wednesDAY, march 14, 2018
guyanatimesgy.com
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News
100th birth anniversary
Tributes flow as IAC remembers Dr Cheddi Jagan
A
n Indian Action Committee (IAC)sponsored symposium at the National Library on Tuesday, to reflect on the life of late President, Dr Cheddi Jagan, saw tributes and discussions on the principles of the legendary leader in light of present-day Guyana. Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall cited concrete examples where Jagan exercised his vision for a better Guyana – a vision driven by principles the coalition Government was still trying to take up. He pointed to Jagan's hydropower initiatives during the early years of his time as premier, the building of one of the first native universities in the British colonies and the formation of cooperative farming societies through legislation, a move he said coincided with Guyana being labelled as the breadbasket of the Caribbean. Nandlall made it clear that Jagan would never have accepted the oil contract the current Government has "foisted" on the people of Guyana. He stressed that Jagan had established a balance between being anti-poverty and pro-business. “Dr Jagan, whether you wanted to call him a communist, was a communist who was pro people, (anti) poverty, he was pro-business but against exploitation of workers. So, yes, you can have
present. Reflecting a more personal side of Jagan, he recalled his resolute good humour while incarcerated by the British. He recalled that as a child when peering at his father from the building adjacent to the jail, Dr Jagan would always be seen with a smile on his face.
Evolution
Late President, Dr Cheddi Jagan
foreign investors,” Nandlall said. “What was his position? You can have foreign investments, but they must not be to the detriment of the local people. Jagan would have never ever tolerated an oil contract like the one foisted upon this nation right now.” Social commentator Ramon Gaskin took pains to stress that had Jagan been alive or his vision continued, the mass firing of sugar workers without severance pay would never have occurred. People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP), Collin Croal pointed to Jagan's emphasis on youth development. He cited the creation of the University of Guyana and his mentoring of the youths as an example. The former President’s son, Dr Joey Jagan, was also
Another MP, Vickram Bharrat, fielded questions as to whether the Party had moved away from Jagan’s founding principles. He refuted suggestions that the Party no longer reflected Jagan’s ideologies, while noting that as time progressed, the PPP has evolved. “…as a young person within the PPP, I want to say the Party is grounded along Cheddi Jagan lines. Sometimes, we tend not to differentiate between Government and Party. Sometimes, we tie the Party and Government actions into each other.” “And we say that the government between 97 and 2015 did not act in this way and that way. But it is a different era. And we often say, maybe if Jagan was alive he would have taken these decisions that our leaders are taking today. One famous comment he made is we must learn to walk within raindrops. It means that as time moves, as people change, it may require different ideological thinking, policies and you must adopt
it. As time changes, we have to change with it too.” Cheddi Berret Jagan was born on March 22, 1918, at Plantation Port Mourant,
Skeldon, Corriverton, Berbice. We sent out correspondence to the Public Infrastructure Minister, the Guyana Power and Light, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) officials and other related parties regarding our ability to contribute to national development and stable electricity supply, through the provision of excess generated energy from this state-of-theart wind turbine. It was set up four months ago, after being imported to Guyana from India over a year ago. However, as the situa-
tion stands right now, apart from feeling deflated in our quest to be supportive of national development efforts, we are contemplating dismantling the turbine, which is already set up and operational at tremendous costs to us, and shipping it back out of the country; because as it stands now…it could become a “white elephant”, as the primary purpose of supplying our new multimillion-dollar hotel (Classic International) with electricity and other concerns have not been allowed. So, we are still part of the
Police recover dead man’s car
Dead: Romel Edison Gomes
P
olice have recovered the car which was stolen from murder victim, Romel Edison Gomes’ home on Monday evening. Reports are Gomes, called “Eddie”, 32, of Lot 53 Wismar Housing Scheme, Linden, Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) was found at his business place with a gunshot wound to his head and his throat slit. Guyana Times was told that the incident occurred at about 17:30h on Monday. E Division (LindenKwakwani) Commander Anthony Vanderyden confirmed that the Toyota car with registration number PVV 2057 was recovered at about 09:00h
national grid, but would also like to supply the grid with affordable surplus energy from our wind turbine operation. We are calling on the Government to pay heed to our efforts in supporting its green thrust and utilise all available alternative energy sources. Yours truly, Management of Classic International Hotel Skeldon, Corriverton, Berbice
It’s better to call a spade a spade Dear Editor, The media on Match 13 carried two letters side by side; one was forthright in its description of the public servants whose incompetence, aptly described as “asleep at the wheel” resulted in Guyana losing ‘a significant part of the export basket of fishing products to the US; the other was a long dilation on management theories using sophisticated language (typical of Churchill calling a spade an
agricultural instrument) to describe the various stages of managerial action/inaction in the public service which lead to success or failure in spite of the massive inputs of training provided to the public servants by high-powered local and international training providers. It is patently obvious from the latter that the public service is bogged down by its own indulgence in ‘splitting hairs’ over the meanings and application of var-
ious aspects of public policy with an over-kill on ‘strategizing’ (whatever that omnibus term may mean!) rather than focusing on effective, timely implementation and service delivery. What I think was even more surprising/disappointing was the notation that public policy analysis is designed “to teach government officials and public servants to read critically; think analytically and write concisely in all sectors”. I was al-
(now Guyana). He headed the country’s Government again from 1957 to 1964 and from 1992 to 1997.
Linden robbery-murder
Non-support of our green state proposal
Dear Editor, We are very supportive of the APNU/AFC coalition Government’s thrust to create a “Green State” in Guyana. In fact, we support the “Green Development State Strategy” in principle. Also commendable is the national objective of creating and utilising alternative sources of energy. As such, we are very perturbed and dismayed that we have not yet received a response to our offer to the Government for the supply to the national grid from our 250kv wind turbine, set up at
British Guiana. He was a politician and a union activist, who in 1953 became the first popularly-elected Prime Minister of British Guiana
ways under the impression that these basic competencies were necessary pre-requisites for entry into the service. If scarce resources must be devoted to providing public servants with these basic skills and competencies, then one has to question the initial selection criteria and decision-making on selection for entry into the service. Sincerely, Nowrang Persaud
on Tuesday in an alleyway at One Mile, Wismar, Linden, about seven minutes away from the scene of the crime. Gomes was allegedly killed by two males, one who was armed with a handgun. Investigations revealed that the victim and the suspects were seen arguing inside of the shop and shortly afterwards, a loud explosion was heard. Soon after, the suspects were seen fleeing the scene in the victim’s motor car which was parked in front of his shop. The victim, who lived with his three-year-old son, was discovered in a pool
The victim’s bedroom was ransacked. No arrests have been made. A post-mortem examination is expected be conducted on the victim today. Meanwhile, a neighbour recalled seeing two males, both sporting braided hair, standing outside Gomes's shop some time before the incident. The men were reportedly wearing bandanas over their faces and caps pulled down to shield their identities. According to a neighbour, the deceased and his son were at home at the time of the incident, as they recalled seeing Gomes exit the shop and
The recovered car
of blood with his hands bound in front of his boddy and a kerchief (bandana) tied around his mouth. He was rushed to the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) but was pronounced dead on arrival. A suspected gunshot wound was seen on the right temple, a small laceration on top of the head and another lacerated wound to the neck. The scene was processed and a spent shell of a small calibre weapon was found along with a kitchen knife with bloodstains.
asked a neighbour who was about to enter the shop to take his son away. "A brown skin one was standing at the gate… but he had a hat on he head pulled down in he face and plait hair,” a neighbour recalled. The neighbour reportedly left the scene with the child. Gomes, a former national footballer reportedly moved to Linden from Georgetown about two years ago to live with his wife, who now resides overseas.