Vast majority endorse naming the demerara river bridge after Bharat Jagdeo

Ruminations fully endorses the decision made by President Irfaan Ali to name the new Demerara River Bridge after Bharat Jagdeo. The vast majority of Guyanese endorse naming the bridge after Bharat Jagdeo. At this very moment, Bharat Jagdeo stands out as the most eligible Guyanese to name a bridge after. The Berbice River Bridge eventually became reality because of the bold decisions made by President Bharat Jagdeo. New major bridges on the Mahaica and Mahaicony Rivers resulted from the Bharat Jagdeo’s modernization and expansion vision. The Hope Canal Bridge feasibility and funding mobilization were initiated during the Bharat Jagdeo presidency. Feasibility studies and funding mobilization for the Wismar and Demerara River bridges started under Bharat Jagdeo. As the leader who meaningfully started the modernization and expansion of Guyana’s infrastructure, particularly our bridges, it is most appropriate for President Irfaan Ali to name the Demerara River Bridge the Bharat Jagdeo Bridge.
Naming major infrastructure entities after distinguished leaders is nothing new in Guyana or in any country in the world. We have an international airport named after President Cheddi Jagan, a town named after President Forbes Burnham and several streets, parks, sports facilities, health facilities named after both Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham. Maybe we need to name even more things in Guyana after distinguished Guyanese. Ruminations genuinely believe that we should name some of the sporting facilities after some of our sportspeople. Ruminations look forward to seeing the Berbice Stadium named after Rohan Kanhai. For now, while we can expect the naysayers to object, we can accept that Bharat Jagdeo fully deserves the honor of his name being placed on the Demerara River Bridge.
Ruminations is optimistic that October 5th 2025, therefore, will be remembered as the day we began the recognition that Bharat Jagdeo has etched his name in the annals of our history as truly a great Guyanese. Ruminations is thrilled that our country has not waited to posthumously honor Bharat Jagdeo. There can be no doubt that Bharat Jagdeo has served his country with distinction. He is on record of serving as the youngest-ever Minister of Finance, the youngest-ever person to be sworn-in as President of Guyana and among the youngest heads of state in the world in history. He served twelve years as President and has earned global and regional accolade, including being deemed by the UN in 2010 as a “Champion of the Earth”. His international credentials are too long to itemize them in this column. He led the most meaningful constitutional reforms through an elected-parliament in 2000/2001.
The low-carbon development strategy is Bharat Jagdeo’s vision and legacy, an economic and social development model that is now emulated in many countries. Bharat Jagdeo crafted a space for small and developing countries in the global fight against climate change. It was Jagdeo that changed developing countries’ narrative from we are victims of climate change to also include a role in adaptation and mitigation efforts to control climate change.
Bharat Jagdeo masterfully navigated Guyana’s debt crisis after Cheddi Jagan’s PPP inherited a country with a 953% debt-to-GDP ratio, a country that was essentially bankrupt in 1992. From the bankrupt state of a debt-to-GDP ratio of 953% in 1992, Guyana now stands as a country with a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 25%, one of the lowest debt rations in the world today, mostly because of the financial astuteness of Bharat Jagdeo. His expert leadership in fighting against national indebtedness will always be one of his most recognized and rewarding achievements.
While diversification and modernization of the economy will also be among his achievements, Ruminations nominate for his greatest achievement, the ones he will always be remembered for as president, the modernization and expansion of Guyana’s infrastructure, service industry, transformation of education and health. He initiated expansion and modernization of the physical infrastructure for transportation, agriculture and opening up the country; to support the service industry, such as the Marriot Hotel; to support health, such as the new Linden, New Amsterdam hospitals, the Diamond Diagnostic Hospital, the Port Mourant Ophthalmology Hospital, the National Public Health Laboratory, the new GPHC in-patient Building, etc. He expanded and modernized a new network of schools around the country and it was under BJ that the Berbice Campus of UG was established. This is just a sample of the physical infrastructure that changed Guyana and that President Irfaan Ali is now building on.
For this reason, it is most appropriate that the new bridge has been named the Bharat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge. The only ones that will oppose he naming of the bridge after Bharat Jagdeo are those that belong to a small band of Jagdeo-haters, those who are morbidly anti-PPP. The small band includes those who had no objection to the EXXON agreement when it was signed by the Granger-led government but became obsessed against the agreement when the PPP came back into government in 2020, more than four years after the agreement was signed.
It would be remiss if Ruminations does not acknowledge that October 5th is of great significance in our history. Last Sunday, the significance of October 5th increased logarithmically. On Sunday October 5th 2025, the new Bharat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge was commissioned. This is, to date, the largest ever infrastructure project undertaken in Guyana and the biggest ever single infrastructure project in CARICOM. The newly commissioned Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge in Guyana is the first high-span, cable-stayed bridge in the CARICOM region. The $262 million, 2.65-kilometer structure, with a height of 50 meters from water surface, is considered an engineering milestone for the country and for CARICOM.
We have one more reason to celebrate October 5th. On this date in 1992, democracy and freedom were restored and dictatorship ended in Guyana. For the next 100 years we will celebrate also the Bharat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge.