When first-time voters head to polling stations tomorrow to choose the new government, which issues will decide where they put their x?
In a word: jobs.
For every one of the 15 first-time voters recently surveyed by Stabroek News, one of the most important issues they wish for the new government to address is opportunities for employment.
Each individual who participated said they were voting, with most saying because they could and others because it is their civic duty. Many of the respondents participated in the survey but asked not to be named.
The “youth vote” has been estimated at over half of the electorate, although in the absence of full results from the 2012 census, which are still to be released, the size is debatable. In a letter published in the April 12 edition of Stabroek News, writer GHK Lall, using the Guyana Elections Commission’s official lists of electors from 2011 and 2015 to estimate the size of the population of youth voters in Guyana, suggested that there are over “80,000 potential first-time youth voters” for the polls. The figure represents a significant population which can have a great impact on the final results of this year’s elections. Perhaps recognising this, the major political forces contesting the elections have gone out of their way in attempting to secure these votes. They have promised jobs, bigger and better schools, scholarships, internships and other training opportunities.
Apart from jobs, the other concerns of those who were surveyed include a sound developmental policy, which includes a comprehensive employment plan, a government which is transparent and responsive, a reduction in crime and increase in security, a better health care system and racial and ethnic equality.
“Many youths of Guyana are qualified and still cannot find jobs and even if they do they are underpaid. I think this is one of the major issues affecting Guyana and it needs to be addressed immediately. I have a brother who recently graduated from UG [University of Guyana] with a Degree in Economics and couldn’t find a job for months. And when he did secure a job, it did not cater for the full use of such a degree. This makes you wonder, when you come with a degree will you get a job? Will you be sufficiently paid? Or will you be forced to migrate in search of better living conditions?” one of the respondents said.
Another prospective first-time voter, Nkofi Hodge, called for an “overhaul of the education system, where policies such as ‘No child left behind’ are abandoned and the ‘Community High’ schools that were changed to Secondary schools undergo another name change to something in the realm of a technical school, where woodworking, masonry and other trades are taught.”
Several called for a reform of the health care system, with public hospitals that have better facilities, staff and other resources. It is shameful, they asserted, that persons who can’t afford private hospitals are treated to deplorable conditions and substandard care. “Guyana can do better in terms of a proper health care system, especially when it comes to maternal health and infant health. More investment and training of heath care professionals is needed. I also think that mental health should be paid more attention to, as it is more often overlooked. There’re only a few psychologists and mental health professionals available. Social issues, like suicide, should be addressed. More counselling in schools should be made available,” another said.
Others also called for better sanitation programmes throughout the country.
Some also identified issues not usually associated with youth. An Agriculture student called for the depoliticisation of GuySuCo. “GuySuCo needs to be run by scientists not politicians,” she stated.
While others called for “a true sense of togetherness, trust, reconciliation and cooperation among all parties.” “All parties have a good ideas,” third year Economics major at the University of Guyana Vaughn Duncan explained, “but their divisiveness means that nothing will actually get done.”
