–President Ali emphasises, points to ongoing empowerment of citizens through social, economic policies

HIGHLIGHTING that development is multifaceted, President Dr. Irfaan Ali has said that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government has set bold and ambitious targets to bring social and economic empowerment to Guyanese.

The Head of State was at the time addressing residents of Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) at the sod-turning ceremony for two major projects.

Dr. Ali pointed to the tremendous development taking place in the country, and said it could be easy for one to be attracted to the physical transformation through buildings, roads and other infrastructure.

However, he indicated that the most beautiful and transformative aspect of Guyana’s development over the last four years has been the transformation of people’s lives.

This aspect of the transformation, he said, entails the building of a support system for young people, especially a future that is linked to the economic development and expansion of the country.

“We launched a human transformation project throughout this country; in that human transformation project, we set ourselves some bold and ambitious targets,” the president said.

Some of these targets include aiming to have 100 per cent trained teachers in the education system, and going beyond that to ensure that those that have been trained will also become trained graduates.

He also noted that the wants to ensure there is adequate training for nurses, community health workers, pharmacists and ‘lab’ technicians in every corner of the country.

On a broader level of human development, there was the launch of the GOAL (Guyana Online Academy of Learning) scholarship programme, and the move to make the University of Guyana, as well as all government technical and vocational facilities free of cost to all Guyanese.

Standing amongst a group of mostly young people, President Ali noted, “These are young people from your region; a sample of young people from your region who, three or four years ago would have never thought that right in this region, they would have had the opportunity to become nurses, nursing technicians, and trained teachers in this region.”

He added: “This is social empowerment; this is economic empowerment!”

Against this backdrop, President Ali noted that this is the power of a policy that goes far beyond the delivery of a singular product.

However, he iterated to the young people that they are growing up in an era where they should understand that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic is about creating and giving opportunities that have not existed before to build stronger, viable and sustainable communities.

“But when one speaks about, Oh, can we eat road? Can we eat a building? It shows their understanding of what development is, how narrow-sighted they are. Not only does the physical infrastructure change your mindset and your culture and the way you treat the environment, it adds value to your property…” Dr. Ali said.

The Head of State further related that development is multifaceted, and as such, the government can stand behind the power of faces that can tell the story of what has been achieved.

President Ali added, “The reality of the country we live in today is one that is different. We have to understand the development paradigm; we have to look beyond the superficial nature of those commentators who would see everything wrong, but don’t have a clue as to what it takes to fix it.”