Photos by Keno George
President David Granger yesterday vowed that Guyana’s National Awards would once again be conferred every year as part of the country’s obligation to deserving citizens.
For a number of years, successive PPP/C governments had not conferred awards.
Among his first acts as president, Granger had announced the list of 2015 awardees at his inauguration ceremony at the National Stadium on May 26th.
At the investiture ceremony yesterday at the National Culture Centre, Granger said the awards must not be conferred capriciously or irregularly.
He told the new group of awardees that they have been inducted into an elite corps of eminent citizens. He said they had accomplished much in the diverse fields of academia, business, charitable and community work, engineering, economics, medicine, public service, religion, sports, teaching, as well as in the defence and security services and other fields of enterprise and endeavor.
The Order of Roraima, the Cacique Crown of Honour, the Golden Arrow of Achievement and the Medal of Service were among the awards conferred at the ceremony. The Disciplined Services Medal for Meritorious Service, the Military Service Medal and the Military Service Star were also awarded. Army Chief of Staff Brigadier Mark Phillips was the only awardee in the latter category.
No award was made in the highest order, the Order of Excellence.
“Let this ceremony be an occasion for national celebration, commendation and congratulation. Let this not be an opportunity for boorishness, small-mindedness and ill-tempered peevishness,” Granger told the awardees.
He stated that the awards, which were established 45 years ago, are a symbol of nationhood and the greatest gift that a nation can offer to its best citizens.
“National awards, like our national anthem, like our national flag, like our national monuments, are ordained by our Constitution–our supreme law. This parchment must not be devalued. This congregation must not be disparaged. This ceremony must not be disregarded or belittled,” he said.
He said too that the awards constitute an important institution of the state and that it is country’s constitutional obligation to unfailingly discharge the duty to its deserving citizens. He added that the government is the trustee of the traditions which sustain society and which he said constitute the culture of good government.
Granger told the awardees that the awards can be no more than tokens as they cannot calculate their contributions nor measure the magnitude of their selflessness of service for which they have been recognised. “We know that you have toiled in obscurity, sometimes with great exertion and at personal expense, usually without reward and, in most cases, over a long period of time,” he said.
Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Orders of Guyana Carl Singh, in his remarks, said the awardees would be recognised as persons of worth set apart from their fellow citizens because of their outstanding contributions to society.
He explained that a national award, which is carefully monitored and evaluated, is a national badge of distinction and a “most tangible recognition of merit that the country can give to these outstanding citizens as tokens of appreciation for the exceptional service they have given to the advancement of the public wheel and national ethos.” Chancellor Singh said too that the awards constitute lasting mementoes of achievement by the men and women of Guyana whose love and loyalty to the country, patriotism, discipline and dedication to the duty has earned them the recognition.
“Every Guyanese should strive to emulate the contributions of today’s awardees to the good of our country,” he said.
Mayor Hamilton Green, who was one of the three persons receiving the second highest award, the Order of Roraima, received a rousing applause when he strode up to President Granger for the award. He later exited the stage with a salute.
Speaking to reporters after the service, the mayor described the award as a “vindication of the work I have done for sixty years.”
“I feel relieved that the president recognises the work of stalwarts who worked selflessly over the years to make Guyana a better place,” Green said.
His years in public life have been controversial and some have questioned the conferral of the award on him but Green said it had been a very emotional period and he hoped to be around a little while more to give more service to Guyana.
The other two Guyanese who received the award were Senior Counsel Brynmor Pollard and Sister Noel Menezes, who had another Sister receive the award on her behalf.
Another awardee, Sharon Atkinson, said after receiving her award that when persons work without thinking about awards and recognition, it is refreshing to be recognised. She said sometimes she felt like giving up but her spirt has been renewed.
Atkinson, who is the President of the Amerindian People’s Association, and her sister, Jean La Rose, were among 19 persons who were awarded the Golden Arrow of Achievement.
She pledged that she would continue to work with the people of Guyana and especially the Indigenous people. Her work has seen her travelling to Amerindian communities throughout the country and she noted that she would also get calls “weird hours in the night but sometimes people just want someone to listen.”
The Golden Arrow of Achievement was posthumously conferred on Olga Bone and Wordsworth McAndrew, while the Medal of Service was similarly awarded to Burnell Thomas.
The Anna Catherina Islamic Complex, which received the Golden Arrow of Achievement, was the only group to be awarded.
