‘One Guyana’ is a concept that has entered the national consciousness and has been a clarion call of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) for national unity. But exactly what objectives it seeks to achieve, are among the things a concept paper slated to be released shortly will address.
This is according to President Dr Irfaan Ali, while addressing the religious community in Canada over the weekend during his visit.
During an address in which he urged the diaspora to be careful about the sources of information it uses for news back home, he explained that they are working to release the concept paper by the end of August 2023.
“You’ve heard a lot about the ‘One Guyana’ concept and what we’re trying to achieve. The One Guyana concept is not a social concept. It is not a concept that only concentrates on the unification of the people. Because the unification of the people requires a set of actionable objectives that are based on the life of the country. And the life of the country is rooted in the political, social and economic circumstances of the country,” the President said.
“Hopefully by the end of August, we’ll be releasing the entire document on the ‘One Guyana’ concept. It’s in the final stages. But there are internal and external factors that must be taken into account when examining the concept. There are some factors we don’t have control over. You don’t control all the variables. But you have to plan, keeping in mind those variables.”
According to the President, there are both external and internal factors that must be taken into account when examining and implementing the One Guyana concept. He noted the importance of ensuring that national institutions work… but also noted how difficult this task is.
“You have to build a system that ensures the strength of that internal environment to support the One Guyana concept. Central to this is ensuring we build systems and institutions that address the needs of the people. The strength of a country is the strength and reliability of its institutions. The reliability of the systems that govern the country.”
“If we want to sustainably remove problems, we have to deal with issues in a systemic way. We have to fix the system. We have to ensure the institutions work and work every day, in the interest of the people. And fixing the systems and institutions is no easy task,” President Ali said.
President Ali noted that this is because such transformational initiatives call for a cultural shift. He gave the example of the plethora of employment opportunities now available, as well as the shortage of labour.
“I said recently, there is no excuse for not working. Because everybody needs workers now. But if you’re sitting down at the corner, waiting for a dream job and not making use of the jobs that are in the system, you’re not unemployed. Because you’re not actively seeking employment,” the President also said.
“And we must have a shift of thinking. Growing up parents were guilty of this… allowing their children to think that a dream job was a tie behind a desk in a bank. But you might go there as a teller and earn US$800 a month. And you could go, do a machine operator course and earn US$3000 a month.”
Last month, the President had said that the long-promised One Guyana Commission is underway and will be focusing on ensuring the rights and priorities of all Guyanese are upheld. Speaking at the 75th anniversary of the Enmore Martyrs, the Head of State noted that his intention is to create a framework and a platform through which every stakeholder in Guyana can be a part of the country’s development.
To this end, President Ali had noted that his Government will be aggressively setting up different structures to advance this process, including the One Guyana Commission – which he first announced in 2021.
During his inaugural address to the 12th Parliament in February 2021, Dr Ali revealed the establishment of a “One Guyana Commission” as part of the PPP/C Government’s plans to foster unity among Guyanese and put an end to the division caused by race and politics.
