A delegation from the New York State Legislature departed Guyana this week after a visit where they met with a wide cross-section of stakeholders from the Government, Opposition and Civil Society.
The delegation included Guyana-born Senator Roxanne J. Persaud, Chair of the State’s Social Services Committee, and Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman, Chair of the Committee of Standing Committees.
Senator Persaud spoke with Stabroek News shortly before her departure and explained that the trip was not a fact-finding one.
“This was not a fact-finding mission for us, as is being publicized, that’s not what we were here for; this visit was planned [before] and we finally got to do it this year. We are just here to talk to different people and that is what we have been doing. When we go back we will talk to our fellow partners, our New York [state] legislators. We do not influence policies in other countries, that’s for the federal government. We are just here to meet with anyone we had the time to meet with”, she said.
She rejected views in some quarters that the trip was political.
“We decided that we want to come to Guyana because we have been planning this since 2015 and for various reasons, it did not materialize. And, my colleague said that we must do it this year and so we pushed for it. My colleagues would tell you that we did not tell them they were going to find x from the Government or to find that from the opposition. We met various people and that is what we did. We are not here to appease any side or anything of that nature, we are just here to see what we want to see and talk to people who we want to”, she said.
She added: “I have never had a political affiliation, I left Guyana at 17 years old and I don’t intend to.”
Persaud said that the purpose of the visit was to acquire a clear picture of Guyana. She said that this entailed speaking to the authorities and listening to various views, on all sides.
During the visit, the team met and held discussions with President Irfaan Ali, which according to a release from the Office of the President, focused on the development of the social services sector, energy, education, and infrastructure, labour and healthcare in Guyana. Ali used the opportunity to enlighten the visiting delegation on Guyana’s development plans, which include digitalisation and use of AI technology, food and energy security drive and smart healthcare infrastructure, among others.
The delegation also met separately with Prime Minister Mark Phillips; Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal; Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Sherwyn Greaves; Dr. Frank Anthony, the Minister of Health; Priya Manickchand, Minister of Education; Kwame McCoy, Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister among others. A release from that meeting stated that the delegation gleaned insights into the National Housing Programme and transformative projects.
Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton and the parliamentary opposition also met with the delegation and raised matters such as alleged racism and discrimination under the Ali-led government. Senator Persaud told Stabroek News that they attended several events and interacted with persons considered non-political. The visit lasted from October 25-30, 2023.
There is growing interest in Guyana among US national and state legislators and several visits have materialised and others are planned. (Joseph Allen)
