Governmental trickery ended May 2015

Jan 05, 2020 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

No matter how often they say it doesn’t make it so. Guyanese people are more open-minded since they learnt that the days of being punished for speaking their mind are over. Done!
The coalition Government has proven that it is a true Government of the people, working for the people wherever they are, whatever their political leanings. We are about building up what the PPP spent 20 years breaking down. Now, because they have little or nothing to accuse the Government of, they resort tossing the very same accusations at this Government that they are still paying for. The only difference is they committed the devious acts.
That party was known all over the world for trickery, dishonesty and bullyism while they were the government. It took many citizens a few years to get used to the fact that this Coalition Government does not work that way. For us, new infrastructure goes where it is needed – Leguan, Canal, Issano, Bartica or Apoteri. Access to the Internet has no borders or space to discriminate. The United Nations said that it is a Human Right and no citizen should be denied access.
Guyana used to sit at the top of the education ladder in the Caribbean before 1994. If you (the electorate) vote the Coalition back into the Government this March, we will put Guyana right back there. Education makes a nation, and with the right kind of assistance for families, all of our children would be able to go to school every day on full bellies without having to walk for 9 miles.
Our Health facilities had also taken a battering, and getting it back to a position of delivering better than acceptable services has taken a wealth of resources, training, restructuring of nursing schools’ curricula, modern hospital administration, new equipment and technologists, new laboratories and changed attitudes to serving the public. There is still a long road to travel.
Recently, a letter writer accused the Coalition government of ‘trickery and gross incompetence’ because he felt that we didn’t meet the 3-year deadline to fully digitise the nation as promised in the 2015 Manifesto.
The Coalition Government did give its commitment to build the framework for a nationwide broadband network, which has begun but is not complete. The digitisation of Guyana remains on a fast track despite the hurdles and delays that are thrown up along the way. It shall remain a work in progress since technology continues to advance every day.
The Government is expanding the fibre optic and LTE networks inland, beyond the coastland where we found it in 2015. We have already installed up-to-date equipment in schools, communities, health centres, libraries, and meeting halls in remote areas. We continue to keep that promise to give every citizen free and easy access to information and education. It allows students to upload text books online; and gives entrepreneurs access to overseas markets.
The writer also accused the government of failing the nation’s youths, among other baseless statements. From our perspective, working with youths is the most rewarding part of all of their interventions all over Guyana. The primary objective is to create a nation of computer literate people capable of functioning in any industry they choose.
One wonders, does this letter writer truly want to accuse the Coalition of disrespect for the people of Guyana? Is his memory so selective that he doesn’t mind distorting the truth? The high degree of crassness that the PPP Government was guilty of when it came to educating the Guyanese workforce was the ultimate disrespect of an entire nation!
People need information and they crave access to it. The PPP’s attempts to prevent their supporters from utilising the Community ICT hubs that the Coalition put in places like the Corentyne and Essequibo Islands did affect those residents. Party minions have hidden keys; they manipulated certain circumstances that led to disconnection of power to the ICT hubs, but those setbacks have been overcome and people are once again enjoying their ICT hubs.
And, the doctors in Orealla and Lethem are very pleased that they can now face-time with doctors in Holland, Canada, at the GPHC or the Linden Hospital Complex to assist with difficult diagnoses. They no longer have to travel to the city with bio-samples. The new hi-tech equipment they have, and their Internet connections have been helping them and their patients.
While Guyana is not yet equipped with strong 4G quality connectivity throughout the country, we are not far behind that goal. Negotiations are going on with investors and stakeholders on a number of issues. This Government has made a commitment to make all of Guyana Internet-ready, and we are succeeding, climbing over a few hurdles, but the goal never changes.
This Coalition has no history of “trickery and gross incompetence”. No, that label belongs to the PPP. This Government has had no time to scheme, wheel and deal with the people’s finances and resources. We have been too busy fixing the unbelievable mess the PPP left in 2015, before we could move ahead with nation building.
Yes, Guyana was indeed branded the most corrupt nation in the Caribbean, but that began in 2006. Today, after only 4 years of good, honest, people-centered management by APNU+AFC, Guyana has literally pulled itself up the Transparency International corruption index (as well as other global ratings). Now the country’s international reputation is heading towards our potential – a paradise with no drugs-funded parallel economy.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)