– as Youth Parliament 2018 meets again Thursday

MATTERS of climate change, the Narcotics Act, oil and gas and more are set to take the forefront of a fiery debate when the University of Guyana (UG) students participating in Youth Parliament 2018 go head-to-head on Thursday.

Out of the 72 youths in this year’s batch of parliamentarians, 35 represent the university, and have been savouring since last Friday, what it’s like to be the country’s top lawmakers.

On Monday, the Guyana Chronicle caught up with several of these young people to discuss their progress in preparation for the upcoming debates, and each one had about them an air of confidence and competence.

One of the hot topics many are looking forward to is the Motion to make amendments to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, being put forward by the Opposition.

One of four who will debate the matter from the government’s end is International Relations student and Minister of Social Protection Yonnick David, who said that the debate, though challenging, will serve as a learning experience.

“I think it’s a bit of a task to oppose such a Motion put forward by the Opposition only because it would be good to see less people spending three years in jail for a ‘joint’,” Minister David said, adding:“However, because of the challenge of this task, I think it gives us a very good opportunity to get down to the nitty-gritty of whether or not the judicial system and the jail system are working as far as drug possession, drug use and trafficking goes.”

Meanwhile, among those debating on behalf of the opposition is Business Management student Kunal Briglall, acting as shadow Minister of Public Security.

VERY TOUCHY
“This narcotics bill has been a very touchy topic in the history of Guyana because there are a lot of people that are ‘pro’, and a lot of people that are very much against it,” he said, “but we also have to look at a way of moving the country forward by not only making it completely legal or decriminalised, but instead controlling who and where it’s coming from, and where the monies that are gained from its sale and production goes to.”
Other motions to be argued by the UG team include: Augmenting efforts to combat climate change; the local oil refinery and the establishment of a media monitoring unit.

The debate on whether Guyana should establish a standard US$5B 100 barrel per day oil refinery has been in the public spotlight for some time, with discussions on the feasibility of such an investment.

Ready to tackle this issue along with two of her colleagues is Environmental Studies student and Minister of Finance, Lashanda McLeod, who told the Guyana Chronicle:
“What I’m hoping to do is to show Guyana and the rest of ministers on the opposing side that financially, it’s not feasible to actually venture into such investments because there is so much we can do with the money instead of investing it on the oil refinery.
“As the Minister of Finance, I hope to show statistics to back all of my points.”

Later telling of her experience, Lashanda said:
“Because the Minister of Finance has to do a lot of research, I found a lot of things I never knew. This pushed me to do that kind of research, and to look at law-making in Guyana in a different way. I think every youth in Guyana should have exposure to that.”
Meanwhile, fellow Member of Parliament, Public Management student and acting Minister of Natural Resources, Marissa Rhius added her voice to the lot.

INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS

“In the best interest of my people and our international obligations,” she said, “I wish to focus on our protected areas here in Guyana and the agreement that we presently have with the Government of Norway with regards to the Green State Development Strategy.”
But despite their confidence, acting Leader of the Opposition Riaz Rupnarain, an International Relations student says that although they are on the opposing side of the House, his team mates are positive they have what it takes to stand out.

“We don’t feel less; we feel more because as the Government, you actually have to stick within a policy, within practice, within legislation,” he said. “But, as the Opposition, we can challenge everything. We can expose all the nitty-gritties and ask them to show every single fact because when we are speaking there, we are speaking for the entire Guyanese population.

“I am 100 per cent confident. The two motions that are being moved by the Government, we have a good team that is going to be taking it on and showing them that we’re not actually opposing what they’re proposing to us, but we’re telling them that there are some amendments that needs to be made.”

However, Youth Prime Minister Reon Miller was not to be excluded, as he, too, expressed readiness on behalf of his teammates for the upcoming deliberations.

“Youth Parliament has been a very eye-opening experience for me. It is way more than I expected it to be, but in a good way,” he said, adding:
“They are very progressive motions; well-crafted, and they’ve been done in such a way that it requires you to do a lot of research. And the arguments can go either way. Our team is a very dynamic group; we have persons from the university, from all the faculties, so we’re managing very well.

“We’ve basically substantially finished most of our arguments; we’re just finalising and putting it together. So, we’re ready; we’re coming and we’re coming really hard.”

Youth Parliament was first held in Guyana in 2000 and continued up until 2013, after which it was resuscitated by the government in 2015, with the aim of giving youth direct exposure to the law-making process.