Dear Editor,
Now that we are recounting the ballots and will soon be swearing in a President; let’s discuss our future as a part of our ‘Dream Guyana Campaign’. An area that I have been pondering on a lot is, the crime situation. How can we improve the security situation in the country? Particularly, how can we re-orient those young men who are involved in criminal activities as well as those who are at risk of getting involved in criminal activities?
Guyana will have one of the fastest growing economies as from 2020; how can we enlarge the choices and expand the opportunities for these young men? How can we get them to understand that they can realise their dreams without becoming involved in criminal activities? I am thinking of more practical solutions, apart from skills development and support for entrepreneurship.
About five years ago, some of us started a group called ‘Christians Affected by Crime’ (CABC) where our focus was on providing support for families of perpetrators of offences. In 2019, we started another project, ‘The Extended Family’ and the focus was to create greater awareness towards developing a big extended family, as a support network across the country.
Building on our learning from these initiatives and other youth initiatives across the country, I would like to propose a ‘Youth and Security Programme called ‘Plot of Land for Guns and Knives’. This is just an idea at this stage. The aim is to re-orient our young men who are involved in crime, to put their guns and knives down and become a part of the programme and lead more meaningful lives.
Those who join the programme, could be allocated a plot of land for housing purposes, as well as for farming etc. Additionally, they can have access to G$1M as a grant, to assist with the construction. The money should not be given to them, maybe the government could engage a few construction companies, or this could be a project done in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity.
I am thinking out aloud here; of a practical economic programme that could be attractive enough, as alternatives to marijuana cultivation, drug dealing and other criminal activities. This programme could build on the ‘Citizens’ Security Strengthening Programme’ (CSSP) that is implemented under the Ministry of Public Security and is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Yours faithfully,
Audreyanna Thomas
