  We are all Guyanese after all.  One Nation.

Let us rejoice in this opportunity to celebrate this democratic renewal.  Let us put our rivalries behind us and let us  work to making this big beautiful, bountiful land into the best place to live in the western hemisphere.Let us fight corruption. Let us fight crime. Let us fight ignorance. Let us fight poverty. But let us not fight one another.  Let us cooperate for Guyana.

May God bless you. May God bless Guyana.