Dear Editor,
The objective of the New York 50th Independence Anniversary Celebration Committee is to be diverse.
The 50th Independence Anniversary Celebration Committee (New York) has noted a letter authored by Mr Vishnu Bisram in the February 12 edition of the Guyana Times which states that our committee is not diverse enough. The committee welcomes any suggestions from Mr Bisram on enhancing diversity. I encourage him to ask the organizations which share his concern to each nominate a representative for consideration to serve on the Planning Committee.
The membership of our committee reflects those who responded to a widely publicized call for interested Guyanese nationals to join the committee. Over one hundred and forty responded by contacting the Consulate in New York or the committee directly. US representatives of the political parties in the Parliament of Guyana were also invited to nominate candidates to serve on the Planning Committee. The APNU, AFC and WPA responded. Both the committee and the Consul General wrote the PPP to this effect on two occasions and received no response. Everyone who responded either directly to the committee or to the consulate was nominated to the committee.
The committee has members from 7 states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and Guyana, and comprises members who are of every ethnic description. It is the first diverse initiative of its nature in the history of the Guyanese diaspora,
and we are working constantly to broaden diversity. Several individuals from the Richmond Hill, Queens community currently serve on the committee.
The UN Ambassador, the Consul General and deputy Consul General are ex officio members of the executive and planning committees.
To ensure broad representation, the committee in October 2015 established a Queens sub-committee, chaired by executive member Dr Taj Rajkumar of Richmond Hill, to ensure all Guyanese are fully integrated into its planning of the celebration. Dr Rajkumar and his team have been working to ensure broad representation. It is as a result of the work of Dr Rajkumar
that attorney-at-law Rhonda Binda joined the committee, and was subsequently elected its Vice Chairman. At the invitation of the committee, Ms Lakshmee Singh from Divya Jyoti Association which organizes the Hindu Diwali Festival also joined the Planning Committee.
I reiterate that the intent and objective of the committee is to embrace the widest possible diversity in membership. To this end, it appears that the committee and Mr Bisram agree on this point. This is why I invite him to meet at the earliest possible time with the committee’s leadership, including Dr Taj Rajkumar, and to recommend representatives from various organizations he thinks can make a positive contribution to the committee.
We eagerly await a response. I can be contacted through the Guyana Consulate.
Yours faithfully,
Janice Hall
Co-Chair
Public Relations & Diaspora
Engagement
Guyana’s 50th
Independence
Anniversary Celebration
Committee (New York)
