A stable political climate Editorial Stabroek News July 10, 1998 Speaking at a ceremony at the Ministry of Agriculture on the signing of an agreement with the Organisation of American States for further funding for an exciting project designed to open up some 250,000 acres of savannah land for agro-industrial development Mr Reepu Daman Persaud, the Minister of Agriculture, said that there had been a good response to advertisements from interested investors and that with a stable political climate the possibility of attracting investment is good. Yes we say, yes, a thousand times yes, a stable political climate is the deepest wish of all Guyanese. After nearly half a century of political instability during which there has been massive emigration, a brain drain, and a collapse in living standards Guyanese desperately want and need decades of peace and stability to get down to the difficult but rewarding task of developing the country. They are sick to death of political and ideological strife which has brought them nothing but pain and alienation and has driven them into exile. This is surely a watershed, a time for a new level of political maturity, a time for younger people who still hope to make Guyana their home to get more involved, a time for fresh thinking and a new awareness of the possibilities. As the project referred to above itself illustrates there are numerous areas that offer development and increased employment. It is the internecine politics, so to speak, that has got in the way and bogged us all down in futile squabbling and recrimination. It is the lack of achievement and development that has left the poverty and lack of jobs that undergirds all our problems. Let us see this, then, as the opportunity for a new beginning, for putting behind us the strife that has consumed us in futility, for forgetting the injustices committed in ample measure on all sides. People need hope and motivation, with that great things can be achieved. It is up to the politicians and civil society to summon up the reserves of energy they still possess and to craft a new vision that will take us forward into a better and more prosperous century. In the process of building the atmosphere will clear and many things can be forgiven and will no longer seem so important.