A group of vibrant professionals, calling itself ‘Friends of Donald Ramotar’, is currently on a push not only to get the PPP/C General Secretary elected President, but also to have him address, while in office, a number of issues that they consider vital for a modern and developed Guyana. The group was formed in April of this year and comprises some 20 professionals ranging in different areas of work and expertise (law, IT, Banking, Journalism, Economics, Engineering, Human Resources) as well as ethnicity. So far, the group has grown to over 75 persons. Their main agenda is to research issues and bring their findings to Ramotar for dialogue on how they may be implemented.
The group said its goal is to enlighten Ramotar on what the general populace perceives as the critical issues on which government should be placing emphasis.
“To this effect, the group has had several meetings with Mr. Ramotar. The meetings were based on a semi-formal arrangement, whereby, the participants would engage in a series of discussion points and topics with the presidential candidate,” the Group said in a statement.
Some of the areas the group has a particular interest in are the attractiveness of remuneration for the Public Service, inclusive government, the expansion of IT projects to boost national development, accountability in procurement, better policing of government contracts, corruption in different service sectors of government, the relevance of courses that the University of Guyana offers, improved health care with a focus on the elderly, security concerns, and credit and financing for small entrepreneurs.
“We should look at developing courses to enable Guyanese to compete for jobs which will be available once hydro power is realized, with the possibility of oil among other new ventures [becoming a reality],” the group said. They are also interested in developing the country through public/ private partnerships.
The group is also examining models of inclusive governance from other jurisdictions.
Its members went out to various communities and took population samples to  gauge  what people felt were the issues that were important to them.
According to the statement, at the end of the meetings, all discussions were summarised and tabled to Ramotar for review, “and hopefully inclusion” in his party’s next five-year plan.
“The feedback received during the meetings was positive and at times very assuring. Mr. Ramotar has been open to the group’s opinions and has on several occasions agreed with recommendations from the members,” the group said.
The group is currently brainstorming new ideas to put forward to Ramotar, along with preparing a formal memorandum of understanding with the presidential candidate, which will see him acting on some of the ideas discussed so far.
It said the next meeting is scheduled to be within a week’s time, and promises to be another fulfilling and enlightening one.
“The main goal of that meeting will be to get Mr. Ramotar to include some, if not most, of the ideas brainstormed so far into the PPP/C’s manifesto for the upcoming general elections,” the group said.