| With E -Day mere days away, the ‘unity train’ driven by the coalition, A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) on Saturday once again made its way to the ancient county.A section of the large crowd of APNU+AFC supporters.This time, it came to a halt at Stelling Road, New Amsterdam which was by 18:00 hours packed with thousands of party supporters from all walks of life.The coalition party said the town has for years been treated as an ‘outcast’ but come May 11 this will end.The party related its vision of transforming the ancient county into a modern one.They told their Berbice supporters that their vision was also to see Guyana unified and that their coalition of six parties will see that the six peoples of this land stand as one.They were told that voting for the ‘cup’ equates to voting for ‘friend, family and favourites’.The time,Cheap Jerseys, the party leaders said, for corruption, cronyism, ‘punishment,’ abuse of women, abuse of resources, ‘barefacedness’, extortion, bribery, bullyism, disrespect, poverty and pilfering from the national coffers will come to an end.The coalition presented a vision of economic and social transformation and as the large gathering listened to their party leaders headed by Presidential Candidate, David Granger and Prime Ministerial Candidate, Moses Nagamootoo,Wholesale Jerseys, it was clear that they were in support of it.Performances by various artistes like Basil Bradshaw saw commentary on the ‘punishment’ endured through the People Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) rule.By the end of his performance, the crowd, some of whom waved flags seemed ready “to send the PPP leaders straight to jail with no option of bail.”Show stealer, Sean Carmichael ‘rapped’ on some of the burning issues affecting the Berbicians and cases of injustice in Guyana at large.The rapper took the former Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran to task over his ‘slap and strip’ remarks much to the crowd’s pleasure.The alleged “rotten vegetables” at New Amsterdam and the Magistrate who was sent packing the day she was set to sentence the current Prime Minister’s son were also points of contention.Already hyped and chanting “It is time,” when the Presidential candidate took to the stage, the crowd went ballistic.He took to task several areas in which the region was lacking.Granger told the crowd that in 1997 the PPP/C had won 52,000 votes in Region Six, in 2001, 47,000, in 2006 they copped 42,000 but dropped to 32,,000 in the 2011 elections.“The PPP/C is losing it… It’s losing its right to speak for the people of Region Six. They have taken this region for granted for too long,NFL Jerseys China,” Granger lamented.He said that the PPP regards Berbice as a vote farm and “they believe that no matter what they do, you are going to vote for them. Things have changed now. The lights change from red to green and yellow.”Granger said that although the PPP won in the past, this time the coalition will win and bring real development to the region.Granger highlighted the importance of Region Six, stating that Guyana is the only country that shares a border with another Caribbean state. He highlighted that the border was in the Region Six.“You are the commercial cutting edge of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana,” the Presidential hopeful said adding that the economic potential of the region could only be unleashed by an APNU+AFC led government.He pointed out that Regions Five and Six are responsible for 75 percent of rice production in Guyana.“You produce our fish, you produce our coconuts, you produce our cattle, you produce our milk,” Granger said,NBA Jerseys From China, noting that sugar is also produced on a large scale in the Berbice region.“But the PPP has not been able to unleash your potential and I want to tell you tonight that the only government which is interested in releasing that economic potential is an APNU+AFC government. We care about you and we have a plan to make Region Six economically powerful,Cheap Authentic Jerseys,” Granger revealed.The Presidential hopeful spoke on the level of illiteracy in Guyana.He said “What I want to tell you is that unless Region Six embraces education and unless we eradicate ignorance we would not be able to move this country forward. Too many people are dropping out of school in Region Six.”Granger said every year 6000 boys and girls become school drop outs and many of them are from Region Six.“Some of them can’t read, write, count or spell and we have to change that but when they drop out of school, even if they don’t do well we must give them a safety net.”Granger reasoned that not being able to read and write would greatly affect the way they progressed.He said the APNU+AFC, cognizant that Berbice is an agricultural region, will seek to establish an Agricultural Institute at Corentyne aimed at enabling youths to find employment in the field of agriculture and agro-processing.The Presidential candidate said the milk, sugar and rice produced can be turned into products such as yogurt, candies and cereal respectively which could be sold to markets countrywide and abroad“You don’t have to export raw sugar and raw rice or coconuts,” Granger lamented.He said through these fields, employment can also be had.Granger told the thousands of supporters that there is also a fight against dictatorship.“Many of you may not realise it because many people in Berbice have been voting over and over for the PPP but you have been encouraging those people (of the PPP) to build a dictatorship in this country.”“Donald Ramotar has not convened the National Assembly for ten months. This could not have happened anywhere else in the western hemisphere. That is dictatorship. Donald Ramotar has failed to assent to bills which have been passed by the majority in the National Assembly. That is dictatorship.”Dictatorship, he explained, was also evident is the President’s refusal to hold Local Government Elections despite demands from the Opposition and promises to do so last August.Continuing, the Presidential hopeful said that APNU+AFC have also waged a war against disunity.He told supporters that the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic uses disunity “to divide this country.”He said they dominate the radio waves in order to create disunity. An APNU+AFC government will bring an end to that, Granger said as he called on Guyanese to remain united.Explaining the history of the formation of the coalition, Granger told supporters that the six parties are together to achieve this end.“There is nothing to be afraid of in coalition, you must be afraid of dictators, you must be afraid of people who still believe in winner-takes-all government,” the party’s Presidential candidate said adding that the APNU+AFC believes in consensus, cooperation and collaboration, not confrontation.“Together we are going to form a government of national unity that represents every one of you.”Granger promised to lead the battle against violent crimes. He noted that Berbice has for years been gripped by brutal murders and banditry.“You need a warrior to destroy the monster of criminality in this great region,” he said as he added that the past Home Affairs ministers of the PPP, Gail Teixera, Clement Rohee and Ronald Gajraj had not achieved this.According to Granger, the worst crime is that against women. “This killing must stop. There are bandits right here in Region Six who are doing the killing… We must put an end to banditry and murder in this region.”He explained too the woes of the fishermen who are constantly plagued by piracy.“All over this country our fishing ships are being held up but it is one of our most vibrant industries. We have to protect our fishermen.”He said the people needs a government which will ensure safety and said that his party will deliver in this regard.The Presidential candidate affirmed that there was a need to declare war against corruption.“Corruption is sucking the oxygen out of our economy,” he said.“The monies that ought to have been spent on developing roads in New Amsterdam, East Bank Berbice, establishing Agricultural institutions and getting children in school is being pinched by officials,” he explained.He told supporters that on May 11 they will be taking their country back.“You are not looking here at a president who will prorogue and dissolve Parliament. You are not looking at a president who will allow the fishermen to be pirated, to be killed. You are not looking at a president who will see your wives and daughters murdered. You are looking at a president who will protect you and make this region safe and make this region economically viable: the cutting edge of commerce in Guyana,cheap nfl jerseys,” Granger said. |
