— return and play your part, President Ali urges diaspora in US

GUYANA is being rapidly transformed, said President, Dr Irfaan Ali as he appealed to Guyanese in the diaspora to return home and play their part in the massive development currently underway and will be undertaken in the near future.

The President made the appeal at the One Guyana Interfaith Forum in New York on Sunday.

He added that the government is investing heavily in technology and training to strengthening the country’s human-resource capacity to fix systems and will need their expertise.

As he spoke on the use of technology, President Ali said that this will be used to correct flaws in the political and security systems.

It was then that President Ali told the gathering that the country’s national security architecture is undergoing massive changes. He added that by the end of the first quarter next year, the government is hoping to implement CCTV coverage for the entire coast.

Crime has been an issue, a fact acknowledged by Dr Ali, who also quickly pointed out that steady improvements have been made to address this challenge. These include investments in infrastructure and equipping and training for officers, among other initiatives.

He said too that Guyana’s future is not only about oil and gas.

“I want to make this very clear. Our future is not oil and gas. Our future will be built with revenues from oil and gas. Because we always had the natural assets to make a strong economy,” he said.

The country, he said now has the revenue base to capitalise on that asset to increase value added and diversify the economy.

Meanwhile, President Ali noted that the world is changing rapidly and many things that have become norms will be drastically changed by the year 2030.

“… Unless we’re able to build the systems, institutions and the structure of the economy to function in a world 2030 and beyond, then we’ll just be playing catch up,” he said.

He then said that the government is on the way to building the economy, infrastructure and human resources applicable for 2030 and beyond.
And on that note, he urged the diasporans to return to Guyana with the same vigour that they left it and play their part in the acceleration of development.