At Region 9 campaign meeting - Ramotar promises a better tomorrow
- Pledges to build on the foundation laid by President Jagdeo
- Roraima Governor endorses PPP/C

Written by Parvati Persaud-Edwards
Monday, 07 November 2011 04:23
Source - Guyana Chronicle

The extremely talented and now famous Surama Cultural Group

PRESIDENTIAL Candidate of the PPP/C, Donald Ramotar told Region 9 residents gathered at Lethem yesterday that the elections of 2011 are important to the country, because it will determine whether Guyana will go forward instead of backwards.

He related that when the first PPP government was ejected from office in 1964 and the PNC took office, Guyana had the highest standard in the Caribbean and had been experiencing progressive development since the PPP had formed the government the first time, all of which gains were destroyed after the PNC squandermania and excesses destroyed the country over the near three decades it was in power.

All hinterland communities, according to Ramotar, had similar experiences during those terrible years, when the welfare of the Guyanese poor, especially Guyana’s first peoples was relegated to the back burner.

He recalled the experiences of his own community growing up as a boy in Caria Caria, where many young people had to seek low-paid jobs in the interior that offered no upward mobility and became so hopeless that they turned to drinking for solace.

Massive support at the PPP/C’s rally at Lethem yesterday (Sandra Prince photos)

Materials that the PPP government had acquired to build a school in the community had disappeared and the school was never built, while the health centre that the PPP government had built was taken over by bush. This was a story that was replicated all over the country, said Ramotar, with very bright children not being afforded the opportunity to realise their potential, while the country backslid between 1964 to 1992 into being the poorest country in the Caribbean.

He also reflected on the post-1992 period, with the PPP in government, when former PNC president Desmond Hoyte predicted that the PPP/C would not last six months, because Hoyte knew well the condition to which the PNC had reduced Guyana.

However, Ramotar declared that the PPP proved him (Hoyte) wrong and can last another six decades, because that party’s focus is on working toward the development of all the people in Guyana. He reminded his audience that every village has been provided with empowering tools to improve productivity and job creation, although he acknowledged that much more is projected for the near future.

FREEDOM HAS NO PRICE TAG

According to Ramotar, the most important thing that the PPP/C did for Guyana is that it restored freedom in the country, which has no price tag and cannot be traded.

They came from far-flung Amerindian villages to show solidarity and march along with PPP/C Presidential Candidate Donald Ramotar, President Bharrat Jagdeo and other leaders.

He warned Amerindians about the false promises being peddled by the opposition, especially the PNC, which once promised free cassava bread and milk, but instead gave cassava stick, because the PNC leaders enriched themselves at the expense of the people, robbing the country so much that national bills could not have been paid.

They also rigged every successive election prior to 1992 to keep themselves in power until they had depleted the treasury, ran the country bankrupt and had severely indebted it to the tune of billions of dollars.

He said there could be no sustained development without political democracy, which the PPP/C restored and which needs to be guarded, because the same people who kept the country, especially indigenous communities poor are obviously trying to fool them into thinking they care about Amerindians, which he termed politics of deception.



Conversely, professed Ramotar, the PPP/C is spending money to improve people’s capacities, reduce poverty, and develop Guyana’s human capital, because, ultimately, development is about people. That is why the government’s largest investment is in the social sector.
He said that Region 9 is strategically placed because it borders Brazil, which is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

According to Ramotar, partnerships and student exchange programmes that are currently in progress between the neighbouring countries are unifying factors that move energies together for the common benefit. Guyana is also strategically placed to bridge the Caribbean and South America, which will lessen the dependency of these countries on North America.
He listed all the many interventions that the PPP/C government has made to the education sector and

Governor of Roraima, Senor José de Anchieta Júnior in conversation with President Bharrat Jagdeo and Presidential Candidate Donald Ramotar in Lethem yesterday.

outlined plans for even more inputs, even while in far richer countries, such as Chile and the UK students are protesting because their respective governments are engaging in retrogressive acts that threaten the education of the young people of those countries.

Ramotar also outlined projections for an expanded economy and promised that, in a future under a PPP/C government, no family will be disadvantaged because of poverty.

Pointing out that the world is facing a crisis situation in terms of food security, Ramotar stressed that agriculture is one of the government’s growth poles, especially in view of the fact that Guyana is blessed with abundant land and fresh water.

Presidential Candidate Donald Ramotar outlines future plans to accelerate development in the nation.

Above all, Ramotar warned, attention has to be paid to the holistic development of children, because while it is important to give children roots, it is also important to provide them with an education, which instills in them knowledge and moral values; which in turn gives them wings to fly to realise their dreams.

He urged that the freedom Guyanese enjoy should be protected by putting the PPP/C back in government, because that party is the only one that fights for democracy, which should be defended at all costs and expanded.

He predicted that the elections will see the PPP/C winning outright and that the country will continue to move from strength to strength; because if it is good today, with the PPP/C back in power it will be better tomorrow.

Presentations were also made by President Bharrat Jagdeo; Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira; Head of the National Toshaos Council, Ms Yvonne Pearson; Region 9 Chairman Mr. Clarindo Lucas; and Messrs. Bertie Xavier and Desmond Kissoon. Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai chaired the event.

President Bharrat Jagdeo speaking at the PPP/C’s campaign rally in Lethem yesterday.

The All-Amerindian band – Calibro Band and the remarkable Surama Cultural Group provided entertainment.

The Governor of Roraima, Senor José de Anchieta Júnior, and a team of Brazilians paid a surprise visit to Lethem and shared the PPP/C platform, where President Jagdeo and the Governor briefly exchanged fraternal greetings and promises of strengthened bonds, more collaborative initiatives and greater cooperation in the future to build upon the foundation of friendship between the two countries already laid by President Bharrat Jagdeo and former Brazilian President Inacio Lula DaSilva.

Governor Senor José de Anchieta Júnior lauded the governance of the ruling party and endorsed their bid for another term in government.

Last Updated ( Monday, 07 November 2011 04:27 )