“Let your conscience be your guide” – Pres Ali urges ahead of 2025 polls

…says Guyanese have a choice between visionless APNU/AFC & visionary PPP/C

Returning to the scene of one of the greatest injustices inflicted by the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government – the closure of the Wales estate – President Dr Irfaan Ali on Sunday urged Guyanese to make sure their conscience is their guide ahead of the upcoming 2025 elections.
The President had earlier commissioned a $1.3 billion Wales Water Treatment Plant at Wales on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD). The plant will serve approximately 16,000 residents along the WBD corridor, including Belle Vue, Canal No. 2, Goed Intent, Toevlugt, Sisters Village, Wales, Patentia, Vriesland, Vive la Force, and Free and Easy.
During his presentation, President Ali reminded residents of the hardship APNU/AFC brought on their community, when they decided to close the Wales Sugar Estate- one of several they closed in their ill-fated decision to “downsize” the industry. With the closure of the estate, the economic lifeblood of the community dried up.
“This is the story of trust versus falsehood. The very people promised the very sugar workers, that they would expand sugar and expand their salaries. Instead, they shut down the estates. This is the story of promises kept versus promises broken. This is the story of vision versus lack thereof. This is the story of respect versus callousness. This is the story of the PPP/C versus the rest,” President Ali said.
“And I say the rest because many of them are captured in the bosom of indignity. In the APNU/AFC whatever form they come, they are one and the same. They are part of the same team. The same team that brought indignity, hopelessness, callousness, falsehood and lack of vision, to the people of this community.”
Ali recalled that APNU/AFC were well aware of the plans the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government had for the Wales estate, such as completing the rehabilitation of the ground and installation of the lights. According to the Head of State, however, the then coalition Government did not care anything about those who would suffer from the closure of the Wales Estate.
“I am guided by the great books. Beware thee, children of God of false prophets. And beware, doom cometh on those who succumb to false prophesy. And when we speak about false prophesy, it isn’t only those who will come in the name of the messiah. It is about those who will come with false messages to betray and misguide the hearts and minds of the people.”
“For too long there have been imposters, masquerading under the banner of human dignity. I will not judge them. All I’m asking you to be is not be misguided. Be true to your conscience. Be true to your heart. In our free, democratic society, everyone is entitled to always let your conscience be your guide.”

Estate
Later, President Ali took a trip to the Wales Estate itself, revisiting the destruction that was left by the then APNU/AFC Government. There, he reminded Guyanese of APNU/AFC’s legacy of destroying the sugar industry not just in the 2015-2020 period, but during the long years of former President Forbes Burnham’s rule.
“This is what you left the people of Wales. This is what you left the sugar workers. Don’t be ashamed of it. That is your legacy. The ruins of the APNU/AFC. And all the covert operators who now find solace in this. The relics of the past,” President Ali said.
The Head of State also provided former sugar workers with a platform to air their grievances. One worker who was employed at the estate since 1979, lamented the estate’s dramatic fall from glory under the former APNU/AFC Government. President Ali recalled that it wasn’t until the PPP/C returned to office in 2020, that the man could gain a living for his family.
“We had to come back for him to get a livelihood. He was sent home, no money for his family, nothing. I remember him, he suffered the indignity and the inhumanity of the APNU/AFC and all their covert operators. This is their legacy. He can tell you the pain… this is what they left,” the President said.
Meanwhile, President Ali juxtaposed the destruction left by APNU/AFC, with the transformation of the Wales community into an industrial hub, even as two Gas-to-Energy (GtE) Projects are planned for the location… one of which is already well advanced.
“In less than four years, let me show you. The modernisation, the transformation, the creation of a new industrial hub… 600 Megawatts (MW) of industrial power, that will reduce the cost of electricity by half. Investment, in distribution and transmission. Reliability of power. For five years, they invested nothing in distribution and transmission.”
“We came back. This is our record. This is our story. Visionless, versus vision. Callousness, versus respect and responsibility. Promises kept, versus promises unkept. This is the tale of two stories. You be the judge,” President Ali said.