New faces in Parliament: Christopher Jones APNU

This is the fifth in our series on new parliamentarians

A Partnership for National Unit (APNU) parliamentarian Christopher Jones will be pushing for a national youth policy which would seeks to create meaningful activities for young people to become involved and which would not only take care of their recreational needs but also push them in the direction of becoming productive citizens.

“I would love to see before the duration of the tenth parliament the coming to being of a national youth policy for Guyana,” Jones told the Sunday Stabroek in a recent interview.

Christopher Jones with wife Christine following his swearing-in as a new member of Parliament.

Jones noted that in many communities recreational facilities are lacking and a large of number of young people instead “lime on the corner and by virtue of them being idle… ‘the devil finds work for idle hands.‘”

“A national youth policy should have in it bringing to bear facilities that would make young people want to stay off the streets and be meaningfully involved, whether it be sports or other recreational activities,” Jones said.

The Parliament Building is not new to Jones since for years he has been covering every session for the PNCR as the party’s videographer. Jones said when he was asked to represent APNU in Parliament he was elated, and finds it encouraging that the party has named several youths to represent its interest in the National Assembly.

He said the partnership had campaigned on the platform of having young people play a meaningful role in its business and not just having them around as campaign material. Jones said it is not just in parliament the partnership is represented by but also in the Regional Democratic Councils throughout the country.

Jones is also a member of the Youth Coalition for Transformation (YCT), the youth arm of  APNU, which made its name be calling for youths to boycott the recently held Kashief & Shanghai football tournament and events hosted by Hits & Jams.

Asked about this, Jones said that the YCT has been pushing conservative spending and he does not believe the way to go is for events to be promoted for young people just going out and “drinking and wining up having fun.”

“And more so when these young people spend their money, where is the reciprocity from that? What is it that the Hits and Jams, for example, are giving back to society or even contributing back to the very young people who are their supports?” Jones asked.

He said that until Hits and Jams and other organizations realised that they had to give back to society “and we not talking no stupidness like they had the other night like Fandamodium… but giving back to society like, say, identifying ten persons and paying their tuition to the University of Guyana, [or] purchase some computers and donate it to a school.”

He said that after over twenty years of Kashief and Shanghai they cannot show anything in the sporting arena indicating they had made a significant contribution to the development of football. He said after all the years of holding the competition in Linden one would have thought that the least they would have done was rehabilitate the McKenzie ground which is crying out for attention.

And he said that those two organizations were singled out, not because of their political persuasion, but because they were the ones having events when the YCT formed, and other organizations will be targeted.

According to Jones the YCT comprises the youth arms of the various groups that make up APNU, and he said their objective is to give young people a stage to voice their displeasure at the various injustices committed in the country. Their work, he continued, would not be limited to marches in the streets – something for which they have come under criticism – but they also would be compiling dossiers on various issues and making submissions to organizations.

“The picketing exercise will continue, but of course we are taking it to another level in terms of how we intend to make representation,” Jones said.

Jones said the YCT found the criticisms of their marches “weird and troubling,” because on the one hand persons in society have been calling on youths to take a leading role and when they do others are saying “the complete opposite.” He said he does not see the momentum gained after the last elections going and as such persons should not look forward to the youths being off the street any time soon.

Jones has been working in the Public Relations Office of the PNC since he joined the party, prior to which he worked at Courts Furniture Company as the company’s store merchandiser.

He became a member of the PNC’s youth movement in 1999

He said during the 1997 elections campaign he tuned in to the party’s ‘Nation Watch‘ television programme and was impressed with the role that young people played in the party.

“I always felt an urge that I can make a contribution towards the development of young people, and I wanted to be a part of the youth movement,” Jones told the Sunday Stabroek.

It was this urge that saw him approach the party’s Georgetown district office and pick up a membership form, and shortly after that he became a member of the party’s youth arm. After a year of being a member of the youth arm he was elected to its executive body where he remained until three years ago when he took over the role of national chairman.

As the national chairman he works with the national executive body to put together work progarmmes for the various groups in the regions, and importantly they have to maintain a strong membership drive throughout the country.

Jones said when he indicated his interest to join the party there were attempts to dissuade him as many persons told him that politics is not something that he should be involved in.

“But being involved one should recognize that politics plays a role in everyday life, in almost everything that we do. Politics determines how much money you get per month, where you work, if you work, where you love… So for me being involved in it I know the importance of it,” Jones said.

Jones was born and raised in Georgetown and is married with two young sons.