Opposition speeches lack content
– Dr Vindya Persaud declares
PEOPLE’S Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP), Dr. Vindya Persaud has registered her disappointment at the presentations made by the Opposition MPs during the continuing debate on the 2012 National Budget, declaring that their speeches lacked content. Making her contribution in the National Assembly on Wednesday evening, she quoted Alliance for Change (AFC) member, Moses Nagamootoo as saying, in 1995: “Let not your words be empty but your hearts be filled with compassion for the people of Guyana and work together to make the debate meaningful that will work for the welfare and prosperity of the people.”
She said the Budget is not a compilation of empty words but a rational review of the development of the country and where it is going.
Persaud also referred to comments made by Opposition Spokesman on Finance, former Minister with the portfolio under the People’s National Congress (PNC), Mr. Carl Greenidge, on accountability and charged that he has a dismal record in that area.
The new MP commended the PPP/C Government for changing that trend, thus ensuring that the country’s finances are subjected to auditing and presented within the statutory limits of the Constitution.
Referring to Greenidge’s 1988 Budget Presentation which said: “One of the most glaring consequences of our prolonged physical crisis has been our inability to maintain social and economic infrastructure,” Dr. Persaud remarked, noting that under the PNC regime, Guyana was dubbed as the poorest country in the hemisphere.
However, today, the PPP/C Government has reversed that trend and moved Guyana forward, Persaud noted, indicating her intention not to harp on the past.
EVERY OPPORTUNITY
She observed that young people are now given every opportunity to give expression to their talent and skill in any field of human endeavour.
Additionally, Government’s information communication technology (ICT) has outstripped that in the Caribbean, as it appreciates the need for youths to be technically equipped and, as such, its One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) initiative provides them with the opportunity of acquiring the necessary skills to face the fast-paced global changes.
Persaud said young people were being trained, by the Opposition, to depend on handouts but the current Administration will be equipping them with skills through programmes like the Youth Entrepreneurial Skills Training (YEST), which would make them independent.
Refuting a claim, by MP John Adams of APNU, that the Government has turned a blind eye to the development of education in Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara), she said the wise investments made have realised decentralised access to quality learning, which now affords students it in their respective communities.
Region Three recently benefitted from two new investments which will serve to tremendously boost the sector, as a secondary school and a technical and vocational training centre were opened at Leonora, West Coast Demerara, Persaud disclosed.
She also mentioned that the allocation of $26.5 billion is not only an investment in youth but a legacy that will not be forgotten.
In rebuttal of Dr. George Norton, of APNU, who discredited the HPV vaccine, Persaud said he has presented the country with half truths and distortions.
She said: “I would hate to tell my daughter and countless other young women, in the future when they reach their 30s that they are suffering from cervical cancer, because this has been stopped. If you look at the authoritative website and literature, you will see the Council for Disease Centre, PAHO and WHO listing the benefits of the HPV vaccine and the one currently being administered in Guyana.”
Persaud informed the House that cervical cancer is the leading cause of death among women in Guyana.
She said she is hoping that, in the future, Dr. Norton is fully equipped with information to present the people of this country with responsible dissemination.