President Jagdeo cuts short Middle East visit
-on learning of the death of former President Janet Jagan
Georgetown, GINA, March 29, 2009
President Bharrat Jagdeo today, returned to Guyana after he cut short his official visit to the Middle East due to the passing of former President Janet Jagan.
The President, who was in the Middle East to attend a series of official visits to various countries and was also slated to attend the Arab South American Summit to be held in Qatar, said he received a call from Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who informed him of Mrs. Jagan’s passing and this prompted his decision to immediately return to Guyana.
Speaking to members of the media the President said, “I have been traveling continuously over the pass 24 hours to be back here I just met with the family, with Joey and Nadira and we decided on the arrangements that will be put in place to give the fitting tribute to comrade Janet and we have to respect the wishes of the family. At the same time Comrade Janet belongs to the whole country so we have to balance the two interests.”
Remembering the late former Leader, President Jagdeo said “it’s a sad time for our country; we know that Comrade Janet lived a full life but her passing makes us poor, our country poor.”
President Jagdeo noted that Janet Jagan was involved in every major cause to enhance the lives of Guyanese as far back as the 1940’s.
“She will long be remembered not just as Janet Jagan the person, but for what she stood for, for the ideas that she had, the strength of character that she displayed and her commitment and love for this country.”
Noting Mrs. Jagan’s contributions to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), he said along with her husband Cheddie Jagan, she played a significant role in imbuing the PPP with their philosophies and ideas.
“Our party remains strong today and that was her life’s work; to ensure that the party remains strong so that it can continue to serve the people of this country, our party’s ideals will always be evergreen because they believe in countries that cater for all of its people, regardless of the race or religion. This was the core value of the PPP largely because these were the core values of Janet and Cheddie Jagan,” the President said.
The President added that, any party that works for the good of the people of the country will always be relevant and the character and nature of the PPP is owed to these two great people, “one passed some years ago and now Comrade Janet has joined him,”.
President Jagdeo said, in remembering the late former President, all Guyanese should try to learn more about the things that she stood for and struggled for because these are things that they enjoy today, freedoms that are taken for granted.
Mrs. Jagan will be given a state funeral where persons will be afforded the opportunity to pay a fitting tribute to her.
The former President and First Lady succumbed on March 28 after being admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). She was 88 years.
After migrating to Guyana with husband Dr. Cheddi Jagan, whom she had met and married in 1943, while working as a student nurse at Cook County Hospital, she founded the Women's Political and Economic Organisation and co-founded the Political Affairs Committee in 1946, and later along with her husband Dr. Cheddi Jagan and others, the People’s Progressive Party in 1950.
She served as Prime Minister of Guyana from March 17 to December 19, 1997 in addition to holding several other elected offices some of which included, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and Government Minister.
After her husband’s death, Mrs. Jagan was sworn in as Prime Minister on March 17, 1997 and ran as the Presidential candidate for the PPP/C in the December 1997 election. She assumed the Presidency of Guyana following the PPP/C victory in that election and became the first democratically elected female President in the entire South America.
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Private Sector mourns former President Janet Jagan’s passing
Georgetown, GINA, March 29, 2009
With the passing of former President Janet Jagan, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Captain Gerald Gouveia joined with those in the wider community who paid tribute to her.
The private sector mourns the loss of the former President who has always been supportive of the PSC’s work, Gouveia said.
According to Gouveia, she was a champion of the private sector as was seen in her unwavering support for the development of the Ogle Airport during her tenure as Prime Minister, when it was only a dream for the private sector.
Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Captain Gerald Gouveia
“She came to the fore at that time and championed the development of Ogle and she also assured us that she will use all her influences and power at the time to support its development,” Gouveia said. The Ogle Airport development today will serve Guyana for generations to come, he added.
Referring to her role as a politician, Captain Gouveia said that Mrs. Jagan had become a senior statesperson in Guyana who had widespread international respect as well. He said that Mrs. Jagan was in the forefront of trying to move Guyana forward to being an independent state and played a pivotal role in restoring democracy in Guyana. He described her as a champion of this cause.
On a personal note Captain Gouveia reminisced on the adventurous person that the former President was, since she was among the first persons who went to the bottom of the Kaieteur Falls.
“Here was a woman as the wife of Cheddi Jagan, she became a Guyanese in the true sense of the word and she did things like other Guyanese in terms of the discovery of our hinterland and as an adventurer, that is how I remember her,” Captain Gouveia said.
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No way that history could be recorded without former President-ERC Chairman
Georgetown, GINA, March 29, 2009
As the nation mourns the loss of the former President Janet Jagan, Chairman of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), Bishop Juan Edghill joined the thousands to offer condolence to the Mrs. Jagan’s family, the People’s Progressive Party and to the wider Guyanese community.
Bishop Edghill believes that in mourning the passing of Mrs. Jagan, Guyanese should “honour her in death and continue to be a people that work towards our nation’s motto where we can embrace each other knowing fully well that we’re a Guyanese family we are one people one nation one destiny.”
The ERC Chairman highlighted the gracefulness with which the late former President took criticism “even in the days when she was literally being verbally abused by bad language and actions that could have annoyed and irritated.”
He said during those difficult days, she always kept a smile and would always say “think about the big picture and how this would all end.”
Bishop Edghill noted the significant contributions Mrs. Jagan made to the development of Guyana. “There is no way that history could be recorded without her being central in terms of Guyana’s history,” he said.
He posited that Mrs. Jagan has taught her peers and the younger generation, valuable lessons which they can exemplify.
Janet Jagan born October 20, 1920 to a Jewish, middle-class family in Chicago, Illinois, in the Unite States of America, became the sixth President and first female President of the Republic of Guyana on December 19, 1997. She served in that position until August 11, 1999 when she retired due to health reasons.
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FUNERAL ARRANGMENTS FOR THE LATE FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GUYANA, H.E.MRS. JANET JAGAN
The Government of Guyana wishes to announce that the State Funeral of the late Former President of the Republic of Guyana, Mrs. Janet Jagan, O.E., will take place on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
The hearse accompanied by the family will move off from Mrs. Jagan’s Residence, New Haven, Bel Air, at 08:00 hrs proceeding west then north onto the Railway Embankment Road thence into Sheriff Street, turning into Campbell Avenue/Sandy Babb Street, then turning south onto Vlissengen Road.
The entourage will stop on Vlissengen Road directly in front of the Office of the President and Castellani House where the military procession will commence. The procession will proceed south and turn west into Brickdam then proceed west to Parliament Building, arriving at 08:30hrs for the State Ceremony.
The Cortege departs Parliament Building at 10:00hrs and will stop briefly in front of the Headquarters of the People’s Progressive Party, Freedom House, Robb Street, for a ceremonial farewell.
The procession will then leave Georgetown for Babu John, Corentyne where speeches and the final military honours will be performed. It is anticipated that the final ceremony and the cremation will commence at 14:00hrs.
In keeping with Mrs. Jagan’s wishes for a simple send-off, there will be no viewing of the body.
The Traffic Police, GPF, will provide further details of the route and ancillary matters relating to the funeral procession in Georgetown.
March 29, 2009
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Late former President, Mrs. Janet Jagan, a champion of the arts – Curator of National Art Gallery
Georgetown, GINA, March 29, 2009
Curator of the National Art Gallery, Elfreida Bissember today remembered former President Janet Jagan as not only a leading politician but as someone with a genuine interest and love of the arts.
The Curator said that she was fortunate to have worked with this great individual in her capacity as the Curator of the National Gallery, Castellani House and the Director to the gallery to which positions she was appointed by Mrs. Jagan in 1996.
Bissember stated that in the early period she became aware of Mrs. Jagan’s keenness and enthusiasm for the job, this was in fact to manage the national collection of arts and to share these with the Guyanese public.
Elfreida Bissember, Curator Director of the National Arts gallery
Bissember said that she became aware of the depths of Mrs. Jagan’s knowledge of the arts literature, novels, poetry, dance and film since she had been pursuing these activities for decades.
She described Mrs. Jagan as a “champion of the arts” and added that the late former President was without pomposity, self importance and given the fact she played such an important role in politics, in shaping contemporary history, it was admirable that she was so unassuming and humble.
“With her knowledge and understanding she was on top of everything that came up and made for a very stimulating and also at times demanding boss but it was an enjoyable situation to be working in because I had confidence that I was working with somebody who so fully appreciated what we were all trying to do at the National Gallery,” she said.
She noted that Mrs. Jagan was succinct in her writings, “she got to her point even as she began her articles, she made her points and she expounded with logic and this is a skill that people tend to take for granted to be succinct and to be clear in your writing and to make clear arguments whether it was about politics or anything else,” she said.
She said Guyanese are lucky to have had someone of that caliber who was so willing to give so much of her self to Guyana.
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