President urges others to follow PPP/C campaign unity theme
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo says the campaign for the March 19 elections by the governing People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is "one of bringing us together" and urged other parties to follow suit.
"Unity, that's our theme!" he said at a news briefing at the party's Freedom House headquarters in Georgetown yesterday.
"We have been working on that; it has been a very broad platform, it is inclusive and I would urge other parties to take this broad outlook too because ultimately, after winning the elections, we have to think about governing in the interest of all the people of Guyana."
With running mate Prime Minister Sam Hinds at his side, he said he was pleased that the PPP/C's campaign so far across the country has been "relatively clean (and) we have avoided the excesses of many past campaigns..."
He pointed out that on the campaign trail, the PPP/C has spoken heavily of its record of achievements, comparing those against the record of, especially, Mr Desmond Hoyte when he was President between 1985 and 1992.
"Sometimes it is a bit worrying when people say that we should not focus on that period or we should not say anything about Mr Hoyte because Mr Hoyte was once President of Guyana", he said.
"Before that he was part of the power structures and more importantly he is running again as a candidate, therefore his record matters."
"And we have to compare it because how else are we going to know about the achievements that we have made if we basically do not know where the starting point was? And that is the sole reason for the comparison", he explained.
Mr Jagdeo said he has nothing against Hoyte, leader of the main Opposition People's National Congress REFORM (PNC/Reform).
"As a citizen of this country he has my full respect and as President of Guyana I will defend any of his rights if he feels that anyone is infringing on those rights."
"But as a presidential candidate, I have to speak about those records," President Jagdeo added.
He noted that the PPP/C was focusing heavily on its achievements in office, especially in water, housing, roads, electricity, health care and the general growth in the country and the return to democracy.
"Over the next few weeks we are going to be speaking heavily about our future plans for Guyana," he added.
The President also hoped that a recent attack at a PPP/C public meeting in Festival City, Greater Georgetown, was not repeated.
Although some amount of heckling was okay, it was absolutely intolerable "when you start stoning people from other political parties who go into an area to carry a message", he stressed.
"...if you don't like the message then you should stay away, but not stone them or physically harass them," President Jagdeo urged.
He also hoped the PNC/Reform would disassociate itself from that act.
Mr Jagdeo noted, too, that some people on the elections campaign trail have told "lies about the government".
He was also somewhat amused that while in his platform speeches so far during the campaign, he has dedicated not more than 10 minutes to speaking about political opponents, (and another 40 minutes about future plans for the country), Hoyte spends four hours speaking about his political opponents.
He announced that the PPP/C will be launching its manifesto next week, noting that given the PPP/C's long association with the National Development Strategy (NDS) over the years, it will be found that its manifesto will have a "very organic link" with the NDS.
"We will be speaking about our plans in every single sector to continue the forward movement in our country (and) those plans are clearly outlined in our manifesto," he said.
Mr Jagdeo said he has, to some extent on the campaign trail, been giving "little tit-bits" of what these plans are in the various sectors.
He hastened to add, however, that the PPP/C has not so far presented a total manifesto. He also admitted that by its very nature, a manifesto could not be as comprehensive as the NDS.
"I have always been committed to the debate on the NDS and then the subsequent conclusion as the blueprint - the plan - for this country to move forward...so you are going to find our manifesto having a very organic link with the National Development Strategy," he said.
Also at the briefing were PPP/C General Secretary, Mr Donald Ramotar and Press Officer, Mr Robert Persaud.
...denies PNC claims
PRESIDENT Jagdeo yesterday also denied claims by the PNC/Reform that the sugar, rice and bauxite industries were in trouble.
"Sugar is definitely not in trouble. We took over the sugar industry that, just before we took over, was importing sugar from Guatemala to satisfy the demands of this country. That is the state of the sugar industry when we took over."
He said sugar output has increased by more than 100 per cent since the PPP/C came into government.
"And even though there were difficulties last year we had a record production of sugar", he noted.
He explained that difficulties in the sugar industry last year were largely associated with flooding and unfavourable weather conditions.
President Jagdeo also noted that income has grown phenomenally in the industry and workers were getting a significantly higher salary than in 1992. Sugar is contributing a large part to the Gross Domestic Product (16 per cent of the economy); it is producing one-fifth of the foreign currency earnings; the income levels in the industry have gone up and it is paying more taxes, he noted.
He argued that the industry has to be looked at in a cumulative period. The PNC "left us an industry at a certain level; where is the industry now in comparison to that level that you left us?"
He said there has been a similar pattern in the rice industry.
"But the key thing is that the PNC accuses us of spending too much money on Drainage and Irrigation (D&I)...when we budget for resources for Drainage and Irrigation, they (PNC) say you're giving too much money for D&I."
"D&I is the lifeblood of the industry (and) we have spent over $7B on D&I. Today, people can farm in areas where trees were once growing in trenches...and to say because of the political season today you suddenly have had a change of heart, then I don't believe it," he said.
He admitted that the rice industry has experienced difficulties, largely related to weather conditions and argued that it was how the government responded in these adverse situations that should be commended.
"The government responded by helping many of those people to go back to the industry...and they did."
Production has increased tremendously over the past years under the PPP/C administration so, according to President Jagdeo, "clearly if you compare levels of production as a key indicator of the state of the industry then you will see where it was and where it is now."
He said the government has been subsidising the bauxite industry over the years.
It was untrue for the PNC/Reform to claim that these industries were "in trouble", he said.
He also noted that the government, despite calls, would not shut down the bauxite industry but would continue to maintain the industry as an economic activity.
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