President Donald Ramotar urged participants at the Indian Arrival Committee’s (IAC) mela in commemoration of the 175th Anniversary of Indian Arrival to Guyana, to stand united with government in its objection to the opposition cuts in the budget.
In his address at the Albion Centre Ground in Berbice, Ramotar said the first East Indian indentured labourers were deceived into coming to Guyana with the promise of “milk and honey, and water and gold.
“Our ancestors persevered and they worked extremely hard and made a contribution to the development of Guyana that today stands as the foundation of the work that they carried out when they came here, building on the work of the slaves, adding to that, and today, we have a platform on which we can develop.”
He reminded the audience that their ancestors participated in the struggle for a better standard of living, against colonialism, for independence and after independence in the general fight for democracy.
“However there are still many obstacles in the path,” he said, pointing to the current situation in Parliament where the opposition has cut over $30B from the 2013 Budget, which provides for transformative projects aimed at propelling the country’s development.
“I said, and I am saying again tonight, that we will do everything that we can to ensure that we restore the budget to its original position, so that our people can have development,” Ramotar said.
He then called on Berbicians to support him and the government in this regard.
“…While we celebrate tonight, let us work together, let us stand with strong unity, to prevent the progress that we have made, to prevent it from being reversed, because we see the trend, we see the opposition, they are not acting like two parties in the Parliament, they are acting as one… Therefore, what we want is unity in order to fight to preserve the gains that we have made,” he said. “We call upon you to support us and let us work together to restore the cuts that were done,” he added.
