By Ravin Singh

DEMANDING the spotlight recently was the issue of dress codes imposed at numerous state agencies across the country – a practice which President David Granger has said is archaic and backward in 2016. The President’s views were expressed on Thursday, during the recording of his weekly television show “The Public Interest,” which was aired on the state-owned National Communication Network (NCN).
When asked what his thoughts on dress codes in Guyana were, the Head-of-State said he is not aware of where it originated, but that it seems to be archaic.
“I don’t know where it came from, but it seems to be quite archaic in some respects. It is my view that some of the requirements in the so-called code, which is certainly not law, they seem to be a bit backward,” he said.
President Granger explained that in the 1970s Guyana started moving towards comfort, which included allowing females to dress comfortably and in accordance with the weather and what they could afford. What was important too, he said, was bearing in mind the need for decency.
However, more than 40 years later, the President said he does not believe that there is need for that sort of restriction.
“It is [an] unnecessary imposition, particularly when people have to travel distances to transact business with the government. It has been taken to ridiculous extremes,” he stated.
Referencing an incident of this nature, President Granger said that he once received complaints from parents in a certain part of the hinterland where children were being told to wear white socks and black shoes.
“I have been to schools in which an entire class was barefooted; they had no shoes. You mean because of a dress code those children will be deprived of an education? They can’t afford shoes,” he said.
Meanwhile, the President said that this is not an area which will engage the government at a legislative level. He reasoned that this is “some minor bureaucrat, probably promulgating rules which are obviously prejudicial.”
As such, the Head-of-State sought to encourage society to be more accommodating and liberal since he is in agreement with serving the public’s interest first.
“If the person is clean and decently clad and doesn’t offend public morality, I think the public services should be extended to those persons. It’s not something that I think about when I wake up in the morning, but if it’s a public nuisance, I think we should have a review of it,” he added.
Just recently, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) was forced to relax its dress code after pressure mounted on state agencies to do same.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the GRA, Rawle Lucas, told the Stabroek News that, “We don’t want the taxpayers to feel as if we are turning our backs on them… and more so if they are coming to pay their revenues.”
According to that newspaper, security personnel at that agency had barred a woman from entering the building because she was wearing a pair of vintage jeans, which had two cuts at the knee caps. Additionally, a senior citizen was told he could not enter with his slippers, although he had explained that there was a medical problem with one of his toes.