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Incompetence can’t be masked when the essence of the country’s future is at stake
Dear Editor,
During his address at the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd Biennial Delegates Congress of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) in late June, the Party’s Leader and Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, mentioned that “the PNCR will place youth development high on its agenda and revisit our national youth policy with the aim of adapting it to the present situation.
“We believe that youths are not a problem; they are resources to develop. In this regard, there will be a significant focus on training and educating young people while opening opportunities for them to have employment and be involved in business. We intend, in government, to execute our 50/50 youth programme, in which we will give 50,000 youths $50,000 a month while training them to improve their skills and to make themselves marketable!”
I vividly remembered these utterances from Mr. Norton, because they were coming from someone who a few years earlier was the Presidential Adviser on Youth Empowerment in the David Granger-led administration.
While he held that designation, Mr. Norton told us that “Government sees young people as a human resource to be developed. Too regularly young people are dealt with as if they’re a problem. We do not believe that young people are a problem. We believe they are a human resource to be developed and once they are given the requisite training then they will achieve their objectives”.
And let us not forget about the National Youth Policy 2015, described then as a comprehensive policy document that stated the vision of the Government of Guyana for the youths of the country, and also how this vision will be realised by the Government. Whatever did that achieve?
Editor, I was reminded of Mr. Norton’s promises to the youth of this country, and his inability to make a perceptible impact, when I recently read of his rejection of the proposal for Mr. Clifton Hicken to be confirmed as Commissioner of Police.
It is ironic that the judge in this case (Mr. Norton) who was given full powers to empower young people, does not have anything to proudly hang his hat on. He flubbed his lines at the highest level. Though his rejection of Mr. Hicken has nothing to do with their public stances on youth empowerment, it is apt to note that the Commissioner has been much more visible and effective in that regard, despite it not being his primary role. I’m certain the communities across the country would endorse that assertion.
You’ve been exposed, Mr. Norton. The youth certainly haven’t forgotten that you left them hanging. The bottom line is that incompetence can’t be masked when the essence of the country’s future is at stake.
(Incompetence can’t be masked when the essence of the country’s future is at stake)
Yours faithfully,
Alicia Barrow
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