Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy has lashed out against Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton after he said that the government is feeding young people a “diet of lawlessness” through the kinds of musical concerts it sponsors.
Norton made the statement during an address to the PNCR’s youth corps – the Guyana Youth and Student Movement (GYSM) on Saturday. He also repeated it on Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
Yesterday, in a video statement, McCoy said that Norton’s statements are aimed at undermining President Irfaan Ali’s ‘One Guyana’ initiative and should be rejected outright. He said that Norton’s contention that the government is seeking to “destroy the moral fabric” of youth and “turn them into women abusers” is malicious.
During his address, Norton had told the gathering of young people that “…they [government] are feeding our young people a diet of lawlessness. When that is done they are destroying your moral fabric. When that is done, they are creating conditions for the men to be abusive to women. Because a lot of it [the music] is derogatory about women. When that is done, they are removing your critical thinking capabilities.”
He was, at the time, referencing the concerts that were part of the recently concluded Guyana Cricket Carnival which saw regional singers such as Spice, Skellibeng, Beres Hammond, Ravi B, Machel Montano and Patrice Roberts performing at the two super concerts sponsored by the government.
Hitting back, McCoy said that during the APNU+AFC time in office as well as while it was campaigning for the 2020 elections, the same types of music were used that Norton is now condemning. He also pointed out that during that time Norton served as the presidential advisor on youth empowerment.
“During his tenure on youth empowerment there is no trace of any event or initiative of his that demonstrated concern about young people’s well-being then and as youths across Guyana languished in the coalition’s wilderness of inaction. Now even while Norton himself is hypocritically condemning entertainment he could be seen entertained regularly gyrating to the same kinds of music at his favourite ‘Bam Bam’ spot on Orange Walk [Bourda],” McCoy said in his video statement.
He called on all Guyanese to “reject” the calls from Norton and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the government.
“Youths and all Guyanese alike must reject his shameless … rhetoric and position yourself to benefit from the numerous social and economic programmes designed by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic administration to empower you and bring prosperity to your families and communities regardless of your ethnicity and political persuasion.
“Programmes such as the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) providing 1000s of world-class scholarships from certificate to PhD levels; the Board of Industrial Training TVET certification programme [aimed at] up-skilling and empowering hundreds of youths in every administrative region; the dozen of Women’s Entrepreneurial Initiatives introduced across the country by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and the young professionals and low-income turnkey housing drives in all of our regions among many others,” the Minister highlighted.
On Tuesday, Norton said that the APNU+AFC is not against concerts and other forms of entertainment but rejected the PPP’s approach of “anything goes” once it could be labelled as entertainment. He added that they believe that a government is obligated to provide facilities and opportunities for young people to find entertainment, recreation, leisure, and enjoyment.
