Choose democracy, development, choose the PPP/C – Dr Singh tells No 63 residents

Residents of Number 63 Village turned out in large numbers to hear a passionate speech by Senior Minister in the Office of the President, responsible for Finance and the Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh. During his address, Dr Singh credited the present-day success of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government to its founder, Dr Cheddi Jagan.

“Sometimes there are some very obvious things we take for granted without giving it a thought. Freedom House – the name – there are Freedom Houses across the country and one cannot help wondering whether Dr Jagan, visionary though he was, had fully grasped how much the party he was founding, how much that party would grow over the decades to become the embodiment of the name that he had given to the headquarters of our party,” he reflected.
Dr Singh highlighted Dr Jagan’s lifelong struggle for the people of Guyana, including Universal Adult Suffrage – guaranteeing every Guyanese the right to vote. He recalled that this fight was critical because only the wealthier segments of society had the right to vote.

Dr Jagan also devoted himself to the fight for political independence and freedom from the shackles of colonialism. Dr Singh described how the People’s National Congress (PNC) machinery led by Forbes Burnham wrestled its way into Government, leading the country into a dark 28-year period of political and economic stagnation.
During this time, democracy was arrested by the dictatorial Burnham-led Government, where elections were not free and fair. Dr Singh praised Jagan’s role in restoring democracy but noted it came at a high price. He referenced the Ballot Box Martyrs, who were gunned down in 1973 after protesting the illegal removal of ballot boxes in No. 63 Village, Corentyne. Dr Singh acknowledged elderly Berbician, Arnold Rampersaud, who was in the audience, who was wrongfully accused, charged and imprisoned.

“And those of you who do not know this history, I urge you to read about the story of Arnold Rampersaud and the behaviour of the Burnham dictatorship, and the manner in which the PPP under the leadership of Dr Cheddi Jagan fought that dictatorship and championed the cause of Arnold Rampersaud,” he said to loud applause.
When democracy was restored by the PPP/C in 1992, Dr Ashni Singh explained that the country was bankrupt. He emphasised how the PPP/C had to lead Guyana from abject poverty to a position of solvency and viability. Dr Singh also highlighted that basic rights had been severely restricted, with people criminalised for merely consuming certain foods.

“The senior comrades amongst us will tell you how the people of Berbice were not only pauperised but criminalised for eating what they wished to eat. Imagine being jailed not because you had cocaine or marijuana or ecstasy but because you had a hot plate of roti and fried aloo,” he said, adding, “No schools nor hospitals were being built.”
During the 1970’s the ruling PNC Government banned flour, and those who smuggled flour across the porous borders into Guyana were jailed for simply wanting to feed their families. Dr Singh recalled that the PPP/C worked to rebuild what the PNC Government had broken down – reviving the country’s economy, restoring public services and increasing opportunities for people.
But in 2011, Dr Singh noted, the PNC “realised by then that nobody would vote for them (ashamed by their disgraceful legacy) rebranded and formed a coalition called APNU/AFC (A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change), used their one seat majority to block the anti-money laundering law, to block the Amaila Falls project, to cut development projects from the budget, all designed to hurt the Guyanese people” by deliberately stalling progress.
“Did they go to Parliament to pass any law to help the Guyanese people?” Dr Singh asked. The crowd responded with a loud “No!”
A distressed resident in the crowd shouted that school cash grants were taken away and her husband’s job at the sugar estate under the APNU.
In October 2016, the coalition Government closed the Wales sugar estate, devastating thousands of Guyanese families, leaving them without a source of income and pushing them into hardship without a plan.
By the end of 2017, Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon estates were closed, marking a perilous time for over 7000 Guyanese who were pushed to the breadline.
Dr Singh asked the audience for some introspection, asking why APNU would do these things to citizens. Providing the answer he said: “The answer was simple, as if they don’t feel they have to win your vote, then they don’t have to do anything to win your heart and mind, because a Government that is a dictatorship does not believe in democracy nor respect the will of the Guyanese people. It is a Government that will never care about the people.”
He left the audience with a clear message: “This is what sets the PPP apart… it is a party that is committed to democracy, and this has been demonstrated in all of our country’s history.”