New wave of development sweeping Guyana – Jagdeo

President Bharrat Jagdeo, in a New Year’s message to citizens, said a new wave of development has begun to sweep Guyana. He said that, over the next decade, “we can create a new Guyana with high quality infrastructure and catalyse new economic sectors, while providing global leadership.” The president said the outlines of this new Guyana are taking shape. “If the Berbice Bridge, better housing, education and health are examples of the transformational change from the last two decades, the first examples of the next wave of change are becoming visible. 

“The fibre optic cable currently being laid from the border with Brazil, and other investments made by telecommunication firms, will provide world class digital connectivity to the opportunities of the global economy,” the president said, as he outlined that new economic sectors are growing rapidly, such as business process outsourcing, which now provides many Guyanese with valuable new employment. 

He said that, within the next few weeks, government will begin the procurement of some 30,000 laptops to allow citizens, including the poor, to become part of the digital age. This, he said, is just the first instalment of a two-year programme to distribute 90,000 such units to ensure there’s a computer in every home.

No passive followers

Internationally, Jagdeo said, Guyanese are no longer passive followers in big global issues. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the leadership on climate change. “We have the world’s second largest forest protection deal. Our prestige and standing within the global climate change debate belies our country’s size and historic marginalisation in global affairs. 

We are leading changes to the global multilateral institutions, where far larger countries are looking to us to create globally relevant solutions. We now hold the presidency of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR),” the Guyanese leader said. 

The New Year’s message also notes that, as the country assumes a higher profile internationally, “we are also modernising our own financial system in order to balance our embrace of globalization with the now-evident need for home-grown protections against globally immoral financial manipulations.” During this year, Jagdeo said, the government will continue to expand the range of economic activities so that more jobs can be created, (and) citizens can all enjoy a higher standard of living while forging a united, free and harmonious society. 

Jagdeo said the observance of the birth of a New Year is a time-honoured tradition; and whenever we assemble to be part of such traditions, our unique Guyanese spirit always comes to the fore. This was very much the case during the recent Christmas period, he said, when there was an outpouring of generosity and willingness to share the good fortune, even though limited. 

According to him, the future continued wellbeing of Guyana depends on its ability to make the most of the advantages presented by the modern world. 

“Grasping these advantages requires boldness, sustained courage, and the ability to move beyond being mere passive and peripheral participants. It requires identifying how we can surmount our limitations and shape a self-determined future in a way that creates new opportunities for all our people,” the head of state said. 

He said Guyana can justifiably feel proud of the progress achieved in 2010, and over previous years. “As so many of our sisters and brothers, visiting from overseas after an extended absence, have commented, today’s Guyana is unrecognisable from the Guyana of yesteryear. Vast new communities have emerged in recent years, allowing tens of thousands of Guyanese the dignity of becoming homeowners. Areas like Diamond/Grove have been transformed from small rural villages to rapidly growing semi-urban residential and commercial centres; and the resultant economic and commercial activity has contributed in no small part to our vibrant economy. Even in our older urban centres, landscapes are being transformed with modern buildings, including shopping malls and amenities previously unimaginable,” the president asserted.

He added that the evidence of this transformation is visible across our society. In the social sector, he noted, better educated citizens who are free are able to make better choices; citizens live longer and healthier lives; women and children have an increasingly strong set of protections against violence; and a democratic system is being increasingly entrenched in the local political culture. These represent how transformation impacts positively on the fabric of the nation and on the wellbeing of Guyanese. 

“All of these have been achieved against the background of an unswerving commitment to strengthening our domestic economy. For the first time in decades, our country is unshackled from unimaginable levels of indebtedness. Our external reserves are today at their highest level ever, and three times what they were five years ago. Other key macro- economic indicators are solid. Inflation is under control, and our currency is underpinned by long-term stability. Our fiscal deficit has been reduced to sustainable levels, private sector credit has expanded, and real gross domestic product has increased uninterruptedly over the past five years, despite the dramatic challenges presented by the global financial and economic crises and the effects of the debilitating cuts to the European price for our sugar.” Jagdeo said these macro-economic fundamentals may seem somewhat abstract, but they form the basis for the progress Guyana has made for almost two decades. 

They have enabled the investments which have created opportunities for individuals, families and businesses, he said, adding that they are responsible for the exponential expansion in the local housing stock; they explain why Guyana’s financial sector was able to reduce the cost of borrowing; and they are the reason why the country was able to build new national infrastructure to improve the lives of and provide economic opportunities to thousands.