Guyanese Association celebrates 42nd Independence Anniversary
…Conway, Bacchus provide historical perspectives

By Staff Reporter-SKNVibes.com

Chief Officer Alvin Vasquez receives his award from Chairman of the St. Kitts Chapter of the Guyanese Association, Mark Handley

The event was held at the St. Kitts Lawn Tennis Club and among the special invitees were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris who spoke on the long-standing relationship between Guyana and St. Kitts and Nevis; former Speaker of the National Assembly Marcella Liburd; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Legal Affairs Ryllis Vasquez; and Noel Dalton, Chairman, Nevis Chapter of the Guyanese Association. 

Editor-in-Chief of SKNVibes Stanford Conway provided the audience with a

Stanford Conway: Editor-in-Chief, SKNVibes.com

He spoke about the first trade union in his country, the British Guiana Labour Union, formed by the late Nathaniel Critchlow for the Negro waterfront workers in Georgetown, and also the Man Power Citizens’ Association led by the late Ayube Edun, which catered for the needs of the East Indian sugar workers.

Conway also spoke about the formation of the People’s Progressive Party [PPP], headed by Guyana’s first Chief Minister and subsequent Prime Minister, the late Dr. Cheddi Bharrat Jagan, along with the late Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham as the Party’s Chairman and Janet Jagan as its Secretary.

“The PPP was formed in 1950 and won the first general elections held under universal suffrage on Monday, April 27, 1953. However, shortly thereafter the British suspended Guiana’s Constitution and the Governor, Sir Alfred Savage, installed an Interim Government on January 4, 1954 after the arrival of British troops and the subsequent detention of the Party’s leadership at Sibley Hall Prison in the Mazaruni,” he said.

He also informed that problems among senior members of the Party caused a split and the PPP then became two factions – Jagan’s PPP and Burnham’s PPP, and their supporters known then as Jaganites and Burnhamites.

Clive Bacchus: General Manager WINN FM

Conway noted that the PPP also won the 1961 general elections and in the following year Guiana experienced a terrible day called “Black Friday”, when there was riot in Georgetown where many business entities in Regent and Water Streets were destroyed by arsonists.

Conway also spoke of events between 1963 and 1964 and termed those years as one of the worst periods in Guyana’s history. He pointed out that the PPP government attempted to introduce a Labour Relations Bill which triggered a general strike from April 18 to July 6, 1963.

This strike, he added, bred riots and caused the Governor, Sir Ralph Grey, to call out British troops to restore order. “Businesses and homes were burnt and about 180 persons were killed during the racial unrest, which continued into 1964 when violence erupted following a strike called by the Guiana Agricultural Workers’ Union in an attempt to gain recognition by the Sugar Producers’ Association.”

He said that as a result of the racial hostility and strife between Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese in those years, Sir Ralph Grey

Cultural presentation by Guyanese children

Conway noted that even though the PPP obtained the highest percentage of votes in the 1964 general elections, a coalition between the PNC and Peter D’Aguiar’s United Force formed the new government, and on May 26, 1966 Guiana became an independent nation under Prime Minister Burnham.

He wished that his fellow Guyanese at home could have been present to witness the camaraderie and unity being shared among the Guyanese Diaspora in St.  Kitts and Nevis, and called on all those present at the event to continue living in unity “not only among your fellow Guyanese, but also with our Kittitian and Nevisian brothers and sisters”. 
  
WINN FM Radio Station’s General Manager Clive Bacchus spoke on the post-independence era. He explained how vibrant Guyana’s economy was in the early days and some of the reasons for that country to be now rated second only to Haiti along the poverty line in this region.

~~Adz:Left~~ Bacchus highlighted the abundant mineral wealth the country possesses and noted that after Guyana became a Republic in 1970 the government embarked upon a ‘Socialist Path’. “And with Central Government’s control of the economy, price control, the banning of certain food items, party paramouncy and rigged elections, Guyana’s economy went downstream and the country accumulated billions in debt. Guyana became one of the most heavily indebted countries in the world.”

He said that after the death of Burnham in 1985, the late Hugh Desmond Hoyte began an economic reform through an IMF-structured programme and democracy was restored in Guyana for the first time after Independence when the PPP returned to office in 1992.

“Since then,” he added, “the People’s Progressive Party-Civic has continued largely with Mr. Hoyte’s policies. But now there are steady allegations of corrupt government contractors, money laundering, drug running and wickedness in high places.”

Bacchus noted that some people said Guyana has managed to reduce its debt substantially and is poised to take off in the medium term.

“In 1992,” he continued, “Guyana was paying 90 percent of its GDP in debt, according to some sources. That has now reduced to 30 percent of GDP after debt forgiveness from several international agencies.”
He pointed out that the vast resources of Guyana still remain untapped, centuries after it was described by Sir Walter Raleigh as “the Empire of Eldorado”.

Bacchus said that the cripplingly divisive racial politics with roots in Guyana’s colonial past is the nation’s Achilles Heel. “The strife between the majority of descendants of India and descendants of Africa has given us a system with a few billionaires and thousands of people living in grinding poverty; a winner takes all system that caused the impoverishment of too many.”

The General Manager said much tears were shed by the Guyanese Diaspora in St. Kitts and Nevis when they read of the bloodshed in Guyana, including the Lusignan, Agricola and Bartica massacres, the killing of Minister Satyadeow Sawh and his siblings, and the murder of Ronald Waddle, among others.  

~~Adz:Right~~ “We pray for an end to this savagery and know in our hearts that violence begets violence and that an eye for an eye will leave us blind. As we look to the future, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper of the World Bank says there are seven pillars for Guyana to build on…Broad-base jobs generating economic growth, Environmental Protection, Stronger Institutions and better governance, Investment in human capital with emphasis on basic education and health, Investment in physical capital, Improved Safety Nets and Special Intervention Programmes to address regional pockets of poverty,” he said.

Quoting from the CIA’s Fact Book of May 2008, Bacchus said Guyana’s economy exhibited moderate economic growth from 2001 to 2007, based on expansion in its agriculture and mining sectors, a more favourable atmosphere for business initiatives, a more realistic exchange rate, fairly low inflation and the continued support of international organisations.

He also noted a footnote of the Fact Book stated that “Guyana remains a transshipment point for narcotics for South America, primarily Venezuela, to Europe and the US, producer of cannabis, rising money laundering related to drug trafficking and human smuggling”.

Bacchus claims that another prognosis from the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal stated, “As a developing nation Guyana faces substantial economic challenges. The biggest barrier to development is Guyana’s oversized Government with expenditures exceeding half of GDP. Investment freedom, business freedom, property rights and freedom from corruption all scored poorly on international charts. Significant restrictions on foreign investments are slowly being addressed and, these restrictions, combined with an inefficient bureaucracy, substantially limit Guyana’s economic freedom. The substandard rule of law means that property rights are protected only erratically and corruption is a problem in all areas of government.” 

Bacchus pointed out that many outstanding people have contributed to Guyana’s upliftment and also its problems as well as contributing to neighbouring countries and some further afield. He said those people range from lawyers to sugar workers, “but still the resources of Guyana remain untapped and the country is yet to fulfill its destiny.

“I believe that Guyana’s greatest asset is its people; whether you live in Guyana or what we now call the ‘Guyaspora’, and there are many of us. Even as we assimilate and respect new cultures and new ways, our culture of where we came from is always with us, for our culture is in our blood…our skin and our soul.

“Despite our warts and flaws, the people of Guyana have earned a reputation as hospitable, friendly, hard-working, God-faring people. We still celebrate Hindu, Muslim, Christian and other holidays and as many holidays as we can make up. Our music, our food, our dance, our art and craft, our culture are richer for our diversity. We have a great sense of humour and we like to laugh at each other…we like to laugh at ourselves, and our best jokes are about people we like and people that we don’t like, and some of us have a habit of laughing after the joke is gone.”

Bacchus said the greatest challenge to Guyana immediately after Independence was to hold on to its land in the face of claims from Venezuela and Suriname.

He explained that Guyana’s response these threats was to initiate a number of strategies, including Burnham’s adaptation of a pro-western stance from 1966 to 1970 attracting the bulk of US to the Caribbean, Caribbean integration, close ties with the Commonwealth, an active role in the United Nations, support for the African Liberation Movement, joining the Non-Aligned Movement and close ties with Brazil.

“In addition to these strategies, Dave Martin’s song, ‘Not A Blade of Grass’, still remains the national anthem in the hearts of many Guyanese,” Bacchus concluded.

The Executive body of the Guyanese Association had honoured and awarded Guyanese-born Alvin Vasquez for his 37 years of yeoman service to the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and Her Majesty’s Prison. Clive Bacchus was also honoured and awarded for his contribution to the development of both print and electronic media in the Federation.

A number of cultural presentations were done by Guyanese children and the curtains came down with the hoisting of Guyana’s flag, the Golden Arrowhead, which symbolised that the only English-speaking country in South America is no longer a British colony since May 26, 1966.