ONCE the national budget for 2021 is presented in Parliament, Guyana would see a great surge forward as government’s plans, programmes, projects and policies kick in with real teeth, as the big vision outlined in the elections manifesto of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPPC) is rolled out. This is Guyana’s first progressive, futuristic, long-term projection budget in six years, following the 2020 Emergency Budget last September after the elections fiasco was resolved, and after five years of harsh budgets from the previous coalition regime.

This 2021 budget plans to pave the way for a multitude of new, innovative, ground-breaking developments, with tonnes of initiatives that align with the new trajectory of a fast-rising oil-and-gas nation on the world scene. One important programme that President Ali mentions a lot in his speeches and in talks with citizens around the country, is a robust engagement with the Guyanese diaspora around the world, both for generating new local investments, and for tapping into the resources and skills of overseas Guyanese; and, in a new initiative, to cause partnerships and business synergies between local enterprises and overseas-based Guyanese.

This is a new way of looking at the possibilities inherent within the far-flung global diaspora, not only as potential re-migrants, but also as fuel for a globally connected corridor that goes beyond remittances and family visits to the homeland.

Scores of overseas-based Guyanese are optimistic about Guyana’s new future, and many want to engage with their homeland, even though they may want to wait before uprooting their families and lives to fully return. Guyanese worldwide remain eagerly connected to their homeland, daily reading the news online, speaking with friends and family through social media and phone, and engaging with the politics with passion and intense motivation to see the nation be the best it could be.

However, most overseas Guyanese express grave concern at the local petty crime situation, and reluctantly put off returning to visit more often because they fear walking the streets of Georgetown, New Amsterdam, and even places such as Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara.

When Finance Minister Ashni Singh presents the budget, he would be outlining a solid security programme to ensure that law enforcement receives the resources necessary to ramp up their fight against street robberies, petty crimes, and to make Georgetown and the markets safer for citizens. As the country’s international profile rises after this budget is presented, with government’s knack for balancing social and economic development well, one would expect a heavy increase in international visits to these lands, especially after the COVID pandemic is over. To prepare for increases in tourism, diaspora visits, business and investment activities in the city and towns, and even Lethem as trade increases with Brazil, one of the crucial results the nation must push for, with immediate goals, is for the streets to be safe, both day and night. Especially in Georgetown, international visitors should be able to enjoy this fine tropical land, its streets and parks and hangout spots like the seawall and shopping areas, with not only activities during the day, but with a hive of night life as well.

One can reasonably expect international interest and global travel to Guyana to significantly increase, given the promises of progress and prosperity that are on the nation’s doorstep, and which this national budget would open up. With the Cheddi Jagan International Airport now boasting upgraded facilities, the rest of the society would do well to prepare to welcome an influx of travellers to Guyana.

International visitors should be able to walk through Stabroek Market and Bourda and other places with no fear of pickpockets, robbers or petty criminals harassing them, day or night. This is a necessary structure to not only welcome and secure international visitors to these shores, but also to make the Guyana brand and the goodwill of the country a successful worldwide sell. People must feel safe on the streets of Guyana, and when they sleep in the houses of their families when overseas-based Guyanese visit.

Street robbers and petty criminals are a small minority of society, pockets of inner city youth and mentally challenged drug addicts and career criminals, yet they incite fear and intimidation in Guyanese of all walks of life on the streets, and their reputations are spread far and wide, through the entire community of diaspora Guyanese.

It is unfair to the rest of the country for these pockets of criminals to dictate how Guyanese and international visitors use the public space of this country. With the budget making way for resources to be channelled to the Guyana Police Force, one would expect that the law-enforcement authorities would make 2021 the year that they make real progress in curbing street crimes and petty robberies, and to drive the fear of the law into the hearts of criminals, rather than the other way around, of criminals driving fear into the hearts of Guyanese who want to use their public spaces with safety and lack of worry.

One notes that street crimes and petty robberies started afflicting Georgetown and New Amsterdam and other places such as Grove and Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara, for example, during the economic collapse that happened under the People’s National Congress (PNC) regime in the 1980s, with some former unemployed military-trained youth turning to crime. In some places, this became a generational criminal enterprise, and these inner-city pickpockets are well known across the country. On top of this, some leaders of these inner-city youth would spew rhetoric such as the poor having the right to take by whatever means, from the perceived rich, as a sort of warped justice.

As Budget 2021 paves the way for Guyana to become a global hub, it would behoove the authorities to implement security intelligence and a comprehensive strategy and plan to completely eradicate street robberies and petty criminality, and to either find these career criminals and rehabilitate them, or prevent them from preying upon the society.