UNDER new management, the University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS) wants to help usher in improvements to the University of Guyana (UG) in the 2019/2020 year in the areas of security, infrastructure and sports.

Only one day into the new position as UGSS President, Jafar Gibbons and others on the team have arranged a new East Coast of Demerara transport for UG students; lobbied for the improvement of wi-fi on campus and are now hot on the trail towards more improvements.

On the Guyana Chronicle’s Vantage Point on Monday, Gibbons noted that next on the agenda are the security issues which have plagued the Turkeyen Campus and its outskirts for years whereby persons have been attacked and even robbed. The university has sought to remedy the issues by enforcing stricter rules on entry and exit of staff, students and visitors and by requesting students and staff to adhere to the rule of wearing their ID badges while on the campus.

However, Gibbons will take things one step further as he is in the process of contacting the Commissioner of Police for the outlining of timeline by which law enforcement can patrol the campus for greater security.

“What we want to do with the Guyana Police Force is ask them about providing patrol services for the campus on the outskirts from about 08:00hrs to about 22:00hrs. The patrol doesn’t have to be all day, it could be periodically and they’re welcomed to drive in one and two times on the campus just to show their presence,” he explained.

Added to this, Gibbons hopes that within the next year the UGSS’s plan to “light up” the campus will bear fruit and deter criminals in the process. “I will be meeting with someone tomorrow who wants to light up the campus so they’re going to put more lights on campus. That alone is improving your security so persons cannot choose which spots, in the campus, to attack you,” he said.

He noted that the need for the lighting project was brought to his attention by UGSS’s Senior Vice President, Patrick Benjamin- Huntley who will oversee the project.

Meanwhile, to remedy hot classrooms, Gibbons is working on a proposal for the purchasing of industrial fans. With regards to sports, the UGSS hopes to lively up the campus with baskeball and football tournaments and cricket competitions with the Turkeyen and Tain campuses competing against each other. Gibbons explained: “Some students, they can’t wait to get off the campus so all of these changes will make you feel so nice. The internet is there, you have better classrooms, you have more sporting activities…with everybody feeling involved it’s going to be a lovely feeling and I think students are going to become more involved and that’s the undertone of my campaign.”