Dear Editor,
I am extremely disappointed that Bharrat Jagdeo would try to compare his lifestyle to that of my parents, former Presidents Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Mrs. Janet Jagan, and defend his opulent lifestyle by pathetically claiming that my parents also lived in a large house in an affluent community. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I would like to thank Ralph Ramkarran for writing about the matter in his recent article “Discordant Notes”. What Ralph wrote about my parents’ lifestyle and their house is all true and to the point. He wrote “In the 1960s, Plantation Bel Air, as it was then known, where Cheddi Jagan’s house is located and where my parents were born, was a poor community of mainly small artisans, farm and city labourers and subsistence cattle and vegetable farmers. Cheddi Jagan’s land, next door to where I was born, grew up and still live, was acquired for $2,000 in the early 1960s. Around that time Belvoir Court was empty land in the 1960s when Cheddi Jagan got his land… In any event, the house that he constructed consisted of only an upper flat of three bedrooms, a tiny study, a small living room and kitchen, modest by the standards of that time or any standards. It is there for anyone to see.
The impression given by Dr. Jagdeo that Cheddi Jagan built a mansion, at the time comparable to his own, in an existing exclusive area is completely false and disingenuous.” This simple, modest but comfortable house was designed by my father and built in 1966. You can visit and see for yourself. At that time there were only a few houses in this area. All the homes that were built much later in this area were much larger and more elaborate, so that the current area is now considered an affluent neighbourhood.
My parents, as is well known, devoted and sacrificed their lives for the betterment of the people of Guyana. They did not use their position for personal gains, which would have been very easy to do.
Instead, due primarily to their high moral and ethical standards, they chose to live a very simple and comfortable lifestyle. They did not lead an extravagant life. Even when they were both Presidents of Guyana they maintained the same simple lifestyle they had always lived before.
It is sad that no one, especially in the PPP leadership has come forward to challenge these false and misleading claims that Bharrat Jagdeo has made against my parents, except for an old and dear comrade and friend of my parents’– Ralph Ramkarran.
Yours faithfully,
Nadira Jagan-Brancier
