By Gerald V. Paul

Clarissa Riehl, Guyana’s recently appointed High Commissioner to Canada, called on Guyanese ” in the Diaspora” to promote their native land ” as a place to do business, to generate industries and to relax.”
She was speaking at Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary Awards Gala on Saturday at the Brighton Convention and Event Centre in Toronto.
Addressing hundreds of Guyanese at the gala, she said that Guyana needs “all of us those who have remained at home and those of us who are in the Diaspora here in Canada, so that our nation will continue to grow and prosper.”
And Guyana’s president David Granger in a brief video message urged Guyanese in the wider Diaspora to visit their country.
Prominent Toronto lawyer Dhaman Kissoon, cardiologist and religious leader Dr. Budhendranauth Doobay and retired Ontario judge Vibert Lampkin were among 16 Guyanese who received awards.
Other recipients of awards were as follows:
Education (Posthumous): Dr. Percy Anderson,
Community Service: Janet Ferouz
Academic Excellence: Vivian S. Rambihar
Arts and Culture: Kwame Damon Mason
Business Excellence: Violet Smith and Ken Singh
Professionalism: Bishop Joseph G. Fisher
Community Service: Guyana Christian Charities (Canada) Inc. and Senior Guyanese Friendship Association
Education: Patricia Moore
Science and Technology: Suresh Narine
Sports: Eon D’ Ornellas
Education (Posthumous ): Dr. Rudy Grant
Business Excellence (Posthumous): Norman Agustus Sue-Kam-Linh and Peter Pitamber
Community Service (Posthumous): Joan De Barros
Individual under 30: Pere Deroy