THE Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, on Wednesday, hosted a three-hour conversation with the leaders and representatives of faith-based organisations in Guyana. According to a release, the Faith-based organisations from all major religious groups including the Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Rastafarian and Baha’i communities were represented in the conversation This is one of the several consultations being facilitated through the ministry’s governance programme, which aims to build and maintain a healthy rapport with national stakeholders and to resuscitate the National Stakeholders Forum that was established in 2008 by President Jagdeo and which did not function after 2015. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, during the exercise, was ably supported by her colleague Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, who moderated the discussions and participated in the conversation. Teixeira provided updates and offered opportunities for the representatives to express their concerns and views.

In her thorough presentation, she informed the groups of various completed and ongoing government initiatives including the widespread COVID-19 testing and vaccination drives, the provision of COVID relief cash grants to all households and Amerindian communities, housing projects and the increased distribution of low-income house lots in the last year, dedicated attention to revitalising the agricultural and agro-processing industries, the inclusion of Guyanese in the oil and gas sector, transformative projects in the pipeline in infrastructural and electrification projects, the GOAL scholarships and the WINN programmes, the “Because we Care” and school uniform cash grants, and the thrust towards a One Guyana society. Ministers Teixeira and Edghill also expressed gratitude on behalf of the government to those religious organisations which accommodated the Ministry of Health across Guyana to conduct vaccination drives, and, for their assistance rendered during the recent flood.

CRITICAL ROLE

In response to questions about the government’s projection for strengthening the vaccination drives in Guyana, Minister Teixeira explained that all stakeholders play a critical role in sensitising their constituents and eliminating the misinformation which fuels “vaccination hesitancy”. She provided up-to-date information on the numbers of persons infected, vaccinated and the number of deaths. She emphasised that these deaths are preventable and noted that after 16 months, the world and Guyana are now caught up with the pandemic of the “unvaccinated”. She encouraged the leaders to reach out to their constituencies and encourage them to get vaccinated as “any vaccine is better than no vaccine” in order for citizens to return to greater level of normalcy.

SELECT COMMITTEE LEVEL

Minister Teixeira also addressed issues raised about the “Ganja Bill” and explained the process for consultations at the Select Committee level, as well as issues related to the reopening of schools, gender-based violence and gender equality, the status of the Ethnic Relations Commission, suicide prevention and inclusion in the media, and the implementation of the One Guyana Commission. “In addressing the concerns, Minister Teixeira highlighted the fact that we are recognised at the international level, although we are a very diverse nation both from an ethnic and religious perspective, as a religiously tolerant nation. We must build on this tolerance for an inclusive and participatory democracy and view country’s rich cultural, ethnic and religious diversity as not divisive but a unique opportunity for a harmonious and cohesive nation,” the release said.

The faith-based organisations expressed their collective gratitude for the opportunity to hold this conversation with the two senior government ministers, for the information they shared and for facilitating the discussion on their views. The participants explained that this type of consultation is reassuring of the government’s commitment to considering the inputs of all national stakeholders in decision-making processes. Minister Teixeira noted that this is just one of many consultations that her ministry will be facilitating, and that once Guyana’s population reaches greater “herd immunity”, more in-person discussions will be facilitated to promote robust, inclusive governance for all Guyanese. “Moving forward, continuous discussions will be facilitated, with another consultation with faith-based organisations projected for October, 2021. The participants were encouraged to continue building networks and were invited to continuously interact with the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance. The facilitation of such consultations provides an opportunity for stakeholders to share perspectives, concerns and ideas for development, consistent with the President’s goal of creating a strengthened and unified ‘One Guyana’,” the release said.