Women will significantly benefit from a relief plan which includes $100 million a year that promises to focus on ‘women-centric’ projects, there will be an increase in social support to abused women, while $2 million in grant funds will be given to ten non-governmental organizations to support programmes aimed at dealing with the social ills that affect the family.
The Alliance For Change (AFC) yesterday outlined its policies and plans as regards women and children, at its weekly press briefing at its Campbellville headquarters.
Economic Adviser to the AFC, Sasenarine Singh, said that under the proposal, there will be more micro-financing credit opportunities for women using the co-operative model to remedy the imbalance against women in securing credit. He said it is the AFC’s intention to set up online training, specifically targeted at stay-at-home mothers and women to enable them to earn from their home.
Also, scholarships will be established for all and women will be provided with opportunities in non-traditional sectors, such as engineering. For working mothers, ten new day care facilities in the ten respective regions will be established and according to the AFC, a female representative will be present on every state board and statutory body to champion the rights of women in policy making. It was noted that all mothers will benefit from a child benefit allowance of $2,000 per month per child.
Promised too was free transportation to doctors and health clinics for every child whose family is below the poverty line along with free milk, biscuits and lunch. It was also noted that value added tax will be reduced from 16% to 12%.
It was reiterated that the AFC is striving to end starvation wages by providing 20% salary increase to all civil/public servants including sugar workers, security forces, nurses, teachers, etc.
Singh said Guyanese women must realize that the AFC “is the party for them”. He stated that the PPP has systematically destroyed the family structure especially over the past 12 years. “All you see on PPP stage is a lot of jumping, waving and backballing… But we have a programme that is moving in a direction where we want to help our mothers and children.”
He highlighted cases where disabled citizens have been stripped of their social assistance benefits, medical treatment to pensioners is being rejected, children are dropping out of school and government continues to fail mothers by not delivering on goal number 4 on the MDG report which is to reduce child mortality by 2/3 between 2000 and 2015.
AFC Leader Raphael Trotman took the opportunity to comment on the misconceptions being peddled as regards the AFC partnering with APNU. He reiterated that it is constitutionally impossible for any political party to enter into a coalition after the elections.
“It is interesting that on a daily basis we are being lumped together and then they say you are working together but every attempt is made to brand us as thieves, racists, killers, robbers, traitors and every other ill-conceived type of character,” Trotman declared, stressing that nothing of the sort is happening.
AFC presidential candidate Khemraj Ramjattan reiterated the party’s displeasure at the Governor of the Brazilian State of Roraima being present on the PPP platform as he pointed out that his party is of the belief that the PPP is gaining from this.
“We feel that the PPP wants to make an advantage by indicating to the people of Lethem that they should give their votes to the PPP because they are pretty close to the Roraima governor,” he stated.
He noted that although Guyana and Brazil will always share friendly relations, what was seen can be described as an “event that is a violation of certain norms and is somewhat repugnant… especially in a campaign period”.
The presidential candidate then directed his focus to the PPP meeting hosted on Tuesday last in the village of Whim. He said that the behaviour of President Bharrat Jagdeo and PPP presidential candidate Donald Ramotar was a violation of the code of conduct and further described it as scandalous and repugnant.
“This is not the kind of conduct that should be condoned by Gecom, by the electorate and by the political party and even the press association and members of the journalism fraternity,” he said.
