— says Sir George Alleyne, calls on regional universities to reverse trend

DIRECTOR Emeritus of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and former Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Sir George Alleyne, has called on the universities of the Region to make a substantial and significant contribution in diminishing the fear that hinders progress.
“I believe it is possible to address and diminish it [fear] through the collective thinking of informed citizens and that universities of the Region can make a substantial and significant contribution,” Sir Alleyne said as he addressed his distinguished audience.
Sir Alleyne at time was lecturing on the “The Multiversity Universities of the Caribbean” at the Turkeyen Campus during the University of Guyana Vice-Chancellor’s Renaissance Lecture, the fourth of its kind.
The former Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, who also served as the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, said he was stimulated and intrigued by President David Granger’s take on the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) during the recently concluded CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in Grenada. The President had referred to fear and lack of trust as being two critical factors hindering progress of the CSME.

Though he has attended many such meetings, Sir Alleyne said it was the first time he heard such a sharp position on the state of Caribbean integration. He posited that fear and lack of trust have prevented Caribbean countries from putting in place many of the laudable plans they had developed.

Sir Alleyne submitted that if the Region were to make significant progress in keeping with the Treaty of Chaguaramas and the subsequent accord, it must eliminate fear.
“I say citizens because I do not believe this task should be left to our leaders alone; and I do believe that your President’s affirmation is worth exploring in a university context,” he posited

The renowned Barbadian scholar said while fear is good it can be a barrier to development.
“Fear is good… but fear can also be a liability as it prevents us taking steps into the unknown and perhaps sometimes makes us impotent for realisation of good potential,” Sir Alleyne explained.
According to him, the fear in the individual translates into institutional or national fear and leaders often interpret the fear of their constituents and act accordingly.
He argued that it is lack of trust that often increases the fear of making risky decisions, noting that in the case of countries in the regional arrangement, it is the fear of loss and not only the consequence of action that stymies progress.
Sir Alleyne posited that the Caribbean universities must play a leading role in generating the trust needed to move the Region forward.

“It is the universities and other parts of civil society that have that critical and fundamental role in developing and fomenting that regional identity and citizenship,” Sir Alleyne noted.
The Vice Chancellor’s Renaissance lecture series is intended to enhance the image of the University of Guyana. The discussions have a broad focus which links Guyana to the wider world, while bringing the knowledge of the wider world to Guyana.
The lecture was attended by UG Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith; Public; Health Minister, Volda Lawrence; Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings; and PAHO/WHO Country Representative, Dr. William Adu-Krow among others.