Come back to do what?

Aug 23, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – The President of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, is reported to have called on Guyanese resident in Trinidad and Tobago, to come back home to support the country’s development. But come back here to do what? How are these Guyanese expected to support Guyana’s development when there is no proper plan for their reintegration?

It has been some while now that the Guyana Government established a Diaspora Affairs Unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. A former executive of an airline was appointed to head the Unit.

A Virtual Diaspora Conference was launched in May 2021. Since then little has been heard about the follow-up action or progress which is being made for the Diaspora Affairs Unit.

Overseas based Guyanese have expressed concern about the alacrity with which things are moving.  Just after the Conference, calls were made for the momentum to be maintained. One person pointed to the accessibility of Government Officials while campaigning for office and expressed the hope that the same will occur after the Virtual Diaspora Conference.

A mere two months after the Virtual Diaspora Conference, one person wrote to the President complaining about the slothfulness and discourtesy in relation to the cancellation of some webinars which were supposed to be held.  Were these webinars held? If not, why not?

The Government announced that a new information sharing platform, as a channel of information between Government and the diaspora, was going to be created. Has this been done and if not why not? A conference was also to be held to target second and third generation Guyanese in the diaspora. Has this been done? If not, why not?

One of the objectives of the Diaspora Affairs Unit was to establish a database which will profile Guyanese in the different parts of the diaspora. Has this database been established as yet? If not, why not?

Another objective was to establish a one-stop-shop for overseas based Guyanese who may wish to engage in investment, trade, philanthropy or make contributions to Guyanese communities. Has this one-stop-shop been established? If not, why not.

Does the Guyana Government have a list of projects for which they are seeking investment from the diaspora? If not, why not?

At the Virtual Diaspora Conference, investors in the diaspora were told that there were plenty of opportunities available. They were also advised to explore joint ventures with local counterparts. But was a portfolio of specific projects identified for investment by the diaspora.

Surely, the disadvantage which is faced by potential investors in the diaspora is that they are not in Guyana and therefore may not be au fait with the specific opportunities available. By now Government should have learnt that when you are inviting persons to invest, you have to have a list of bankable projects in which these investors can sink their investments.

The Guyana Office for Investment (GOINVEST) had identified a list of 55 ways to invest in Guyana. But this list is not specific to diaspora investment and dealt mainly with opportunities in the various sectors rather than specific and feasible projects.

Guyanese based in Trinidad and Tobago are now being wooed to come back. But to what? Just after the Virtual Diaspora Conference, overseas based Guyanese were told pointblank that there are no high paying jobs in the Government to be had.

But some Guyanese are not looking for high paying jobs? Some want to give back to the country and others want to contribute at senior level within the government.

The Government has been giving overseas based Guyanese senior positions in the administration. An official was brought back from overseas and appointed as a Minister. Another person working in Rome was given the top job at the Guyana Mission in New York and job. And a Commissar from the diaspora has been given a healthy contract at one of the country’s overseas consulates.  The Government’s point man in the oil and gas sector returned from the United States. So there are high level, but not necessarily high paying jobs available. But for whom are these jobs reserved?

Guyanese living and working in Trinidad are not going to come back when there are no suitable jobs for them? So why are they being invited? Where are the jobs for them? The Government which promised to create 50,000 new jobs has implicitly acknowledged that there is a problem with unemployment.

It has therefore been forced to create part time and temporary jobs paying US$200 per month for Guyanese.  Which Guyanese based in Trinidad and Tobago is going to come to Guyana to work for US$200 per month?

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

 

 

 

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