History will judge Guyana's Jagdeo as a true Statesman

Written by PETER PERSAUD 
guyanachronicle.com

I WISH to refer to a letter in the Kaieteur News written by Seelochan Beharry under the caption “Will history judge Mr. Jagdeo as a crook?”
Permit me please to state the following:

1. History will judge Guyana’s former President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo as being a true statesman with outstanding world class leadership. As a result, he received four Honorary Doctorates from International Universities including awards and high profile positions from the International Community in recognition of his Global Leadership on Climate Change thus boosting Guyana’s International profile as a developing country in the forefront of the fight against global climate change. Although Mr. Jagdeo has demitted Presidential office, his international recognition and awards provide an extended platform for him to continuously play both national and international roles on matters relating to Climate Change, REDD+ and Forestry.
2. But who is Seelochan Beharry? He is just a disgruntled Guyanese twit who departed Guyana and is now living abroad because he was not chosen to be a Dean at the University of Guyana. But poor Beharry in his disgruntled state and the need for recognition continues to dump his garbage in the opposition sections of the media. His behaviour can be likened to a typical cockroach that comes out only at nights to cover its filth.
3. Beharry’s anti-government stance since he never became a Dean at UG has caused a deformity in his mind-set where he said in his letter that the former President “exceeded the worst excesses of Mr. L.F.S Burnham of the PNC.” Beharry was referring to what he termed the “acquisition of personal wealth” by the former President, where he failed miserably to provide substantiated evidence for his claims coupled with unqualified generalizations, which can only describe Beharry’s claims against the former President as “baseless, unfounded, wicked and of no merit” and more so to “deliberately tarnish the name of the former President”.
4. It is said that “small minds discuss people and great minds discuss ideas”. This saying absolutely fits Beharry which may have caused his non-recognition for Deanship at the UG and, as a result, he is now engaged in “Grinding his own axe” against the Government of Guyana and its leaders just to fulfil his mischievous “Sour grapes” agenda which has no merit.
5. Beharry, in his deformed mind-set, stated in his letter that Burnham’s failure to accumulate wealth was because “the economy totally tumbled with no foreign exchange being available to purchase basic necessities at home”. What Beharry miserably failed to mention in his letter is, who stole the foreign exchange that caused the collapse of Burnham’s economy and why Burnham, the dictator, was regarded as “the third richest black man?” The Guyanese people who experienced and endured Burnham’s dictatorial rule, if not misrule, can answer this simple question. Beharry can also answer the question but is ashamed to do so in his letter because in fulfilling his “sour grapes” agenda against the Government of Guyana he is up in arms with the political party that is being accused of Walter Rodney’s Assassination. Certainly, Walter Rodney is now uncomfortable in his place of rest because of those who betrayed him including Seelochan Beharry.
6. It is abundantly clear that the PNC, now APNU, in its occupancy of governmental office for 28 years, had ruined Guyana’s economy and its treasury until it was removed from office in 1992 with the restoration of democracy in Guyana.
7. Guyana’s former President Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo does not have to shout about his achievements during his stewardship since they are well known both nationally and internationally. One such achievement is the continued good performance of our national economy and treasury and even after he demitted office the trend is continuing under President Donald Ramotar.
8. This is why the parliamentary opposition (APNU/AFC) wants to make Guyana ungovernable just to put their filthy hands into the ‘cookie jar’ to bring back mismanagement and misery to Guyana. So, my fellow Guyanese, please beware of the schemes of the parliamentary opposition which Seelochan Beharry is actively supporting.
9. Further, the former president is the architect of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and when he demitted office constitutionally, he left behind the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) which continues to receive millions of US dollars from Norway to promote Low-Carbon Development in Guyana and the fight against Global Climate Change.
10. But just what did the PNC (now APNU) left behind after being in office for twenty-eight years? The answer is a collapsed economy with an empty treasury. So Seelochan Beharry and others like him must seriously ponder on the saying: ‘Do not forget the past or else the past will condemn you’.