The committee set up by the National Assembly to review public holidays is now analyzing the submissions it has received on the issue.
The committee, which is chaired by Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj requested submissions, written and oral, on whether May 5 (Indian Arrival Day) and May 26 (Independence Day) should be incorporated into the national calendar without increasing the number of holidays.
The deadline for submissions was January 15. Stabroek News has been unable to contact Gajraj, but sources close to the committee said among the organisations that made submissions were the Guyana Indian Heritage Association (GIHA), ROAR, and the African Cultural Deve-lopment Association (ACDA). Stabroek News has been informed too that the last oral presentations in support of written submissions were made on March 17.
Previously, May 26 was not a public holiday, but it has been observed, though not every year, in the past 11 years. May 5 is not observed as a public holiday though there are ceremonies to mark the day. ROAR and the GIHA have been in the forefront of the call for May 5 to be made a public holiday.
President Bharrat Jagdeo had stated that he was in favour of an 'Arrival Day' which would commemorate the arrival of the various peoples, but this has not found favour with ROAR.
ROAR is in favour of a day specifically designated to mark the arrival of the East Indian immigrants and says that an 'Arrival Day' does not address the request by Indians for their arrival here to be observed as a public holiday.
It said an 'Arrival Day' would be just beating around the bush and its observance on May 5 would deny other groups a say as to which day they would like their arrival here to be observed. ROAR claimed a similar approach had been tried in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, but it had reverted to Indian Arrival Day.
With regard to May 26, ROAR takes the view that it should not be observed as a public holiday as February 23 (Republic Day) is the more appropriate day.
There is a suggestion that Boxing Day should be dropped from the list of national holidays to accommodate one of the two holidays.
The committee is expected to submit its report shortly, which will include recommendations as to how the two days are to be incorporated into the roster of public holidays and which of the present holidays, if any, would be dropped in order to accommodate one or both of them.
The other members of the committee are Shirley Edwards, Indra Chandarpal, Dr Dale Bisnauth, Zulfikar Mustapha, representing the PPP/C, Deryck Bernard, Amna Ally, Dr George Norton representing the PNCR, and Ravi Dev representing ROAR. Stabroek News understands that the PNCR members on the committee, in keeping with their party's stance of non-cooperation with Gajraj, have not been attending meetings.