MINISTRIES and public agencies are being blamed by the National Task Force Commission (NTFC) for not being able to produce enough data on certain issues.
“If we ask certain agencies how many persons are unemployed, how many are homeless, how many are single parents, they don’t have the information to share,” said Chairman of the Task Force, Major-General (ret’d), Joseph Singh during a press conference at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure on Friday.
Given that the task force is mandated with creating solutions for pertinent issues which affect society, access to information would be a key factor in their work. It is, however, one of the things they reportedly have a problem getting.

Singh questioned whether the Ministry of Public Health would be able to provide information on how many people suffer from certain diseases. Other ministries can also be questioned about their ability to provide information, he said.
It is however mentioned that those institutions are not to be solely blamed if they do not produce data, because there are other organisations that can assist in managing the collection of information. The NTFC chairman identified the University of Guyana (UG) as one of the institutions which have a role to play in assisting with the collection of information. He added that the university must also educate students on the importance of data collection through theory and practical exercises.
The need for training to share information has to be taught at an elementary level because, it was pointed out that Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and other local Government bodies also withhold information.

Persons he said are becoming reactionary, because of the inability of organisations to share information. Singh made reference to the recent flooding in the hinterland. The flooding which was caused by overtopping of the Ireng and Takutu rivers, led to the destruction of farms, cattle and even households.
“Persons did not even know about what was going on all along until it was explained to them,” he lamented, adding that it was a manifestation of the impacts of climatic weather which persons in those areas were unaware of. It is therefore necessary to have a collective approach to dealing with issues which affect the country. Sharing of information will be easier when persons “change their attitudes” and get out of the mindset of “this is my turf,” said the chairman of the NTFC, who added that the only way of doing so is by having integrated planning.