“It was under the PNC dictatorship that Guyana’s infrastructure collapsed”
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) says it finds amusing the recent statements by Opposition Leader David Granger concerning the current state of the country’s infrastructure.
At a recent news conference by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Granger referred to “poor infrastructure” and how “roads, bridges, stellings, canals, and other amenities have degenerated” under the ruling party.
However, in a sharp response, the PPP/C said it cannot help but insist that Granger continues to be a stranger to the truth and can only wonder which country he is really living. “This soldier/historian turned politician has obviously contracted amnesia resulting in his inability to recall the state of the country’s infrastructure which his PNC regime bequeathed to the people of Guyana,” the ruling party said in a statement.
According to the PPP/C, Granger needs to be reminded about the trail of destruction and degradation which occurred during “the years of PNC dictatorship”. The party said it found it necessary to jolt Granger’s memory, especially concerning the PNC’s track record and to remind him about how far we have come as a nation as regards physical and social infrastructural development.
“The PPP finds it necessary to remind Mr Granger about the dilapidated physical infrastructure and social amenities which his party presided over during its 28 years in government. It is to be recalled that the 38 and a quarter miles of the Essequibo Coast road took a traveller over three and a half hours to traverse, while having to navigate ponds, mini hills and valleys, dead sand stretches, broken bridges and even vegetation in the middle of the road. This is what residents of and visitors to Essequibo had to endure for years.”
Insult to injury
Moreover, the PPP/C says the half-mile road stretching from the Bank of Guyana to the Pegasus Hotel was in such a deplorable state that it took half an hour to traverse that relatively short distance.
“And to add insult to injury, the Georgetown-Timehri road was another pain to endure and navigate,” the ruling party said, adding that potable water through taps at floor level was a dream for the majority of Guyanese.
“From the city to the towns and villages, the sewage and water supply systems were all destroyed and never rehabilitated. Village dams, feeders roads, farm-to-farm-to-market roads and kokers were never maintained. Many fell into a state of total neglect.”
The PPP/C added that the country’s drainage and irrigation had completely collapsed and agriculture production was at its nadir when the people of Guyana booted out the PNC from government in free elections of 1992.
Rebuilt after 1992
“If we are to lend the proverbial ear to Granger’s claim, then we must conclude that it was the PNC dictatorship that was the cause of the destruction of our country’s social and physical infrastructure,” the party said.
According to the PPP/C, “Time to Rebuild” was the theme under which it started to rebuild Guyana’s social and physical infrastructure, noting that it is proud of the work that successive Administrations have done without boasting about it.
Listing some of its accomplishments, the PPP/C said since its term in office: 1200 schools have been built or rebuilt; hundreds of miles of roads have been built in villages all around the country; bridges that will stand for the long term have been built from Supenaam to Charity, from Rosignol to Georgetown, and from Georgetown to Timehri.
Conversely, it said under the PNC less than 20,000 vehicles used the roadways, today there are more than 150,000 vehicles utilising the roadways. It said the Ogle International Airport and the Berbice River Bridge are testimony to what public/private partnerships can accomplish in infrastructure development under the PPP/C Administration.
