The PNCR in a Republic Day message has called on Guyanese to recommit to loving the nation and fighting for their rights.
“Let us do our duty, let us be principled stateswomen and men, patriots, heroes who love our nation more than our own private interests,” the main opposition PNCR said in extending its greetings on the 40th Republic Anniversary.
The party also urged that Guyanese “continue to agitate for justice and fair play, safety in our neighbourhoods and in our schools, restoration of decent values, good corporate behaviour, protection for our children and the disabled and challenged.”
The party noted that Guyanese have accomplished 40 years of Republican status while consolidating political independence and forging a future from the foundations that their leaders crafted.
And with any milestone, the party observed, some reflection on especially signal moments in the life of the nation “is critical to experiencing a celebratory mood and spirit on this Republic Day.”
The PNCR recalled that when Guyanese ushered in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana in 1970, “the mood and spirit of the nation was high in esteem, experiencing great favour and fervent hope as the PNC led the nation to charting its own destiny.
“In the first decade of these 40 years, we saw a people driven by hope, love of country and charting a developmental scale of unknown proportions in our country,” the PNCR stated.
And citing examples, the major opposition party referred to the Georgetown-Linden Highway, “that was carved out from among forest, hills and creeks,” the Demerara Harbour Bridge and the Canje Bridge “that came from a vision to link a people, goods and services and mesh four major productive regions for easy ingress and egress to the capital.”
The party said further that to ensure the education of the populace multilateral schools, community high schools, a campus for the University of Guyana, and a campus for the New Amsterdam Technical Institute became accessible.
In addition, free education was introduced from nursery to university and a new and relevant curriculum for schools was formulated.
There was also the construction of “a beautiful cultural centre,” and to provide health care, new regional hospitals and clinics were constructed and staffed throughout the country.
Industrial estates were also commissioned and electricity supply and water were expanded.
Iwokrama – 1,430 square miles of Guyana – “known as one of the four last pristine tropical forests in the world, was offered to the world for research and development by the wisdom of PNC leadership charting our future.”
These and many more growth points were signal moments in our nation’s first two decades of its Republican status, the PNCR stated.
The party also contended that throughout Guyana during this period, “there seemed to be a sense of boundless energy linked with a pride of ownership of our nation’s unexploited, unlimited resources and endless possibilities for personal growth and development.
“That sense of pride of ownership, vision and hope make us want to celebrate. We can feel that sense of pride when we acknowledge the great things done over the decades in our nation since 1970 dawned.”
The party also urged that Guyanese “eulogize the wisdom and virtues of our fathers and mothers who led this nation.
“We must not repudiate the deeds which made PNC Leaders, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham and Hugh Desmond Hoyte, who led this nation during its first two decades of charting the Republic, the great men that they were in their time.”
It also called on Guyanese to recapture that lost pride of country and countrymen and the boundless energy for developing the country “that is so undermined today.”