Buxton gas station upgraded in US$400,000 investment
-President urges more entrepreneurship, support from diaspora
Commissioning a Buxton gas station upgraded by overseas-based Guyanese, President David Granger yesterday urged citizens to move away from being satisfied with earning fixed wages and salaries and to aim for entrepreneurship.
“We need innovation in these communities if we are to free ourselves from wage labour …we need the thrust of entrepreneurship to create new industries, new paths, away from just ‘looking for lil wuk’ in the GDF (Guyana Defence Force) or Police Force,” the President told attendees yesterday at the commissioning of the Buxton Petrol Station, East Coast of Demerara.
Further, he added “Too many people become wedded to wage labour and they shun enterprise. They shun taking risk, they shun setting up businesses. Some people seek their comfort of being able to get a small wage at the end of the week or end of the month, but the trouble is that after 30 years, you are still getting a small wage at the end of the week and month and when you get your pension, it will be small.”
The petrol station is owned by overseas-based Buxtonians Morris and Joycyln Wilson, having invested over US$400,000 to upgrade the facility to include a pharmacy, a Church’s Chicken Outlet, mini mart, GTT office and other rental spaces. It was previously owned by Brian Hamilton who was murdered in the establishment back in 2003.
Using the Wilsons as examples, Granger called on the diaspora to invest in their home country as the benefits from those investments could be significant in the country’s development.
They should recapture the vitality which made villages the power houses of food production in Guyana.
“When I come to this petrol station here today it is a very emotional time for me because I believe it is a form of economic renaissance, even though it is small and there are scores of villages throughout the country with petrol stations. I believe it is very significant that it should occur here today …It is a journey of hope that was started by the Wilsons and I hope will trigger other activities by other members of the diaspora who want to see the country be very prosperous,” the President asserted.
“I love the diaspora, I have great respect for the diaspora. Particularly, I launched my campaign in the diaspora and I am always grateful for what they did then and the confidence that they showed in me. The diaspora possesses capital, they possess tremendous experience and they have tremendous determination… I feel that those persons in the diaspora should continue to see themselves as Guyanese, as Morris and Jocelyn did and invest. Bring their talent, bring their treasure, and bring their expertise. We need capital to develop Guyana. We have the land, we have the labour and we ask the members of the diaspora to do more than talk and write but put their money where their mouth is like the Wilsons. If you love Guyana invest in Guyana,” he added.
And in a seeming response to persons in the diaspora who had written to newspapers here and subsequently petitioned him to have several demands met, Granger urged them to invest in their families and home country.
“Make sure every child goes to school. Encourage the diaspora to invest in
their communities…when they want to send a petition next time, tell them to send a petition for a factory or a farm. Tell them I say so,” the President stressed.
“Our Guyanese diaspora, if they turned around and supported our local commodities, would be able to make a meaningful contribution in that niche market in those places where they live,” he also stated.
Underscoring the importance of infrastructure in the attracting of investment, the president said that the nation has to collectively work towards its infrastructure and building education.
He noted the vast lands that this country has that still have not been lifted to their true potential. To this end, he called on both the diaspora and citizens here to take advantage of the bounty of the land and to look for new ways of investing here.
He called on locals to invest in their personal advancement as it would be unfair to ask for persons to invest in a land where the people were content with limited education and laxity.
“But if you want to take advantage of the bounty of this country, you have to look at innovative ways, you have to create new businesses and not simply be wed to the old jobs. People have to go into the hinterlands go into the villages and start up major production of the commodities that are needed to feed our population,” he stressed.
“If we are to attract investors, they must be able to come into communities like this with a little vision with people who can count, write, read and spell. In the past they have had difficulties with seeing young men with earrings in their ears and can’t spell cat. We have to deal with these problems. Nobody is going to leave Brooklyn or Queens and set up an internet cafe and people can’t even read stop or danger. You can’t put them to drive a bus because they can’t spell bus,” he added.