Elvin McDavid, an ex-minister of information in the PNC administration, has criticized the organizers of CARIFESTA X for failing to credit the vision of late President Forbes Burnham.
“There are those at the Office of the President and State House who don’t want to acknowledge it,” McDavid said, at a cultural tribute to the former President held on Saturday night at the Triveldt Community Development Centre, Festival City. “They ignored the great man who created it but history has a way of biting,” he added. He credited the success of the first festival, staged in 1972 in Guyana, to Burnham’s leadership, saying that he led by example and inspired the nation to follow him. “We must never, never forget [L.F.S] Burnham because he is the greatest living Guyanese we will ever have,” he said to applause from the small crowd.
Dancers on stage at a cultural tribute to the late President Forbes Burnham at Festival City on Saturday night.
McDavid also said Burnham’s policies, once discarded by the current administration, are being quietly re-implemented in new guises. He cited the Guyana National Service (GNS), which he said was being reorganized without a military service component. He also argued that Burnham’s Feed, Clothe and House (FCH) plan has also been adopted by the administration. “As time goes by, it becomes clear that Burnham’s policy was correct for his people,” McDavid said. “Once you care about your people’s development, you have nowhere to go but back to Burnham,” he added.
He painted a dismal picture of the current state of the nation, and the PNC, charging that “the promised land” is farther away from ever before, while “Burnham’s flock is now leaderless!” Nonetheless, he was optimistic that the country could be regained; being sure that Burnham’s spirit was indomitable.
The night featured dances by several small troupes, drumming as well as folk singing. Festival City was built to house the delegates who attended the first CARIFESTA.
Look I’m no fan of Forbes Burnham, but not recognizing the founder and the Prime Minister, who launched CAREFESTA ‘72, the very first one, is beyond silly and down right stupid, because all of the other participating countries already have and will continue to recognize him.
This PPP bunch is short sighted and visionless to say the least, because at some point in time they will eventually loose governing power also, nothing lasts forever, and the next bunch of politicians in power may want to erase everything associated with them (PPP).
However, the stubborn facts put Forbes Burnham in a commanding position in Guyana’s history, which could never be erased. It was Burnham who changed the name of the country from British Guiana to Guyana. It was Burnham who approved the Golden Arrowhead and the National Anthem. These are only but a few of the many stubborn facts associated with Guyana’s nation building, which bear evidence of Burnham’s finger prints and signatures.
Additionally, I do agree that the PNC as they exist today is a rudderless bunch, who appear to have no clue about governing in the 21st century. Boycotting Carifesta X was an error grounded in the simplistic old-time style politics of the ‘50 and ‘60,
the Mayor of the CAPITAL city of our dear beloved GUYANA ,, GEORGETOWN,,,,,,,
should i conti….. ah din tink suh !……
inreply to bgsbny’sfirst comment, youknow it’s a funny thing, all of you burnham haters would still find thetime to even mention his name meaning he inspired lotsof people in one way or another even you my man, get it??
This PPP administration goal when they came into office was to destroy all form of achivement concerning Burnham and delete him from the country’s history
Eg. they dismantle the national service and people’s militia that used to control and safeguard the borders from criminals and foreign forces. They at one time tried to close down president’s college… therefore i am not surprised that Burnham was not mentioned as carefesta founder…. what a shame for the sake of unity…..
…..it would really be quite a day if i can find the time to reply to all the prevarications,, and conjectures that abound here ,,not even if i had the time tho,, would some of my rebuttals be allowed to sit,, wanna know why ???? just ask SN !… the table laid by some of u ,, is enough to make me puke !….
As Guyanese it would be better to lay aside personal ,political,social or ethnic differences and in a constructive patriotic way acknowledge the contribution of L.F.S, Burnham to Guyana .A brilliant son of our soil who was blessed with wisdom and a sense of nation building,encouraged ‘all Guyanese’, to strive for excellence,e,g.Free education from nursery to university to wit many today are doing well at home and abroad ,even many in the present administration benefited. It would serve Guyana proud to give all our patriots the national tribute they deserve.
Guyana’s history cannot be erased,so let us not fool ourselves,.
On a visit to Bridgetown Barbados one sees the huge monument that has been erected in honor of prime minister Errol Borrow why can’t something similar be done for L.F.S.B.
…. with whose money may i ask ? and which part of GY is this brite idea of ur will this thing bne erected ?????
LIGHT you are still in darkness ,what about those who have left and are still leaving even though Burnham is dead ,what ,why and who are they running from?
Mr. Mc David,
Burnaham had no vision. He was blind to see what you as minister of information and others were diong to the Guyanese People.
Do you remember when there were no news print for other news paper other than Govt. Owned?
Or when children were going to school without books? Or teachers had no chalk.
What did you do for your country as Minister of Information? You list your achievements for us to see.
Rambo
So, Mr. “Ram Singh” where is the “rice” that was promised by the Burnham Administration to aid in the African Liberation Struggle? You answer that one question. At least there were no “mass starvation” and “deaths” in Guyana like there were (and still are) in certain African countries. And, to repeat what someone mentioned earlier – The current Guyana President was one who benefited from the overseas study programs administered by the L.F.S Burnham/H.D. Hoyte Administrations Administrations. Besides, which sensible third world government would hand over its “bauxite resources” (strategic minerals resources; and, the birth rights of unborn Guyanese children) to the Russians and Chinese.
the amount of filth being written about political history is appalling . Can’t the young people of this beloved land be informed with less hatred? We are on a serious collision course sooner than later if we continue on this path and the same forces that got rid of the notorious gang will turn around and bite you in the hip.
Ram Singh don’t be a typical detractor. This is not about Mr. McDavid or his achievements. Only uneducated people rely on personal attacks when they have no proper response to the discussion. Stick to the issue at hand.
The point is that for whatever reason the PPP has no interest in honoring Guyana’s heroes or giving credit to anyone who does not subscribe to their brand of politics.
That is visionless!!! The good thing is that as hard as they try, Guyana’s history cannot be erased. As a matter of fact, the PPP is implementing more of Mr. Burnham’s blueprint everyday. A pity that Guyanese have such short memories that they don’t recognise the playbook they now stand to benefit from was authored by LFSB.
Burnham was a dictator.
Burnham never won any election.
Under Burnham, Guyana went from the bread basket of the Caribbean to the 2nd poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Only Haiti was below Guyana.
Under Burnham half of Guyana’s population (the best and the brighest) left Guyana.
Now, the PNC refuse to participate in Carifesta X. Obviously, very few supported their call…showing how much influence they (the PNC) have on the public. And now they complaining that nobody mention their founder’s name.
Same ol’ PNC. Nothing has changed.
I am no fan of the PPP, but I speak for many when I say that Guyanese will never vote the PNC back in power. It’s not about race, it’s about 28 years of abuse in a way ethnic cleansing – destroying the entire middle class and forcing them to leave Guyana. So get over it!