Soldiers to get affordable housing access - Ali tells officer’s conference
- says `Guyana would be no pawn or puppet of any foreign power’
While laying out his administration’s new defence thrust, President Irfaan Ali yesterday emphasised the importance of taking care of the wellbeing of each soldier and announced that in addition to scholarships, affordable housing would be made available and 150 pre-qualified soldiers would be benefitting soon.
“I am pleased to say to you that we have already communicated to the Chief of Staff to have the first 150 officers and ranks pre-qualified with the banks [for] not only house lots but housing facilities,” President Ali said in his maiden address to the force’s annual officer’s conference, where he highlighted the need for the operations of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to become more community-based.
It was the only part of his speech that elicited a round of applause from the officers present at the National Cultural Centre, where the two-day conference was
opened under the theme ‘Enhancing National Security and Development through Capacity Building, Empowering and Strengthening Community Policies’.
“A grateful nation takes care of those who are prepared to lay down their lives to protect our motherland. No soldier must live in want and destitution,” the Head of State said.
The well-being focus is one of the four pillars of the Ali administration’s new defence policy approach that focuses on the individual, the institution, fortification of national security through the pursuit of a foreign policy which focuses on respect for international law and the protection of the country’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty, and national integration.
“We desire a highly motivated cadre of officers and sub-ordinate ranks. Whenever ranks have to worry about their well-being and that of their families, it subtracts from the dedication to the job,” he said.
As a result the new policy will be aimed at improving the wellbeing of members of the force and that of their family members and Ali noted that he has already committed to providing more scholarships and training opportunities for ranks, thereby equipping them with skills which they can use after their service.
As part of the administration’s focus on the individual, he mentioned a special housing programme for soldiers that would be administered from Camp Ayangana even as soldiers and their families would benefit from improved health services.
Addressing the institution, he said the force would be strengthened to better execute its mandate. This would include continued recapitalisation that would see the acquisition of equipment and marine vessels which would allow it to improve surveillance of the country’s territory.
“And a stronger force does not mean a larger force but rather a smarter force with emphasis on increased use of technology and intelligence so that they would know what is occurring on the borders and territorial sea and exclusive economic zone,” he said.
“We would be enhancing the capabilities of the force to respond to threats to our territory and to our people, including responses to emergencies and natural disasters,” he added.
‘No pawn’
The third pillar of the policy is the fortification of national security through the pursuit of a foreign policy which focuses on respect for international law and the protection of the country’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty. He again alluded to his earlier statements that diplomacy
would always be Guyana’s first reaction to any international threat as it seeks a peaceful resolution. He said Guyana would forge cooperation with militaries from friendly states in enhancing the capacity of its armed forces.
“Guyana would be no pawn or puppet of any foreign power. No foreign power would establish a presence that we Guyana and the Guyana Defence Force did not request,” the president stressed, while adding that the country will exercise its sovereign right to choose its friends and to “enter into agreements which would enhance the defence force’s capability and our people’s development”.
Only recently Guyana was forced to scrap a surprise move to allow Taiwan to set up an office here. The announcement of the agreement was made by the United States government via a tweet but hours later the deal was scrapped. The move was a surprise as Guyana has historically upheld the One China policy, which precludes relations with Taiwan.
Addressing national integration, Ali said it will involve a more pronounced identification with communities as the force’s mandate is to serve the people.
“The Guyana Defence Force would effectively execute its mandate as a national force only to the extent that it enjoys such support and confidence,” he said.
“Guyana’s new national defence policy is also predicated on a commitment to fraternal and peaceful relations with other states. We are keen on promoting good neighbourly relations. Guyana has no expansionist ambition, we covet no one’s territory or resources. Our defence policy would be guided by a desire for peace in pursuit of protecting our national patrimony… ,” the Head of State said.
However, he said while the country is a peaceful state, no
one should underestimate its resolve to protect its territory and safeguard its national sovereignty.
“Let not our peaceful intent be mistaken for weakness…,” he warned.
Only recently the country has had to deal with the Venezuelan military detaining Guyaneseowned fishing vessels and their crew members who had been operating in Guyana’s waters. The men and the boat remained in custody for days before being released following mounting pressure on the Nicolás Maduro administration. The Head of State said Guyana remains grateful for the international support during the process.
Worrisome
Meanwhile, acting Chief of Staff Brigadier Godfrey Bess, himself in his maiden address to the conference, said that as the force works towards the general reorganisation and retooling it must be cognisant that the possibility of internal threats continues to exist while external threats have taken on “what could be described as worrisome proportions” as he referred to the recent detention of the fisher folk by the Venezuelan military.
He announced for 2021 there would be an increase in the number of patrols and surveillance so that they can “dominate more of our land, air and sea spaces, in particular our Exclusive Economic
Zone, the rugged terrain of our hinterlands and our porous borders”.
He said the force stands steadfast in its commitment to policies and programmes at all levels and will not be distracted from its tasks and commitment on the internal or external fronts.
“We also have significant challenges with new and emerging and transnational threats as we combat booming narco-trafficking and associated activities, trafficking in persons (TIP), continuous illegal crossings at our borders, migration crises, and we have also seen the discovery of illegal airstrips in our territory,” Brigadier Bess said.
Now that he has received his first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Director of Medical and Professional Services, Dr Fawcett Jeffrey, says that he feels at ease knowing that when he goes to work from now on that he would have some measure of protection and the consequences would not be deadly if he gets exposed to the virus.
Dozens of frontline healthcare workers attached to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) and the Infectious Diseases Hospital received their first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine that was donated to Guyana by the Government of Barbados on Wednesday.
Jeffrey was the second person to receive his first dose of the vaccine at the Infectious Diseases Hospital yesterday. Following his inoculation, Jeffrey commented that he knows that this is a step into the unknown and for this reason many persons are skeptical about COVID-19 vaccines, but for him, as a medical professional, he knows that that vaccines are just an attenuated form of a disease and this allows the body to learn about the virus after which it will mount a response.
“So I would say to anyone, taking a vaccine is usually not a negative thing but most times it is positive. There are side effects and there are reactions that you can get but the reaction that you usually get is the same when taking any other vaccine,” he explained.
Further, he said there might be questions whether the vaccines will work on variants but he knows that this particular vaccine gives reasonably good coverage from the variants according to studies that have been done.
He noted that as a healthcare professional he has to be attending to patients on a daily basis
and be among other staff members who might have been exposed to patients who are infected with the virus. “So trying to get some measure of protection is always a good thing and that is the reason I am taking the vaccine,” he said.
Additionally, he said that now that he has received his first dose he is at ease knowing the when he goes to work he will have some measure of protection and even if he gets exposed to the virus he knows that the consequences will not be as severe. He noted that he is getting to an age where he would be considered among the high risk group and this means that hospitalisation as a result of being infected by the virus is more likely.
He acknowledged the importance of healthcare workers receiving the vaccine pointing out that this will allow them to continue their work unhindered with little fear of getting infected.
Jeffrey stated that people are always afraid of the unknown, recalling that when the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed persons were very scared because they didn’t know what it was about and it was difficult to get staff to attend to patients for this reason.
Almost a year on, he said, everything has completely changed because now everybody has a better understanding of the virus and they take all precautionary measures because these have proven to be effective against infection.
He added that skepticism regarding the vaccine is there but once persons are educated and see that the most senior healthcare workers are taking the vaccine they just might change their minds and get vaccinated.
“We are working with people and colleagues so that they can understand that this is the only way we are going to win the pandemic,” he stated.
Jeffrey noted that the vaccination was not painful and it was like receiving any other vaccine. .
The lockdown of the Caribbean Examinations Council’s headquarters in St Michael, Barbados, due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the delay in announcing the top performers at its CAPE and CSEC examinations.
This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, during a virtual press conference on Wednesday. She said that the delay of the official release of the names of the top performing students is due to CXC being restricted from continuing its review process because Barbados is in a lockdown caused by the pandemic.
Manickchand said any announcement by the Ministry at this time of the top performing students would be premature. She added that it would be clumsy to do so when there is a possibility that those students’ grades which are yet to be reviewed can change the overall outcome.
The Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) exams were written in July/August 2020 but upon the preliminary results being released in September, there was a region-wide outcry about a number of discrepancies. The education ministry in Guyana immediately informed the Council of its displeasure with the grades issued which lowered the country’s Grade Point Average. The examination body agreed to review the grades, hence the country is now awaiting the results of the completed review.
According to Manickchand, a total of 12,009 students from Guyana registered to write the CSEC exams with a total of 70,710 entries in various subject areas. CXC has since revealed that the review process now stands at 90 per cent completed. The report sent to the ministry by CXC on the preliminary results, states that 1,258 subject reviews were submitted to CXC for CSEC by 500 candidates of which 128 are still being processed. Grade One changes were awarded to 456 grade reviews while 674 grades remained the same. A check of the pending reviews showed a number of candidates could receive review changes that may likely affect the list of candidates with the highest number of Grade Ones, the report states. In addition, the minister informed that 33 reviewed results are currently outstanding for CAPE.
The education minister also pointed out that many students would need the certificates from CXC to move on to tertiary education both at the local and international level.