Guyana has been gradually rising from the ashes of its past

Dear Editor,

‘Absolutely transformative’ must be the term describing the pivotally-visible changes that the entire nation has been experiencing, especially since the beginning of the current millennium. Just go back to, say, twenty years ago, the following can be said of the national social status quo: pot-holed roads throughout the capital city, for example, that gave the appearance of a crater-holed moon surface; houses that were generally in need of repair and general rehabilitative works; very few taps that allowed in-residence water flow; run-down schools; scarcity of residential phone lines; a national health system that was primitive in many respects and unable to deliver timely and proper medical care to the nation’s citizens; scarcity of essential food items that occasioned lengthy lines, beginning as early as midnight for many citizens desperate for mainstream food items for their families; and not to forget, a people absolutely fed-up with an authoritarian and unpopular regime. Does anyone wish to deny such? Only if they originate from another galaxy, or do not have a sense of honesty.

Fast forward almost 20 years later, and like the legendary phoenix, Guyana has been gradually rising from the ashes, shedding its decrepit and hopeless state and assuming its place in the category of developing nation states. Billions have been invested, and are still being spent, in the building and resurfacing of roads throughout the length and breadth of the country’s coastlands; in the rehabilitation and construction of new hospitals and medical centres, inclusive of four new diagnostic centres and an ophthalmological hospital; unprecedented medical procedures are now being carried out; and more medical personnel are now available; there have been recently-announced plans to build a surgical specialty facility; an ongoing schools rehabilitation and school building programme with teacher training is being expanded to facilitate better delivery of quality education to the nation’s students; computer laboratories are being placed in schools as ICT skills now become the bridgehead for modernisation; bridges have been constructed linking Corentyne, East Berbice to West Coast Berbice, and Brazil to Guyana via the Takutu River; and there have been recently announced plans for a deep-water harbour in East Berbice.

Then there is the great housing strategy that has seen the establishment of numerous housing schemes, with many homes for working-class families, and with many of these settlements being converted to town status.

There are also the people-oriented programmes, such as the government-sponsored skills training for women and further financial aid assisting them to commence businesses commensurate with their acquired skills; and the fantastic Women of Worth programme that is designed to lift single parents from their burdened lot.

The above illustrations are just a microcosm of the great social and economic developmental strides that have been taking place in Guyana.

Today, Guyana is a nation on the move, with a people positive, hopeful and mature as they benefit from an administration whose primary goal is to bring full progress to the lives of individual citizens.

It is this progressive scorecard that makes the present regime worthy of occupying office.

Sincerely,

Dean Clement