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NEW YEAR’S MESSAGE-2006.
DELIVERED BY MR. RAPHAEL TROTMAN
Fellow Guyanese, on behalf of the executive and membership of the Alliance For Change I bring you warm greetings as we usher in the New Year of 2006. As we sing and bid farewell to the old year, let us begin this new one with a prayer of thanksgiving, for we have survived with our health and strength intact.
Many have succumbed to the travails and tribulations of poverty, disease, bad governance and crime. We mourn those who are no more with us, and empathize with those who find themselves weakened, wounded, and worried on this the first day of the year. We must give them our unconditional support.
Let us not fool ourselves, 2006 is gong to be a testing and difficult year for Guyana. It will present itself as a crucible for a determination of our future survival, depending on which turn in the road we as a people decide to take.
Despite all the claims of a thriving Guyana, we know that this country has never been in so much turmoil as that which we witness daily. Despite the boasts of increases in pensions and salaries, our people continue to suffer- eking out an existence by the hour.
The AFC notes and welcomes Government’s decision to pay one month’s salary as a bonus to members of the Disciplined Services. It is common knowledge that the Disciplined Services play a crucial role in the welfare of the nation and any benefit or remuneration granted to them must be wholeheartedly supported.
We also welcome Government’s decision to grant $500,000. each to forty (40) Football Clubs. Sports is an essential and important unifying factor within societies such as ours and holds out potential for bringing glory to the nation.
The AFC is however disappointed that his Excellency the President did not see it fit to extend the bonus to, among others, teachers and nurses. Members of these two professions also play a critical role in the general well being of the nation and in moulding our youths, the leaders of tomorrow. Nurses and Teachers are also under remunerated and the President ought to move quickly and regularize this anomaly by immediately granting them one month’s salary as a Christmas Bonus. It is not too late.
In similar vein, His Excellency, the President, also cannot limit his contribution to support to the Football Clubs only. What of the Cricket Clubs, the Basketball Clubs, the Boxing Clubs, the Table Tennis Clubs, Track and Field Clubs and the Volleyball Clubs among others. Sport in general must be supported.
A singular and myopic approach to dispensing patronage and sharing the resources of the state, can, and will lead to further divisiveness within our society. Such an approach does not equate to responsible and caring governance.
The blessings bestowed on other nations have forsaken Guyana, because our leadership has forsaken the source of all blessing. We are now faced with a life changing decision. Two options present themselves before us. One leading us to prosperity, and the other, leading ultimately to irreparable disaster. We urge you to choose wisely. The curse of forty years must be broken.
This year, we Guyanese will experience the harsh impact from the decline in sugar prices, the socio-economic fallout of a departing OMAI Gold Mines Inc., the exogenous shocks and tremors brought on by adjustments within the global political economy, and the ravages of crime and corruption allowed to run amok at home. The overall outlook is troubling and bleak to say the least.
Issues of crime continue to affect us without any relief in sight. The Government, despite all its claims of concern, remains unmoved by the plight of those murdered, raped, robbed, and kidnapped. Fighting crime is not impossible. It requires the will and right approaches devoid of political influence and interference. Similarly, those of us who genuinely care must address joblessness, and the inhumane conditions under which those who do manage to find work.
Let us discover the silver lining behind the grave and threatening dark cloud hanging over our nation, by beginning to believe in ourselves once again. Let us avoid the blame throwing and excuse making, and earnestly and urgently, begin to do what is necessary to revive this ailing nation. As a start, we must exorcise the racial demon from our politics and extend mutual respect and appreciation to each other. Let us rush forward to embrace and claim this New Year as our own and for the good and betterment of all Guyanese. Our destiny is in our hands. Let us grasp this opportunity, and do so firmly.
In the New Year, The Alliance For Change proposes to embark on a hectic programme to meet the people of Guyana wherever they may find themselves dispersed. With God’s blessing and with your support, we will be victorious in our quest to change the political culture and landscape of Guyana, by banishing those dark clouds of confusion and conflict, of crime and corruption, of crisis and confrontation, by embracing each other to promote peace and harmony to ensure fair and equitable governance and development for the prosperity of our beloved nation.
As we usher in this New Year, realizing that it is the year in which General Elections must and will be held, we in the AFC urge all Guyanese, especially the young, to ensure that they are registered to vote and to be vigilant to ensure that no one is allowed to tamper with our democracy. To this end, the AFC will continue to engage the Guyana Elections Commission to ensure that its performance improves, and that it functions in the best interest of all Guyanese.
I conclude with the inspiring words of Nelson Mandela who, when faced with the prospect of death at his trial in 1964, uttered these words which later inspired a movement against oppression, and which I believe can inspire our own movement for change. He said, and we must now say:
“I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal, which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if it needs be it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
Together, we must begin that process to change the political, social and economic culture and landscape of this country. We must stand up and seize this moment, this year, for our future survival, and to be able to secure the happiness peace and prosperity of our children, our grandchildren, and for our parents and grandparents; even if we have to make that supreme sacrifice. I believe that this sacred duty now falls on the shoulders of the young. It is us who must rise to the occasion and assume the role as protectors of our dear Guyana. Those who have served this country with their blood, sweat and tears, and are now retired and condemned to exist on meager pensions and handouts, deserve nothing less of us, and those who are too young to know the terrible fate that awaits them look plaintively to us for rescue. Our cause is a just and honourable cause that must be advanced. There is simply no alternative, and no time left. Guyana and the world is watching and waiting. It is now or never.
We Guyanese must claim 2006 as Guyana’s year to redeem the heart and soul of our nation, to renew the goodness, kindness and hospitality for which we are known and to ensure that prosperity, stability and love reign supreme over our nation.
Let us not deny ourselves of this opportunity, and may the days, weeks and months ahead be peaceful and victorious for you, for the AFC, and for Guyana. Choose Change…It’s Time. May God bless us all and may God bless our beautiful Guyana.
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