‘I feel valued, I feel respected & I am part of something great’ – Jermaine Figueira

Former People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) member and Parliamentarian Jermaine Figueira on Sunday took to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) campaign stage in his hometown, Linden, where he proudly endorsed his new party ahead of the upcoming polls.

“Thank you for the warm welcome, the love and support… I feel valued, I feel respected, and I am part of something great,” he said.

Figueira added: “I am part of a team that is putting this country first. I am for the youths of this community… I am for development, I am for transformation, and above all, I am for the unification of our people. I see Guyana reflected here; I see all of these qualities in Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali.”

Figueira served as a Member of Parliament and Executive Member of the PNC/R. He resigned in June and subsequently threw his support behind President Dr Irfaan Ali for a second term in office.

Coming from the opposition, he told those gathered at Sunday’s rally that the opposition constantly spreads a message of victimisation and marginalisation, but the evidence and facts show otherwise.

“This is not marginalisation, this is transformation. This is not discrimination, this is development,” he emphasised, noting that change is inevitable and Linden is changing along with the rest of Guyana.

The town of Linden has traditionally held majority support for the PNC-led opposition.

However, Figueira said that over the past five years, there has been significant transformation in the region. He pointed to the roads being built, along with the distribution of over 1,000 house lots across the region, the construction of nursery and secondary schools in the township and along the Berbice River, the rebuilding of the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, the promise of a four-lane bridge across the Demerara River, the building of a multi-purpose sports club, and investments in corn and soya cultivation, among other major projects.

“Never before have we seen so many signature projects happening all across our community… Never before in the history of Linden and Region Ten have we seen transformation occur so rapidly and simultaneously,” he noted.

Responding to the opposition, which has said that “people cannot eat roads,” Figueira replied: “The road to development is the building of roads… it is the building of roads that is causing our families to eat, putting money in people’s pockets, and creating empowerment and employment.”

He reminded the crowd that thousands of Guyanese, including Lindeners, are benefiting from this PPP/C government, and therefore the narratives of the other parties must be rejected.

“This election is about competence, vision, and the ability to deliver,” he said, noting that President Ali possesses these qualities to take the country forward.

Taking a jab at former President Brigadier (ret’d) David Granger, whose life-size cardboard cut-out was once used to greet supporters at events, the former PNC member said Dr Ali is a “caring, compassionate and humble man who you can touch and whisper in his ear… a real man, not a cardboard cut-out of a man.”

“They will come with fancy speeches and sugar-coated promises, but check their record,” he added, as he urged residents of Region Ten to vote for the PPP/C on 1st September.