Moses Nagamootoo last night urged residents of Enmore to “reject the old and vote for the new” at the upcoming elections, while accusing the ruling PPP/C of betraying the legacy of late president Cheddi Jagan.
The meeting, staged opposite the Enmore Hope Primary School, saw an audience of approximately 200 persons, who witnessed a lengthy address made by recent AFC addition Nagamootoo.
“I plead with you, you have a serious decision to make… if you still have something you like about the PPP, I want you to compare the leadership you would get with [PPP/C candidate Donald] Ramotar and [AFC presidential candidate Khemraj] Ramjattan,” he stated.
Addressing the issues faced by sugar workers, Nagamootoo acknowledged that Enmore has been the cradle of the ruling party, while noting that the murder of the Enmore martyrs in 1948 in part preceded the birth of the PPP. This, he added, can be owed to the struggles and sacrifices made by the sugar workers.
Nagamootoo noted that he had been with the PPP since he was 14 years old and emphasised that he has always been proud to have been at the sides of some of Guyana’s greatest leaders. However, he said that the PPP has not been the same since the death of Jagan, whom he noted was the “father of our nation.”
According to Nagamootoo, the country has benefitted significantly from good policies introduced by Jagan, but many of these have not been sustained during the Bharrat Jagdeo presidency.
He recalled the journey of Jagan to have Guyana debt free after assuming office. “Jagan went around the world and campaigned for debt to be written off so by the time Jagdeo became president, countries in the world started to write off debt,” Nagamootoo noted.
Due to climate change and pollution, he added, Jagan “asked rich countries for money so we won’t have to cut our forests. Jagan, he said, left Guyana with great plans and a lean and clean government. He said he left the PPP after it ran out of ideas and a vision to help Guyanese people, while noting that the $162 billion budget was spent only on big projects, such as four-lane roads, because “the bigger the project, the bigger the drawback.”
He further accused Jagdeo of “never being a PPP boy,” noting that he worked with the late President Hugh Desmond Hoyte and Kenneth King, who was later appointed as an ambassador under the PPP/C. “Jagdeo thinks like a PNC,” Nagamootoo opined.
Ramjattan also spoke at the meeting, where he accused the PPP/C of using the government’s One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) initiative and the recent 8% public servant salary increase as bribes for voters.
“Guyanese must know that they must not be fooled… They wait 8 weeks into elections to give 8% increase… We are getting the crowds and they are multi-racial… they are throwing a piece of meat and thinking that Guyanese are dogs that they are just gonna jump on it,” Ramjattan stated.
He further questioned where the government has gotten the money that is being used for the 8% increase, flood relief in Lethem and the OLPF project, among others.
Financial adviser to the AFC Sasenarine Singh had earlier on indicated that the PPP/C has done nothing but made promises to the people of Guyana.
“In 2006, the Ramotar/ Jagdeo cabal promised to complete a $200M sugar factory. Is it working? No. In 2006, the Ramotar/Jagdeo cabal promised to reduce the cost of producing sugar in this country… they do not care about sugar anymore, but the Alliance For Change has a plan,” Singh noted, while referring to the party’s proposal for ethanol production “in Guyana by Guyanese for Guyana.” He said this would see US$30M going to GuySuCo rather than Venezuela for fuel.
Also, Singh said the AFC will also work along with India and Brazil to build a sugar refinery.
Meanwhile, AFC Campaign Manager Salim Nausrudeen appealed for donations from the small audience. “We cannot afford to lose this election. You must come out and vote… now a big change is gonna happen on the 28th of November but tonight we’re gonna start with some small change… we can’t win this election if you don’t help and support us,” Nausrudeen said, while noting that unlike the PPP, the AFC does not have the government’s money to utilise for its campaign.
