–President Ali says; announces Presidential Commission to address critical societal gaps

BEHIND many of society’s contemporary issues is a culture that is in dire need of changing, according to President, Dr Irfaan Ali.

During the handing over of the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the deadly Mahdia dormitory fire in 2023 on Friday, President Ali made this call and underscored that the government is rolling out a holistic approach to the range of obstacles the nation is facing.

“What is critically needed in our country, is also to have value assessment and we are going to have a cross section of Guyanese coming together under a Presidential Commission to do a value assessment of the investment that we’re making to demonstrate to the population how we’re changing…”

He then went on to say: “We have to be honest with ourselves; we have to change the culture.”

“…Yes, there will be challenges and weaknesses that we must be willing to address as a society that is evolving and developing with more resources available, we have already started the process of building into the future where every aspect of life is taken into consideration in our public facilities and our public institutions,” President Ali remarked.

While explaining how the underpinning of Guyanese culture impacts almost every sphere of society, the President used the Education Ministry and its challenges to show why there must be change.

Because of the behavioral patterns within schools, Dr Ali said that there must be systemic interventions to enforce discipline. With that being said, he remarked that the government must work to deploy these kinds of measures.

Moreover, the manner in which children are moulded must be tackled head-on, in order to bring forth a change in society, according to the President.

While counselling is on the table as a means of solving the emerging issues, Dr Ali said that this is the last resort, meaning, the obstacles that are affecting a well-functioning society must be targeted at its roots.

The change must start at home and even in these children’s place of worship, the President put forth.

“The religious community…must now play a more robust role in moulding our young people…” he said.

The Head of State added, “All of this, we have to address in a holistic way, it is not just what I will call a hard sign of change, which is physical infrastructure, but [it] is how we change the internal system, which includes our own way of thinking and our own way in which we process things, to support this, however, requires and enabling environment.”

Additionally, while speaking on how certain sectors play an integral role in ushering in an evolved society, he commended the Attorney General (AG) Chambers for their hard work as it pertains to crafting legislation.

Using road culture as a typical example, the Head-of-State remarked that the AG Chambers is a major player in the efforts to change the behaviour on the roadways.

Furthermore, he said that just after the budget, more interventions will come onboard.

Speaking on the judicial arm, Dr Ali said efforts are being made to extend the bench and to have all the seats of the Court of Appeal filled as well as adding more magistrates.

He said that there must be a level of quality to support the nation’s legislative arm, however, according to the President, “all of that can be lost if we don’t have the quality of implementation.”
“That is why we’re taking a holistic approach to this, we are not cutting any corners, we are not cutting costs, we are making all the investments that is necessary…”