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President Paula-Mae Weekes.

PRESIDENT Paula-Mae Weekes says that as the country continues to grapple with many social ills, its people would do well to remember and emulate the passion, co-operation and unremitting activism of those who were enslaved almost centuries ago.

She made her call in her message to the nation on the occasion of Emancipation Day – when the country marks the end of the enslavement of African people.

She said the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act (1833) in the British Parliament was the triumphant outcome of continuous and unrelenting challenges to the heinous institution of African enslavement.

In pointing to the declining profitability of sugar and unfree labour, growing anti-slavery movement in Britain and constant acts of resistance and revolt by slaves, the President recalled the words of TT’s first prime minister Dr Eric Williams, in his seminal work, Capitalism and Slavery:

“In 1833, therefore, the alternatives were clear: emancipation from above or emancipation from below. But emancipation.”

Weekes said that at the core of the emancipation narrative is the human desire for freedom and refusal to accept anything less.

When on 1 August 1834, Weekes said, the enslaved realised they would be subjected to six years of apprenticeship — slavery by another name — they refused and resisted in various forms until the system was brought to an early end.

She said this long road to full emancipation is a powerful reminder that determination, resilience, courage and unity can overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles; even if not overnight.

In calling for people to remember and emulate the passion, co-operation and unremitting activism of the slaves, Weekes said as a nation whose short history is littered with long, bitter campaigns against oppression, these ought to be values nurtured and upheld by every citizen.

“Let us be guided by common goals, make the necessary sacrifices and remain committed to our cause,” she said.

In commemorating Emancipation Day with a public holiday on Monday, Weekes said, “we have yet to achieve emancipation in full. Let us pay tribute to and learn from their many struggles and sacrifices and be faithful stewards of the freedom for which they fought so earnestly.”

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Please see below full Emancipation message:

I join in extending greetings to all Guyanese, especially the African-Guyanese community, on Emancipation Day 2022.

President Dr Irfaan Ali

Emancipation Day of 1838 was a milestone in our country’s history. It signalled the demise in our country of the most repugnant and inhumane system known to humanity. And while Emancipation did not bring an end to colonial oppression, it struck a hefty blow in the cause of human dignity and freedom.

Our society changed as a result of Emancipation. The abolition of slavery in the British colonies opened the doors to immigrants from other parts of the world. It also triggered a process of social transformation.

African Guyanese were at the forefront of that process. It was Africans who had laid the productive infrastructure of our country. After Emancipation, they expanded the peasantry, launched the Village Movement, and established economic enterprises. They pioneered education and local government.

African Guyanese have made indelible contributions in all facets of national life. Their legacy is secure. Their future is assured.

I want to reassure our African-Guyanese brothers and sisters that my government is committed to an inclusive future for all. Whatever concerns or grievances, you can be certain of a receptive and responsive government.

No one is going to be left behind or left out of national development. Outreaches have already begun in communities across our country so that the people can join us in working to bring solutions.

On this Emancipation Day, I pay homage to the sacrifice and struggles which our African ancestors endured in pursuit of freedom and human dignity. I join in saluting their undeniable contributions to national development. I assure our African brothers and sisters that an inclusive future awaits us all.

Happy Emancipation Day 2022!

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Black Immigrant Daily News

President Dr Irfaan Ali on Sunday joined officials for the sod-turning ceremony of a specialised €149 million Paediatric and Maternal Hospital that will be constructed at Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara.

The facility, which will be financed by the United Kingdom’s export credit agency – UK Export Finance (UKEF), will be built and equipped in two-years’ time by Austria-based Vamed Engineering. The company, which is partially-owned by the Austrian Government, is a global provider for hospitals and other facilities in the healthcare sector.

The low-rise Paediatric and Maternal Hospital will have 256 beds and will be a referral centre for women and children. It will specialise in maternal, neonatal, and paediatric care with a huge imaging suite for services such as CT scans and MRIs, a modern laboratory, and surgical suites.

Delivering the feature address on Sunday, President Ali stated that this hospital is not a standalone development but is specialised in critical care for two of Guyana’s most important groups – children and at-risk mothers.

President Dr Irfaan Ali

“This facility is a specialised facility. It is not that the other health facilities would not have these services. But this will be a specialised hospital for these facilities alone because women and children are critical components of the development of our country,” he stated.

According to President Ali, the hospital is a demonstration of the relations established between the two nations. As such, he said Guyana intends to strengthen these ties with the European country in order to tap into its vast technology capabilities in other sectors.

This, the President stated, will be important as Guyana seeks to adopt world-class standards for its infrastructure in order to position the country for regional traffic in the medical field.

“Whatever, we’re developing is for regional prosperity. So, our cardiac centre, our centre to deal with cancer, our centre to deal with research and development are positioned with standards and infrastructure that will make it a want to go to destination in terms of regional traffic,” the Guyanese leader posited.

New era in healthcare

Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony outlined that this project is reflective of the Ali-led Administration’s commitment to fulfilling its promise of improving healthcare delivery in Guyana to international standards.

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony

“Today, we are at another milestone in the development of public health in Guyana. The turning of the sod… would usher in a new era of public health investment in Guyana… it would be the [single] largest public health investment in the entire history of Guyana,” he noted.

Dr Anthony explained that even with massive investments and upgrades, the Georgetown Public Hospital – the country’s only referral hospital – is still limited in its capacity for certain services such as specialised paediatric care.

“We need to develop a facility that is going to be level five, that’s the highest level, and offer sub-specialty care to our children if they need it. And also, we know from time to time there would be at-risk mothers and therefore, we also need to cater for these at-risk mothers,” he stated.

According to the Health Minister, the services that would be offered at this facility will not only be far-advanced but services that were never offered in Guyana before. He explained that the primary goal of expanding the healthcare services here is to make sure that Guyana reduces its morbidity rate, have less diseases and is able to treat diseases properly.

“That’s the ultimate objective. So, the investments that we’re making here is really people-centric investments to make sure that our people benefit from the highest quality of healthcare, world-class healthcare, and they will be able to access it right here in Guyana, free of cost so that you don’t have to travel abroad… and I think that is extremely important,” the Minister stated.

Nevertheless, Dr Anthony stressed that this project would be a catalyst in changing the health landscape of the country and is the beginning of a wave of projects in the local health sector that will bring about total transformation.

In fact, he teased that in the next couple of weeks, many other similar projects will be rolled out across the country.

The Specialised Paediatric and Maternal Hospital was birthed from a Memorandum of Understanding between Guyana and Austria. The contract was signed just last month with Vamed for a Design, Finance, Build (DFB) model.

Austrian Trade Commissioner for Guyana and the Caribbean, Andreas Schmid during Sunday’s ceremony, reassured that Vamed is experienced as a market leader in turn-key hospitals across the world. He expressed hope that this facility will be the first step in long-lasting bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

“It is a direct result of the fundamental need to attend to the growing population and “mother and child care”, a vision of his Excellency, President Ali. This hospital is also an excellent example of a successful Government-to-Government project which we are delighted to explore also in other areas of bilateral cooperation,” he stated.

The specialised hospital will be equipped with high-quality equipment sourced from the United Kingdom.

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