This week we asked the man and woman in the street in Georgetown to give their views on what the political parties should be focusing on during the elections campaign. Their views are as follows:
Sheena Sutton – Student: `I think they should address public servants’ salaries, because they are too low. People are working too hard and not getting what they deserve for all that hard work. They should also look at the road and road lighting situations. The roads are terrible and in a state of disrepair, while the street lights are not everywhere. In the Mahaicony area especially, there are places that are very dark and I think street lights should be placed in these areas. Also, Guyana is too dirty. City Council needs to do something about that.’
Annalee Marks – Student: `They should look at the future of Guyanese youths; provide more institutions for study. They should also provide better job opportunities so that the youth would be able to fulfill their goals in life, because it makes no sense spending money to study and then there are no job opportunities. And I also think they should look at the overall condition of the country, for instance heavy rainfall and drainage situations.’
Kirk Johnson – Private Sector Employee:`They should be addressing education first and foremost. They need to do a revision of the system, especially at the tertiary level; for example, the University of Guyana is
being underfunded. Then, they should do something about economic growth. We also need jobs; there are qualified persons coming out of UG and not being able to find jobs and this is what leads to brain drain.’
Tiffany Hardy – Student: `The state of the education system has been a problem for the longest while. Teachers are travelling to other countries where there are better wages because they are being underpaid here in Guyana. They should therefore raise their salaries and give them incentives to attract them so that they’ll want to remain in the country and work to develop Guyana, through teaching.’
Lewis Sampson – Public Sector Employee: `They should look after the garbage situation. The place might be developing but you can’t see it, because rubbish is everywhere. You can’t see the changes in the country, although there are developments. Also, street lights need to be placed all over Georgetown because it is the main city and the most focused on city, where the majority of persons are and the streets are very dark without streetlights. Only on Christmas Eve do you see a lot of lights and these lights come from the stores that are open late at that time. More emphasis should be placed on Georgetown.’
Olney Goring – Social Worker: `I think they should focus on what they would do for us over the next five years. There’s the issue of education, then there’s cost of living, there needs to be better wages. What they are doing now is attacking each other verbally, instead of focusing on the real issues, like what they can do for us. They need to focus on good governance and how they are going to curb the crime situation.’
Jamaine Klass – Student:`They should be more strict with the law in terms of recruiting police officers that are not just looking to make money through bribery, but who are more committed to maintaining law and
order in the country. Also, UG needs better facilities. They need to provide jobs for UG graduates also; I recall about two years ago when the best graduating student couldn’t find a job, and this should not be.’
Tabitha Patterson – Nurse: `First of all the 8% that we nurses got is not sufficient, so they need to address that. We nurses work day in day out and on holidays to make persons feel better, whether they be sick from natural or man-inflicted causes, and I think we should be getting better wages. I think that wages on the whole should also be tax-free or the taxes should be reduced significantly. They should also look at ways to curb the crime situation in Guyana, which is escalating with each passing day.’
Olivia Chandro – Public Service Employee:`They need to keep their promises which they are making to people at these rallies, that is one aspect. Next, they need to provide a better environment for schools to be built for better education. There also needs to be more departments/space available at the GPH for example MMR and the diagnostic centre. They also need to raise Guyanese citizen’s salaries, look at how they can stop or reduce violence in this country, especially against women. Women need to be shown more respect and loved more, not mistreated, and this is a national issue that needs to be addressed. The police force is doing a good job, but not 100%, so there’s still room for improvement in that department, especially security wise. Also the VAT should
be reduced from 16% to 2%.’
Wayne Noel – Private Sector Employee:`Obviously they should be focusing first on the economic situation in the country. For as long as I have known myself it has been the same way, no rise in the economy, and persons have become accustomed to it. This should not be so. We should be living better. This is very unacceptable, we don’t have a population like that of China, in fact our population is below a million…I believe that it’s the leadership that is causing this. I’m from Linden, and I’ve heard tales about the bauxite industry doing so well but you cannot see it. It’s not serving the community of Linden, and we have so many resources to make use of. Bauxite
is still doing some business but not as good as it should be.’
