THE contributions made by young professionals to the development of Guyana should be commended and encouraged.So says Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh in response to the recent attacks by the Opposition on a number of professionals in public offices.

“In the face of high global demand for skilled personnel, we in Guyana need to support and encourage those who remain here to contribute to our country’s development and not attack them and render them collateral damage in the contest for political mileage,” Minister Singh said.
He added that the Opposition has been displaying a most distasteful move to discredit the professional competence of a number of technical, non-political persons working in Government with the aim of derailing the projects and tasks on which those persons are engaged.
“The competence and professionalism of persons like Winston Brassington and Mahender Sharma have been under constant attack by the Opposition. This begs the question: Why?” asked the minister.
“These individuals have chosen to remain in Guyana and serve their country, and have been doing so with distinction,” Minister Singh said. “This is highly commendable and should serve as a source of encouragement for others to remain, or return home and to aid in the further development of Guyana.”
The Finance Minister explained that the recent attacks on professionals who work for Government are aimed at intimidating such competent persons and discouraging other qualified personnel from joining the public sector. He explained that “the more qualified personnel we have in government enhances our ability to deliver a better and more prosperous Guyana.”
“Winston Brassington and Mahender Sharma have been serving this country for 19 and 14 years respectively and have shown unprecedented commitment and dedication to the respective offices in which they serve,” he said.“Their qualifications and competence can withstand any degree of scrutiny, they can hold their own amongst their professional peers from anywhere else in the world, and any person of sound and objective judgment would attest to their very formidable technical capability.”
The minister stated that from a technical perspective, persons like Mr  Brassington and Mr Sharma are impressive young Guyanese of whom all Guyanese should be proud.
“Simply put, because these individuals have demonstrated considerable ability to deliver results, the Opposition would like to hound them out of serving Government, plain and simple, and by extension deny the people of Guyana the results of their efforts to serve,” Minister Singh noted.
The minister also pointed out that government has been making a consorted effort to attract qualified personnel to fill key positions within the public sector in an effort to propel the government’s long term developmental goals.
“In addition to opposing this government’s developmental projects, the Opposition has moved to attack the persons working on those projects without as much as offering any input that would make the projects better or improve the image of Guyana,” explained the Minister.
“The Opposition is irresponsible in making such unwarranted attacks without acknowledging the message it sends to those interested and willing to return home to serve and those committed to staying and working in Guyana,” he said.
“Our Government wants Guyana to be a place where Guyanese are proud and comfortable to stay and work, not a place where the Opposition will attack them and make them collateral damage in the political contest.”
The Finance Minister repeated his call for the Opposition to work with Government in building Guyana’s professional core in the interest of a stronger public and private sector in our country.
“We have a responsibility as political and community leaders to build Guyana’s image and reputation as we work together to develop a stronger, cohesive and united country by supporting and developing our human resources,” the Minister concluded.
“We equally have a responsibility to ensure that Guyana is a friendly place to work, not a hostile place where one will come under routine daily attack simply because one works in Government.”