AFC demands comprehensive reform of security sector

In light of assault of police constable

 

The Alliance For Change condemns all forms of violence and especially violence against members of our security forces. Security service personnel risk their lives to make Guyana safe and they deserve the full support of all Guyanese and their communities.

The attack on Constable Kevin George of the Guyana Police Force while be was in the process of carrying out his duties is totally unacceptable and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

This attack on a police rank speaks to an ever increasing ‘wild-west’ type scenario that is fast developing in the interior regions of Guyana and which the Guyana Police Force is ill equipped to address due to the government’s negligence to comprehensively address national security.

All Guyanese are aware that crime in the interior is on the increase and yet the government would want us to believe that they have the situation under control. How can the situation be under control when ranks of the primary law enforcement agency are being attacked and only by pretending to be dead are they able to save their own lives? If police ranks in the interior come under this type of assault, it boggles the mind to think what ordinary citizens will have to endure.

The AFC understands that the young police rank had to pretend to be dead after overhearing his attackers planning his death. This was the only way to save his life. He was left on his own to make his way to Georgetown with only the pilot in the aircraft.

As if that was not enough, the young policeman waited for about two hours at the Georgetown Public Hospital for an X-Ray only to be told that the machine was not working.

The Alliance For Change is calling for a full investigation into this crime and urges the Government of Guyana to not let up and have this become another cold case and that adequate resources and man power be deployed to the interior regions to deal with the upsurge of criminal activities and lawlessness.

More than that, the AFC demands that the government review its position on national security with the intention of seeking international assistance to address comprehensive reform of the security sector. [END] (read by Hon. Trevor Williams MP)

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Government nursing programme is a health crisis in the making

It has been brought to the attention of the Alliance For Change that the quality of training at the Georgetown School of Nursing is being compromised. The AFC was informed that by accepting more students into the nursing school that can be comfortably accommodated, the Ministry of Health is actually forcing lecturers into a position where they cannot provide adequate supervision of the students.

It is clear that the government is only interested in showing large numbers but in doing so they are sacrificing basic quality for quantity.

This situation does not bode well for the future of health care in Guyana as in a few years, these students will become Registered Nurses but they will lack the competence to provide quality health care. Such a situation will result in many patients in the future not being properly looked after and possibly resulting in deaths.

This is a very grave situation and the AFC is calling for the immediate review of how the nursing programme is being run.

Among the issues the AFC want to see addressed are:

• Conditions of the sanitary facilities
• Conditions of the classrooms including seating, ventilation and teaching supplies
• Availability of competent and qualified lectures
• Ratio of lecturers to students to ensure it complies with international standards
• The availability of adequate clinical instructors and adequate time allotted for clinical training of students.
• Availability of internet access for student nurses

Continuing to run the nursing programme the way it is being run right now is equivalent to a national health crisis in the making. The people of Guyana will be the ones to suffer from this. [END]  (read by Hon. Khemraj Ramjattan MP)

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AFC repeats call for national caucus ahead of International Children’s Day

Guyana will join the rest of the world in observing International Children’s Day on June 1. On this occasion the Alliance For Change is calling for an end to all forms of abuse, discrimination and victimisation perpetrated against our children, and for the implementation of systems that actually provide our children with opportunities to grow and develop in safe neighbourhoods.

The AFC believes that for far too long we have allowed our children to become victims of torture, of paedophiles and of persons who prey on children in difficult circumstances.

Despite all the legislation we have passed and there have been quite a few, too many of our children still suffer from violent verbal and physical abuses both in and out of their homes. Many of them are forced into child labour due to poverty and worse still many are forced, coerced or tricked in to the child sex trade. This is a disgusting state of affairs and must be arrested.

How often have we heard, “our children are our future.” For these words to have any real meaning we must do more than shout the platitudes. The responsibility for ensuring every child is protected and allowed to enjoy the freedom of childhood falls on the shoulders of all adults. But, in many instances, instead of protecting our children, adults are the one who abuse, discriminate and victimise our children. In most instances when we hear of a child being abused, we find out that the abuser is an adult and more then that it is an adult who was in a position of trust.

Last week the Alliance For Change called for a national caucus to address teen violence. On Monday, two high school students in the West Demerara area were chopped about their body by an assailant who waited outside their school.

Legislation alone cannot protect our children. It is time for all rational adults to get involved so that our children can be safe.

Collective approaches must be found to tackle the problems affecting our children. This is not a problem for only the government, the opposition or any single political party or group. The problems affecting our children are national problems and demand a comprehensive national approach where all of society, our politicians, religious leaders, the business community, women and youth groups, educators and all of civil society will be engaged. The AFC repeats its call for a national caucus on children and teens.