GTUC blasts govt., urges youths to be the change

Aug 22, 2011 News

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The Guyana Trade Union Congress is urging the youths of Guyana to be the change they are waiting for.
A representative from the congress stated that the GTUC placed its focus directly on the youths because they are the future.
The GTUC representative said that at one of the PPP’s youth gathering, President Bharrat Jagdeo chose to use that platform to present a twisted story of colonial rule and the PNC administration.
According to the GTUC, Jagdeo was unable to subject his stewardship to scrutiny because it would expose the failure of his administration to make Youth Development a priority.
The union charged that Jagdeo thought it best to dishonestly recount history, in the process disrespecting and exposing his mismanagement.
“The president abuses the privilege entrusted in him by the people and betrays their trust, mismanages their resources, engages in recklessness and abusive behaviour to the enrichment of himself and associates, then lies to them; (this) is not something to dismiss or shrug one’s shoulder, the GTUC said in a release.
The union said that although President Jagdeo’s “dishonest and divisive ranting” was intended to take focus off his mismanagement that sees a reality of hardship; they should know the truth and change this reality.
The GTUC alleged that the president was being less than honest when he said there were no roads before the PPP came to office, but it was noted that some roads that Jagdeo met were the Linden/Soesdyke Highway, Rupert Craig Highway, Mandela Road, Essequibo Coast, West Bank Demerara/West Coast Demerara, Georgetown/Rosignal road.
According to the release, President Jagdeo also said that this young generation is better off than the previous one, but the union stated that he failed to mention there is no Youth Policy that would attend to their development in a structured and equitable manner.
It was noted by a member of the committee that Jagdeo was employed at the state planning secretariat playing a leading role in planning the development of this nation, under the PNC administration, in which he would have also benefitted.
“In Guyana many are unemployed and many cannot get employment if they are not associated with the PPP, forcing some to become so associated and by extension denying them their right to freedom of association and protection from discrimination based on such grounds.”
The GTUC also charged that President Jagdeo is wrongly encouraging the youths to adopt an attitude that would hurt their credibility and prevent them from being respected, hired, hold a job and liked.
The statement said that youths had witnessed  hundreds of their colleagues from all spheres of life, all races and places, including promising university student Yohance Douglas whose life was snuffed out; another youth who was shot in cold blood by a member of the phantom squad, Alex Williams; the 14- year old whose genitals were mutilated by elements in the police force; the University of Guyana Best Graduating Student for years actively looking for employment; and many passing the days without being gainfully employed.
According to GTUC, the fact remains that the president can make no genuine claim about youth development when they have repeatedly failed them.
“Having demonstrated their contempt by providing regular doses of entertainment in the hope that it will bring satisfaction, numb disappointment and excuse their failures, it is time to demand better treatment. Having to live in moments of jollification, as the days go by and the need for a loaf of bread arises, causing some to join the line at Freedom House, to be given handouts, which leads to dependency upon him and his cabal, ultimately strips one of their dignity and self respect,” the union said.
It is alleged that 83 percent of university graduates leave this shore, “not because they do not want to stay and develop the land of their birth but because the government continues to fail to put systems in place to create the enabling environment for work and retaining skills necessary for nation building.”
Additionally, the GTUC stated that if this administration cares about the future of the nation’s youth, President Jagdeo “would not repeatedly take bread out of their mouths. His 16 percent VAT and 33.3 percent PAYE drastically reduces the family’s purchasing power. “
“Every time he goes abroad, taking $5000 U.S dollars as out-of-pocket allowance from the taxpayers, he denies 28 persons an income with the minimum wage at $35,000”.
The GTUC added that the president is in no position to speak about youth development when they have implemented policies to deny development.
“He will leave office in a few months, 47-years old and no longer a youth, but never before has this nation witnessed such hardship, such evil and such depraved behaviour from the holder of this office”.
“Today the Guyana Trades Union Congress is calling on our youths to know their rights and demand it; know the truth and embrace it; for the truth will set you free. The truth is the youth of today are in a general sense worse off. The immediate past and present they are living is created by a regime associated with all levels of criminality and decay, robbing them of what’s rightly theirs. “
The union said that no government must ever be allowed to mistreat and deny anyone the opportunity to a bright and prosperous future. “Each one can make a difference, for they are the change they’ve have been waiting for”.

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