Ally promises improved services from the Ministry of Social Protection

GUYANA, GINA, Friday, February 3, 2017

Less than a month after taking up the portfolio of Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally is promising that citizens can expect improved services from her Ministry. Speaking with the Government Information Agency (GINA), Minister Ally said that since taking up her new role, she has been visiting the various institutions under her Ministry.

“I have settled in quite nicely. I’m still trying to grapple with all the various sections of the Ministry because you know the Ministry is wide and deals with the elderly, children, domestic violence and so on. So for the period I’ve been here I’ve been trying to get what I would call a ‘hands on approach’ on all these sectors so I’ve been having a lot of programmes, looking at the budget, visiting various locations, (and) departments,” Ally explained.

The locations include the Cornhill Street Office of the Ministry of Social Protection, the Child Protection Agency, Night Shelter, Sophia Drop in Centre and the Palms. The Minister noted that she will soon visit the other agencies. She is keen to visit the Hugo Chavez Centre.

During the visits, the Minister discovered inadequacies at some of the institutions. She said she will focus on solving those problems and promised that efforts will intensify to correct deficiencies so as to ensure that citizens are benefitting from improved services.

Minister Ally pointed out that in order to provide improved services, she will have to ensure that employees are adequately trained.

“We need to do some training and this morning I spoke with the first lady and I asked that we focus on looking at capacity building for those workers. … I think that if they are trained and they really understand their roles, they are going to be able to perform well within the particular institution that they work in,” Minister Ally underlined.

Minister Ally praised her predecessor, Minister Volda Lawrence, whom she said did exceptional work and set the platform on which she, Ally, can continue to build.

The new Social Protection Minister added that she is confident that she will be able to execute the Ministry’s mandate.

“I am building on what she (Lawrence) has started and maybe my methodology may differ a little bit but the end result will be the same because I really believe that we must provide proper services at the entities that fall within this Ministry including the elderly, children, care providers and all the rest of it,” Minister Ally related.

Earlier in the year, President David Granger announced a shift in Cabinet to ensure that the Government continues to deliver the quality of public service to the people of Guyana.

Minister Lawrence was announced as the new Minister of Public Health; Dr. George Norton as new Minister of Social Cohesion and Minister Ally as the new Minister of Social Protection.

 

By: Ranetta La Fleur