The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) held a press conference this morning at Congress Place, Sophia this morning and among the points raised was its satisfaction with the recent ruling of Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire who validated the legality of the ongoing house-to-house registration. The party also indicated that it is happy with the government’s accomplishments.
See full press statement below:
The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) welcomes the decision of the Honourable Chief Justice, Madam Roxanne George-Wiltshire that the house-to-house registration is legal. This decision is in keeping with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling that it is not within the court’s remit to identify a date for elections. It should also be noted that the Honourable Chief Justice reaffirmed the CCJ ruling that election matters fall within the jurisdiction of the President and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). It seems logical therefore that GECOM has the authority to compile a New Register of Registrants (NRR) in keeping with the law. The PPP attempts, therefore, to suggest that the house-to-house registration is useless, is just another ploy. The people of Guyana, therefore, will pay no attention to yet another attempt by the PPP to mislead the people of Guyana.
The house-to-house registration is a legal process which permits the people of Guyana to register. It will ensure that there is a new credible list that will result in credible elections. In this regard, the PNCR wishes to urge all Guyanese to operate within the law by registering. We wish especially, to urge the youth of Guyana to register. It is the youth of Guyana, among others who are benefiting from the decisions of the Granger-led APNU+AFC government.
The PNCR is proud of the APNU+AFC’s Granger led Coalition accomplishments, especially the policies and programmes geared towards the development of Guyana’s youth population.
The drafting of a National Youth Policy, the launch of the Guyana Youth Corps, the training of youth generally, the creation of employment for youth, the training and financing of young people in small business, the ending of extra-judicial killing of the youth, the increase of scholarships for youths, the measures taken to improve the public education system and the measures to reduce illiteracy and innumeracy have all resulted in hope among the youth of Guyana.
A mere four years ago, the youth was hopeless, they lived in fear of the police even if they were law abiding; the school dropout rate was very high, the illiteracy and innumeracy rate was extremely high, there was little or no training available to them.
Under the PPP, Guyana’s youth were forced into enjoying the crumbs that fell from the drug lords’ tables. Serious crime was the order of the day, people committed crimes while the Guyana Police Force lacked the capacity to bring criminals to justice and our youth were living in a country in which the rich and powerful aligned to the criminal state did as they pleased making Guyana a lawless and dangerous place. Our youth existed in a state of hopelessness.
The APNU+AFC Granger led Coalition Government designed policies, programmes and projects that have restored hope. Guyana is now a state in which the development of youth is guided by a youth policy which places focus on the education and training of young people for employment and for business. Thousands of young people have been employed and continue to benefit from the Youth Innovation Project in the form of start-up financing and financial literacy and small business management training. More than one thousand young people have been able to start their own businesses.
The APNU+AFC Government continues to invest heavily in the education sector since, and as President Granger stated, “Young people will succeed only if the performance of the public education system is improved…” We have seen marked improvement of students at the CXC and generally throughout the system. For the many youths who dropped out of school or fail to obtain the required number of subjects to work or pursue higher education, there has been the establishment of free night schools.
The PNCR wants to assure all Guyanese, especially our youth; when the APNU+AFC returns to power, the night schools will be increased across the country to ensure all youths have access to a second chance at obtaining the education they need to enjoy the good life. The APNU+AFC recognises that not all youths are academically inclined and that there is need for other forms of training. It is to this end that the Guyana Youth Corps was launched and as President Granger said, “…. to help those students who fail or who leave the formal education system but are unprepared or underequipped for the world of work”.
Programmes such as the Patient Care Programme provide employment for young people with a sound education background. It also enables these young people to enter the health sector and develop themselves into professional health-care workers. The government has and will continue to develop programmes to give school dropouts a second chance. The PNCR is convinced that this is one way we can develop these youths who had no hope under the PPP.
The APNU+AFC recognises that our youth is a human resource to develop. We are aware that there is need to rectify the youth leadership deficit that existed under the previous government. The government, therefore, trained thousands of young people in leadership, and provided them with the tools they need to work among their peers and place their communities on the course to sustainable development. Many youths are now placed in both appointed and elected positions in our society.
It should be recognized that one of the significant things that the APNU+AFC did for youth is to take action to reduce crime and make Guyana safer. The astute management of the security sector has created a safer society for the youth of Guyana. We are restoring dignity in labour and training the youth so that we shift them away from the PPP induced culture of getting rich quick at all means and ensuring that our youth live law-abiding and productive lives and live in a society that is based on law and order. Our youths are now on the path to genuine development. While we are aware that there are still youth problems to be solved, the youth is assured that they are on the correct path and will vote overwhelmingly for the APNU+AFC to return to government.
