A different vision of development

“Guyana is an island surrounded by land”. Recent public references to the development of Guyana remind one of this statement. The prospect of large casino hotels being built near and in Georgetown has excited many Guyanese, not least President Jagdeo.

The recent erection of many large buildings in the city and along the Coast by private persons is a phenomenon much discussed among Guyanese, and clearly there are more to come.

Whatever its source of investment, contrast this coastal building development with the interior of Guyana. Compare Bon Fin with Lethem, for instance.

Or, to give another example, compare President Jagdeo’s statement at the opening of Buddy’s International hotel last week with his response at a media briefing in September last year concerning the prospect of paving the road from Linden to Lethem to link up with the new Takutu bridge on the border of Guyana and Brazil.

At the opening of the new international hotel he is reported as saying, in praising the enterprise, determination and vision of its owner:-

“Over the past two years I have come to realize what I have always suspected, that in our country we have two generations of people, and these people do not get classified into one generation or the other based on their age – that has nothing to do with the chronology of life, but it has to do with attitudes.”