…PNC apologists
There’s been a long, drawn out, back-and-forth debate between one Burnhamite functionary and a local columnist over one of Burnham’s pet projects – the Guyana National Service (GNS). It was introduced in the National Assembly in 1973, and was formally operationally launched in 1974. This seemingly arcane bit of Guyanese history is absolutely pertinent for the simple reason that PNC leader Granger has vowed to revive the GNS, and had taken concrete steps towards that goal after he slid into office in 2015.
Of recent, the PNC have tried to slant the GNS debate over whether it was compulsory (the Burnhamite denies this) or not. Now, to appreciate the issue, we must appreciate that the GNS was comprised of a whole slew of sections. There was the Guyana Youth Corps (GYC) – launched as far back as in 1968 – which collected unemployed youths supposedly to prepare them for farming in the hinterland after 2 years of military and agricultural training.
Granger had been involved in this initiative, and it wasn’t surprising he revived it in March 2019. The man never had an original thought in his head; he cannot think, but simply remembers what Burnham had done!
The graduates were given land, equipment etc to start farms, and were expected to be self-sufficient. Of the 1200 who were graduated by the time the GYC was absorbed in the GNS in 1975, not a single farm remains! Why? Nothing except that it was a hare-brained scheme that wasn’t fully thought out! The GNS had six units: the Young Brigade for primary school children (8-14 years); National Cadet Corps for secondary school children (12-18 years); New Opportunity Corps for juveniles committed to reform schools (up to 16 years); the Pioneer Corps for persons who had already left the school system (18-25 years); and the Special Service and National Reserve Corps for skilled adults.
The first three units were all compulsory, since they were part and parcel of the school curriculum which conscripted students had to follow. Most pertinently, all UG students had to pass through the Pioneer Corps before they could graduate. This was the most controversial, since it mandated students – including females – going into the hinterland to serve their stint. As it turned out, the fears –based on suspicions of the possibility of sexual harassment – were unfortunately and tragically realised.
So the PNC apologist is being quite disingenuous to claim repeatedly that “the GNS wasn’t compulsory” – just because it wasn’t all compulsory. The compulsory directive to UG students led to the majority of Indian-Guyanese females dropping out of their degree programmes because of their cultural value of unmarried women living with their parents.
But the “socialist” PNC ignored this norm.
…the National Service myths
According to Granger, the GNS established a number of “centres”: 1974 – Kimbia, Berbice River; 1975 –Tumatumari, Potaro River (taken from Youth Corps); 1975 – Papaya, Barima-Waini; 1976 – Jaguar, New River and Konawaruk, Potaro River; 1977 – Itabu Quarry and an agriculture complex at Tiger Creek; 1979 – the Boys’ School at Onderneeming, the Agricultural Institute at Arakaka and the Community School at Port Kaituma; 1981 – the Koriri Centre on the Canje River; 1982, Camp Cocos at Hope Estate and the Sophia Centre.
Granger continued: “The GNS cultivated 2,500 acres of cotton and various other crops, such as corn, legumes, sorghum and peanuts. It bred poultry, swine and other livestock, and moved into gold mining and stone quarrying at the Itabu and Teperu quarries, sawmilling and woodworking at Konawaruk; shipping with the ocean –going MV Jaimito, the trawler Waitipu and Papaya; a petrol station at Providence, a publishing centre at Ruimveldt and, in 1977, the settlement scheme at Kurubuku.
The question, of course, is: why have all these disappeared without a trace?
