On the face of it, there doesn't seem to have been much to celebrate over the past year; the inhabitants of this part of the continent have had to contend with all kinds of problems, not least the intolerable crime levels, the endless political tangles and, of course, economic hardship. It is difficult in such circumstances for ordinary people to lift their eyes from the ground to scan the horizon. But good things have happened in 2003 amid the gloom, although not necessarily in those areas to which citizens would normally give a second thought.

Forget the politicians for the moment. While their tentative rapprochement may bear fruit on a long-term basis, the road ahead is full of obstacles, and it is still too early to say whether in the end our leaders from both sides will go down in history as the enlightened ones. It will all depend on their future actions. Forget too the economy; this continues to be a society which runs on aid, and there is no economic miracle in the viewfinder just yet.

If we are going to toast anyone in the public arena this Christmas, let us toast those who have accomplished things which have lasting significance, not just for ourselves, but for future generations. Let us start, for example, by appreciating our material heritage and those who have helped in its preservation, for over time this heritage will make its contribution to our sense of nationhood.

As we celebrate the yuletide season, therefore, let us raise our glasses to the Ministry of Works - yes, the Ministry of Works - for casting around to find a way to save the three nineteenth-century iron bridges from South America's first railway. Under the IDB-funded East Coast road project, it was intended to keep only one of them; a second was to be dismantled and 're-erected' in the MMA/DA compound, if someone would come up with the money; and the last was slated for destruction. To Minister Xavier's credit, he listened to those opposed to this plan, and eventually proposed a solution which was satisfactory to all. The two bridges under threat have now been shifted a short distance from their original sites, with the minimum of damage to their structure.

And then raise a glass to the Parliament Office, the National Trust and anyone else in authority who had a hand in putting on hold the dismantling of Castellani's plaster ceiling in the Parliament Chamber, until it could be assessed by an expert. It was about to be dismantled because the wood behind it was rotten, when the decision was taken to have it examined by a specialist to ensure that the skills it was thought were available to restore it to its original condition, really were available.

Most citizens have probably never seen it, and neither, no doubt, have many of our legislators who would have been too busy glowering across the chamber at each other to have time to raise their eyes aloft. But for those who have seen it, they will remember its embellishments and flourishes with appreciation. The re-opening of the chamber has been delayed on account of the restoration of the plasterwork, but no matter, it will be worth the wait.

After that raise a glass to a foreign institution - the Smithsonian - which funded a project to inventorise and restore Guyana's historical clocks. Messrs Shayt and Todd from the Smithsonian, who were here latterly, gave of their skills and time gratis. Now the clock made by regency clockmaker P P Barraud at the turn of the nineteenth century has been rehabilitated and returned to the High Court, and along the way we have learnt about some of our other interesting timepieces - and bells, incidentally.