President Jagdeo meets Guyanese in Washington D.C.
A FULL house of Guyanese from all walks of life was on hand Monday night to greet President Bharrat Jagdeo at a public meeting at the Embassy of Guyana in Washington DC. He arrived at the embassy at around 1900 hrs (7 p.m.) after a full day of meetings in Washington. The President and his delegation, which included Minister with responsibility for Finance, Mr Saisnarine Kowlessar, were introduced by Guyana's Ambassador to the US, Dr Odeen Ishmael. The President opened his address to the audience by updating them on current events in Guyana. He spoke briefly on the Suriname border issue and on the external economic problems Guyana faces in the era of rapid globalisation. He went into great detail informing the audience of his government's fiscal discipline and the resultant impressive economic performance of Guyana since 1992. President Jagdeo stated that despite the 500 per cent increase in public service salaries since 1992, inflation and interest rates have been kept remarkably low compared to Guyana's neighbours. He noted that the external debt has been reduced by more than US$1B since the PPP/Civic entered office. The President spoke of Guyana now moving from a position of rehabilitating its infrastructure to building new infrastructure to opening up the country to development. The selection of a contractor to bridge the Berbice River was highlighted as an example of this move. Mr Jagdeo made it clear that one of the issues he is most concerned with is the plight of the young people of Guyana. As a result, the education sector is very important to him. He spoke of the rapid increase of the number of primary school graduates now being able to attend secondary school, due to the achievement of his government in building new schools and training a larger number of teachers. The President stated that within three years, all primary school graduates will be able to move on to secondary school and the common entrance examination will be abolished. The President ended his speech by focusing on the ethnic problems Guyana faces. He called it the single greatest obstacle to development in Guyana. He went as far as to outwardly blame the politicians of Guyana for taking advantage of the people and using the race issue to divide them. President Jagdeo noted that race becomes a greater issue around election time when everything becomes exaggerated. However, he noted that a lot of hope exists for Guyana since the country is not as divided as other ethnically diverse nations. The President suggested that talking outwardly about ethnic issues and refusing to treat it as a taboo subject will go a long way in helping Guyana deal with its problem. After the speech, the President took questions from the audience. Many members of the audience took the opportunity to express their delight that President Jagdeo was so very frank and open on the issue of race. Additionally, the President was asked questions concerning controversial issues such as the distribution of house lots and the Beal Aerospace agreement. The President answered every question openly and was sure to address every point the questioners raised. On the issue of house lot distribution, he noted that a Ministry of Housing statistical study showed that some 47 per cent of house lots were distributed to Afro-Guyanese, disproving claims of discrimination in this area. On the issue of the Beal Aerospace agreement, the President noted that a copy of a document which represented Beal's bargaining position is what the Opposition Leader released to the public. He said the final agreement will be tabled in Parliament and copies have already been distributed to the opposition parties. The President also reiterated that the land the government sold to Beal for US$3 an acre is swamp land which has little, if any, economic use. He announced that any Guyanese willing to invest in the same area of Guyana will be given the land they need for free, as long as the investment does not include mining or logging. After the question and answer session, the President met members of the audience answering more detailed questions and posing for pictures with Guyanese delighted to meet him.
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