The Opposition Leader clearly does have a plan

Feb 12, 2015 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
I wish to refer to a letter published in your letter column; ‘The opposition Leader and his ‘no plan’ answer’ KN February 11th 2015.
It is clear that the author of the letter, Mr. Desmond Morian, failed to listen to the entire Press Conference; did not read the official press statement; made some malicious misrepresentations or does not fully comprehend the current education crisis in Guyana.
Achievement of the millennium development goals for primary and secondary education cannot mask the fact that our public schools are producing an increasing number of illiterate and innumerate youths. No amount of obfuscation can change the reports issued by the Ministry of Education that nearly 7,000 children drop out of our primary and secondary schools every year. No amount of propaganda can change the fact that the majority of our university graduates are unable to find employment, remain under-or unemployed or join the throng of thousands who emigrate every year.
For Mr. Morian’s information there is no National Youth Policy that is well documented and approved by the National Assembly. The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport has publicly announced on several occasions over the past decade that the National Youth Policy would be reviewed. The problem is that he has promulgated no such ‘Policy.’ The result has been that there is nothing to guide the present administration’s actions towards young people who continue to face difficult lives in the land of their birth.
Finally the issue of Suicide. In his answer to the question posed by Ms. Haniff, the Leader of the Opposition said, “we do not have a plan of action to deal with the suicide epidemic……..what we intend to do is to find the cause of the problem first, and solve these problems. To the extent that they are social and economic, to the extent that they are located in certain areas; you know Black Bush Polder has perhaps an above average rate for suicides; send in some Social Workers to help solve those problems. If there is economic depression; if there is family problems; if there is alcoholism, we need to find out what the causes are first before we can solve the problem. But we have to tackle the problem, we cannot ignore the problem, because the problem won’t go away.”
The above shows clearly a leader who has a plan on how his administration would deal with the epidemic of suicide. He clearly states that finding the cause would inform the methods that would be used to tackle the problem. Any credible clinician or mental health professional would know that without a diagnosis one cannot develop a plan of care that will result in a favourable prognosis. Suicide is not a pot-hole or a broken water main, it is a serious mental health problem that must be studied holistically by trained clinicians and social workers.
A Partnership for National Unity will continue to work towards ensuring that the young people of this country get the opportunity to enjoy ‘a good life’ in the land of their birth through our Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment. Young people are the trustees of our nation’s future and they deserve to be given the best opportunities to be educated, employed and empowered.
Mark A Archer
Communications Director
Office of the Leader of the Opposition

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