STANDARDS are important in every society and every effort must be made to maintain and improve them. Where effort is being made by this government to do so, is commendable. Equally, any effort to continue treating standards with contempt must be condemned and eschewed. When we compromise or accept the compromising of standards, we adversely impact our system of governance and quality of life. Over the years, people have contributed in various forms to the erosion of standards, yet at the same time questions are being raised as to why the decline.

A culture has developed whereby the Constitution and laws have come to mean different things to different persons. Persons who ought to know better are still rebelling against an instrument because those responsible for its authorship are despised, yet this remains the only blueprint to guide this nation and inform the relationship of its people.
The Constitution addresses every element of our existence, from conception to demise; sovereignty; environment; natural resources; branches (Executive, Legislature and Judicature) and tiers (national, regional and local) of government and how these ought to function; economic sectors (cooperative, private and public); and fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens. Though this instrument is not a perfect document, the upholding of it will see a halt to the slide in governance, and by extension our quality of life, that has been occurring over the years.

In every sphere of Guyanese life standards have been eroded. There is little or no regard for our fellow man, open contempt for the rule of law, and institutions of government are treated as personal property. This is a crisis within the rank and file and leadership and has to be arrested with urgency as a matter of policy and in a holistic manner.

Among the privileged and those in public office the constitution is often cherry-picked to justify when and how they will deny citizens their rights, abrogate their responsibilities under the law, and disregard structures of government. There are constitutional bodies that have not been established and appointments not made as far back as more than a decade, as in the instance of the Public Service Appellate Tribunal and the Chancellor of the Judiciary. Though this government has inherited the problem it has a responsibility to move with alacrity to correct it, and in this instance, the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission, which was more than a decade overdue, is noted.

In the government’s organisational structure, no Ministry of Social Cohesion has been gazetted, which means that none exists in law. It follows that where no such ministry exists, there can be no Minister of Social Cohesion, yet the nation hears and sees such ascription in the media and on letterheads. What we have in law is a Ministry of the Presidency with departments, one of which is Social Cohesion and a minister assigned responsibility for this department. This makes the title “Minister with responsibility for Social Cohesion.” Treating with matters of such nature as insignificant, is to treat our laws with contempt.
In this rainy season, persons are being adversely affected by floods as their possessions and sources of income are either destroyed or threatened. This situation in large part has to do with poor management of the infrastructural aspect of our environment.

Our sea defence structures, drainage and irrigation system, and desilting of rivers and canals serve important functions. Decisions taken by government to ignore these through poor maintenance and blocking them up without finding alternative channels for drainage have compromised the movement of water from the surface of the land and by extension, our quality of life. At the same time, it ought to be noted the improvement in the management of the recent floods.

Another area that is deserving of urgent attention is showing respect for the name of this country as stipulated in the Constitution, which is the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. Citizens would note the absence of the name “Cooperative” on their passports, which is an official document of international importance, and where this country is so internationally known and recorded. Somebody or group decided that the name is not appropriate or important and took it upon themselves to change it when the passports were being produced.

The dropping of “Cooperative” commenced during the Cheddi Jagan administration in the production of official portraits of the President and ministers. Later, the “Cooperative” was dropped in the production of the passports. The Guyana Constitution expressly stipulates that the country’s name can only be changed through a referendum, where the people have the expressed to will to so do. Under the APNU+AFC administration, official portraits of the President and ministers carry the name the “Cooperative Republic of Guyana.”

The instances cited are mere examples of the many constitutional violations we suffer today. There may be the temptation to treat such matters as semantics or as unimportant, but when such is done, it contributes to and feeds other aspects of disregarding standard and decline in values and by extension of our quality of life. The constitution is the law that lays out the foundational premise on which the society is formed and established to function. Within, are clear guidelines (articles) to regulate our conduct and how we treat with others and our institutions and others treat with us and these, internally and externally. We must therefore not take this foundational tenet for our existence for granted or treat it with contempt.