TOUTING cohesion as an imperative for national development, Minister with the portfolio Amna Ally said the Administration will put an end to all discriminatory practices, and embrace equal opportunities for all.Addressing the House yesterday, Ally said the government will adopt a national consensus to development, and all stakeholders, including members of civil society and faith-based organisations will be given the opportunity to participate.

The goal, she said, is to reduce, if not end, ethnic conflicts, and for Guyanese to overcome other social challenges so that they can co-exist in a peaceful and just society.
Ally urged that all give their support for a united Guyana, contending that it will be counter-productive for Guyanese to allow partisan interests to be a hindrance to national progress and development.
She informed the House that the Ministry of Social Protection, apart from hosting national consultations, will also be hosting round-table discussions on the way move forward in building an inclusive Guyana, where all can contribute to the national decision-making process.
But this aside, Ally said the Administration will focus attention on fostering socio-economic development, education and cultural development, building a professional and reliable public sector dedicated to serving the people and enforcing fiscal discipline.
She said greater attention will also be placed on gender equality, fair distribution of resources to the various regions and education, especially in the hinterland regions.
The Administration, she said, will be providing boat transport to help children in these communities get to school.
A bus service will also be provided to students in Berbice to take them to school. Politicians, she said, have a role to play in building national social cohesion, and contended that the country has the capacity to enjoy a good life, but all have to work together for the national good.

NOT ENCOURAGING
People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP) Indranie Chandarpal, who spoke after Minister Ally, congratulated the Government members of the House on their

appointments, but noted that within the first 100 days in office, the public is already beginning to see ominous signs of a dictatorship.
She lamented the arbitrary firing of some 3000 persons, whom she said, the government perceived to be supporters of the PPP/C.
Many of these persons, Chandarpal told the House, have been replaced with persons loyal to the current Government. And from all appearances, it seems as though persons perceived to be supporters of the PPP have no right to a Government job.
This, she told the House, is not a good start to the good life for all the Government wants for the people of Guyana, as it is beginning to show intolerance to differences.
She commended Minister Ally for her vision for a united Guyana, but pointed out that the process of building social cohesion should not be led by a government ministry, but the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), a constitutional body designed for that purpose.
On this score, she said the Opposition would not want the Ministry of Social Cohesion to become a Ministry of National Mobilisation.

WALKOUT
Chandarpal’s address was followed by the presentation of Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence, but as she rose to speak, the Opposition calmly walked out of the House for “a little meeting,” as one member put it.
Nevertheless, Minister Lawrence said the coalition is committed to providing a good life for all Guyanese, and supporting the growth and development of Guyana.
She said the Government will work diligently to ensure every woman, elderly, the disabled and those in need enjoy a safe and secured environment, and every child realise his/her full potential.
The minister informed the House that special training will be implemented in the hinterland regions, as the Government wants to do away with hand-outs and empower the people there to be independent so that they can take their rightful place in society.
She commended the increase in Old Age Pension and Public Assistance in the budget, noting that it will bring some relief to those really in need. The Public Assistance, she said has been of great help to many vulnerable persons, many of whom are teenaged mothers. And on that score, she said the Ministry of Social Protection will be holding irresponsible men accountable for their actions.

GENDER EQUALITY
Lawrence also said the Government is committed to ensuring gender equality at the workplace and has started the process to craft a gender policy for the public sector, which will also serve as a guide for the public sector employers.

Women who get dismissed because they become pregnant on the job, she said, will become a thing of the past. Emphasis, she said will be placed on building strong and healthy families, and to weed out child abuse, sexual abuse and other forms of abuses.
On completion of her presentation, the PPP/C members slipped into the Parliament Chambers in time for the address of its MP Dr Vindhya Persaud.
Dr Persaud said the Government has inherited a Guyana that was far better off than the one the PPP/C inherited from the PNC in 1992, and must work to build on the gains made.
But she said from what the Opposition has seen thus far, the developments are not encouraging. She lamented that man, woman and child are robbed, beaten and murdered practically every day and this is coupled with the Government’s arbitrary dismissal of persons it perceived to be PPP/C supporters.
She called for the establishment of a Social Protection Fund to help the families of lone breadwinners who have been cut down by violent crimes.
Dr Persaud also reminded that the government has fallen short of its promise to double Old Age Pension and is yet to reduce VAT, which it had also promised.
These, she said, have not given the people a good first impression of the government.

By Tajeram Mohabir