First published December 19, 1986

“HE has done his work and done it faithfully and well. We must now do ours…” the words of President Des­mond Hoyte during his short statement at Sunday’s com­mittal of the last mortal remains of Guyana’s first elect­ed President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham.

The committal started precisely at 16:15 hrs. and lasted ninety min­utes under overcast skies and drizzles at the Seven Ponds — Place of Heroes in the Bo­tanic Gardens in Georgetown.

The glass capsule con­taining the remains of Burnham was draped in the national flag. There was also an Honour Guard in attendance made up of members of the Disciplined Ser­vices and representa­tives of the Women’s Revolutionary Social­ist Movement, who later gave way to more members of the Forces who eventually bore the capsule to the place of entombment.

FUNERAL

Unlike the funeral ser­vice for Burnham last year August, the Methodist church was responsible for con­ducting the religious aspect of the ceremony with three priests of­ficiating. Hymns were sung, and there were readings from the Bible and a sermon by one of the Methodist priests.

There were also read­ings from the Quran and the Bhagwat Gita.

Seated close to the glass capsule were the family of the late Founder-Leader of the People’s National Con­gress, including his widow Vice-President and Deputy Prime Min­ister Viola Burnham and son-in-law Dr. Richard Van West- Charles, Senior Minister of Health, together with his children and their husbands.

Among the specially invited persons to the enclosure outside the mausoleum that houses the tomb where the late President’s remains lie, were Ministers of the Government, mem­bers of the Judiciary, the Diplomatic Corps, former Government Ministers, the Speaker, Members of Parliament, executive members of the ruling People’s Na­tional Congress and Op­position Leader Dr. Cheddi Jagan, among others.

President Hoyte in his statement, which came after the Massed Bands under the baton of Police Superintendent Leon Waddell had play­ed “O Beautiful Guy­ana,” and readings by two of the Burnham children, said the late President Burnham had taught us that ours is the primary responsibil­ity for building our country.

DISUNITY

“He warned us against the dangerous folly of idleness and disunity and emphasised that the goal of develop­ment could be attain­ed only by patience, self-reliance and sus­tained disciplined work,” the President said.

Reminding those pre­sent that Burnham is no longer around to lead the Guyanese peo­ple, President Hoyte continued, “we must follow our own im­pulses and chart our own course.”

Referring to Burn­ham’s contribution to Guyana, Hoyte said the late leader “found us a mere miscellany of colonial subjects, con­fused, directionless, lacking in self-consci­ousness and purpose. He left us a proud, cohesive, independent nation, with a com­mon destiny and today we are a people fit for freedom, lords of ourselves capable of functioning with excep­tional grace and excep­tional versatility,” Hoyte concluded.

As the commendation and committal cere­mony ended, the driz­zles ceased and the small crowd made up mainly of women and young people outside the enclosure closed their umbrellas to join in singing the National Anthem which came after the sounding of the Last Post and the paying of final respects by President Hoyte and Prime Minister Hamil­ton Green.

The ‘Stabroek News’ learned that for the time being the site in the Botanic Gardens will be under tight guard by the military and the Police.

 

The little industry that Santa Claus forgot

Toy makers in trouble

THE above head­line aptly describe the state of the local toy industry at this Christmas sea­son.

A visit to many of the stores in Georgetown, including those operat­ed by the State, reveals what appears to be a change in emphasis this year by the city’s busi­nessmen in their ap­proaches to this 1986 festive season.

There is a prolifera­tion of imported toys in nearly all the stores and shops, and at first glance it’s a de-emphasis­ing of the locally-made products such as rollers, rocking horses, games, and airplanes, all made from Guyana’s woods.

In at least two State-owned entities, Guy­ana Stores and the Guyana National Trad­ing Corporation’s branch on Camp Street, locally-made toys are visible on the shelves along with soft toys also made in Guyana, but the local product has to compete side by side with the import­ed articles which are better packaged, but carry heavy price tags.

IMPORTED

A senior official at Guyana Stores told ‘Stabroek News’ that some of the imported toys were brought in from East Germany last year with the remainder being purchased in small quantities from traders. These include plastic dolls, trains, guns, jeeps and musical instruments.

The largest supplies of imported toys on dis­play are in stores on Regent Street and Water Street and at the Sijan Plaza on Camp Street.

In these stores, as well as on several city pave­ments, the range of the imported articles are wide and varied and are also very expensive when the average salary of a Guyanese worker is taken into considera­tion.

In the privately-owned stores, battery-operated toys, such as guns, trains, fire engines, jeeps and cars range in prices from one hundred and fifty dol­lars to eight hundred dollars depending on the size and the tech­nology involved.

Imported dolls are also available in large quantities fetching high prices, with one shop owner in clarifying the situation saying that since import licences were not being released, he and others had to turn to the traders.

At Sijan, all the toys are imported, many with United States markings and with price tags of seven to fifty US dollars depending on the quality of the toy and its size.

ANSWERS

A query from ‘Stabroek News’ as to what has gone wrong with the local toy industry which had been receiv­ing much attention just two years ago, brought forth some very reveal­ing answers.

Guyana Stores Execu­tive Chairman Paul Chan-A-Sue said his corporation recently imported springs which were needed for certain types of wooden toys being manufactured on a small-scale, but be­cause the local wood was too heavy the im­ported springs were found to be unsuitable since they could not move the toys, after they had been in­stalled.

“Although we con­tinue to have the com­mitment to local toys and the cottage indus­try,” Chan-A-Sue add­ed, “our biggest con­cern and worry is the quality of the pro­duct.”

To this end, the man­agement at Guyana Stores has arranged for an expert from the Fed­eration for Industrial Training in Canada to spend three weeks in Guyana early in the new year.

The expert will hold practical sessions for the corporation’s sup­pliers of all types of wood products and he will also visit the work sites giving advice where necessary.

It was a different tale on the future of the local toy industry as told to this newspaper by the Managing Di­rector of NCE Group of Companies, one of the big manufacturers, Brian Gittens.

He admitted that his company has not been able to manufacture a single toy for this Christmas, in spite of the personal interven­tion of President Des­mond Hoyte, who had authorised the release of $15000 (US)for the purchase of imported components from the United States.

One of the components to be purchased were marbles for checker boards. Mr. Gittens ex­plained that the com­ponents have been stored in Jamaica since May but because of trans-shipment difficul­ties and an apparent mix-up with the brok­ers in Jamaica, compo­nents are yet to arrive, although the necessary payments have been made. The quality of certain local inputs in many cases, was not up to standard, Gittens said.

One bright spot in all this was the opti­mism shared by both the top Guyana Stores official and Mr. Git­tens that there is a very good chance of Guyanese craftsmen making their mark in the utilisation of lo­cal wood and wood products not only for toys but for ornaments and furniture, but this must be done on a commercial scale and needs substantial invest­ment and encourage­ment.

The soft toy industry has been given good marks by both busi­nessmen who referred to the strong support given it by Guymida.