The youth arm of the APNU+AFC coalition has vowed that it will hold its superiors accountable for the promises made during this campaign season regardless of whether the coalition wins or loses the upcoming elections.
“I will be holding them to the standards that they have set… and the promises that they would have made,” youth candidate Tabitha Sarabo-Halley said during a press conference yesterday to address youth issues. She said an APNU+AFC-led government will focus heavily on youth empowerment.
“While it is that we look up to our leaders and we follow their guidance… at the same time we have a role to play to ensure that they respond accurately and we hold them accountable to whatever they say during elections campaign,” she said.
Malika Ramsey, also a coalition candidate, added that they have demanded that youths be involved at every level of government. “It makes no sense for us to go out there and say that youth are the future and we sit and we have the older folks just telling us what they are going to do for us,” Ramsey said. She stressed that youths have to be involved in the decision making process also.
Meanwhile asked about voter turnout, Sarabo-Halley acknowledged that a lot of groundwork still needs to be done to ensure that youths go to the polls on May 11. “Once we continue to work as hard as we have been… we can have a good turnout where young people are concerned because a lot of young people have lived under this current administration and they understand the effects of not voting and they want to indicate that they are not pleased with what has been happening,” she added.
Another candidate, Mark Ross, of Berbice, spoke at length about reports of young people being offered money for their national identification cards. He said that so far there have been no confirmations.
Ramsey later spoke of such a case which occurred in an East Coast Demerara village.
She said that there were reports that a man was going around to persons offering $40,000 for identification cards but subsequent checks revealed that there was no “proof” though a name was given.
The trio called on youths to resist these attempts, while noting that efforts will be made on the ground to confirm the reports being received. They also said that a lot of emphasis is being placed on voter education.
Sarabo-Halley said that an APNU+AFC-led government would have a plan of action targeting youth empowerment on all fronts.
Reading from a prepared statement, she said the plan will ensure that every primary school child starts the school day with a healthy breakfast at school; ensure that no child is prevented from attending school because of parental poverty; ensure that every primary school child is transported to school by boat or bus and reward every family that keeps its children in school.
She said too that the recapitalization of the University of Guyana and the establishment of technical and vocational Schools in every region of Guyana were also part of the plan.
Sarabo-Halley stated that the single biggest problem at the national level is the “broken education system, which produces an increasing number of illiterate and innumerate youths.” She made mention of reports from the Ministry of Education that nearly 7,000 children drop out of primary and secondary school annually before stressing that such a situation will lead to difficulties in securing jobs.
She said that the majority of young university graduates are unable to find employment and are “forced to remain under or unemployed or to join the throng of thousands who emigrate every year.
“An APNU+AFC led government of national unity will usher in unprecedented education opportunities for our youth. Among these will be recapitalisation of the Cyril Potter College of Education, training and better pay for teachers, opportunities for young students to be educated as engineers, geologists, biologists, botanists, zoologists and agriculturists and improvements in the information technology and distance learning sectors.
“It is for this reason that the coalition and especially our presidential candidate Brigadier David Granger has placed such emphasis on youth and education,” she added.
It was pointed out that young people want long lasting careers, regional branches of agricultural credit and development banks and a sound and serious education to prepare them for a productive life.
She said the coalition is committed to providing young people with opportunities to participate at the highest level of national life.
