Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon last evening told PPP/C supporters in Kitty that they should not “squander” an opportunity presented on elections day which would facilitate progress and further development of the country.
While addressing a crowd of over 300 persons who gathered at the corner of Owen and McDougal streets in Kitty, Luncheon preached messages of unity and preservation of a national goal, a theme which he noted has been crafted with much success by the administration over the past 19 years while in office.
He said that he believed that from the inception, the PPP/C has set as a priority bringing Guyanese together, “because we knew since from the beginning, once united, we would be unstoppable”. He said that when one looks at the past, he/she would recognize that there were difficult times when many were “deceived” and lost hope while living as a disunited people under the then PNC administration.
Luncheon stated that the country’s future, “lies in the hands of the preservation of the unity of the Guyanese people”, which he said has been strengthened under the PPP/C government. He said that the party’s leadership and its “ability to do miracles have been based on our results in uniting the people”.
He said that the government created its policies from the beginning to build on national unity, and he noted that he mentioned in the past that the government has succeeded in this regard and that its job is becoming simpler as the days go by. “That the successes we have enjoyed have so much to do with the average Guyanese person, putting their foot behind the PPP to help achieve what we have today”.
Luncheon said the leadership of the PPP took the country through very dark times soon after entering office in 1992, adding that history is being rewritten. He told the gathering of supporters that the opportunity in the form of voting on elections day, should not go to waste, adding that, “we pledged that we will ensure that from 1992 and in future that this one (opportunity) will be progressive, unerring, we would keep on progressing and developing Guyana”.
He said that when he looked at the gathering of supporters who have turned up at the party’s meetings and rallies, more so the crowd’s composition, “we say to ourselves, yes our message is getting through”. He called on the party’s supporters not to squander the opportunity which presents itself on elections day.
He appealed to supporters that, “We cannot afford a loss, a reversal, we cannot contemplate it, we should not even imagine… what it is”. He said that a reversal of the successes of the government over the past 19 years cannot be considered, adding that the manifestations in the form of the party’s support base has the opposition “trembling in their boots”.
As regards the opposition, he noted that there are “devious messengers who move up and down this land, supported by an evil and wicked press, manipulating and issuing information”. He said that nothing that the AFC or the APNU has to offer can compare to the PPP/C government’s plans and policies.
PPP executive member Gail Teixeira called on the country’s menfolk to be “more responsible” in keeping the home together. Earlier in last evening’s proceedings, while addressing the plight of women in the society, she said that 29% of the households in the country are headed by a woman, “be it an aunty, grandma or single mother”. She said, “because men in this country are not being responsible and until men are responsible, the PPP/C government will continue to lend support to our women who are struggling to fight poverty and support their children”.
She said that the country has progressed to the stage where women are land and homeowners, “so any man who want to behave stupid, there are the queens of the house to deal with”.
As she continued on the topic of housing, Teixeira noted that when the government’s programmes for the sector started, in 1994, thousands lived with relatives and did not own a home, but today there are thousands of persons who live in their own homes with access to better roads and water.
As regards the education sector, Teixeira said that the government has poured millions into the sector and it has seen positive results in recent years with children topping the CSEC examinations from all over the country.
President Bharrat Jagdeo also addressed the gathering which grew as the head of state’s turn to speak approached. He continued his attacks on the independent media, the opposition and city Mayor Hamilton Green. He said that the Georgetown municipality has been unable to run the city in the past 19 years, adding that it is the Central Government which has been funding the rehabilitation and maintenance of many roads, drainage and other critical forms of infrastructure in the city. “We had to take over garbage collection, we had to build a new dumpsite, because the City did not contribute anything”, the president noted.
