Strengthened democracy, good governance for Guyana- 2020 manifesto

DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, February 18, 2020

By the end of the first five years of the Decade of Development, the Coalition Government will realise its objective of promoting respect for the rule of law and the protection of the country’s finances.

As outlined in the Coalition’s 2020 manifesto, under its governance programme during 2020 and beyond, the Coalition administration will promote transparency, financial integrity and accountability.

The Coalition will be building on the achievements of its first term in office, promoting good governance within public institutions in keeping with international best practices.

Among its priorities going forward, it will prioritise the implementation of the Natural Resources Fund Act, the recommendations of the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Report, implement measures within the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to monitor the oil and gas sector and institutionalise the new production-sharing agreement model along with an amendment of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act.

While further empowerment will be given to the Integrity Commission, a review of the Commission’s Act will also be undertaken to strengthen and modernise its provisions.

The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) will also see the strengthening of its investigative and prosecutorial capacity. The same will be done for the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA). Continued support will also be given to the work of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

The Coalition will continue to strengthen local democracy and ensure that local and municipal elections are conducted in accordance with the Constitution.

There will be a modernisation of the structure and operations of NDCs countrywide to ensure timely response to the needs of residents. Enhanced training will be made available for all local government officials at both the regional and local levels.

Further, the Coalition intends to introduce a code of conduct and increase training and scholarships for public servants. The administration will implement results-oriented management across the public service and modernise the compensation system by improving staff performance at every government ministry, department, agency and authority, to ensure that the entire public sector is properly resourced, continue the recruitment of more qualified public servants across all required agencies.

The Coalition will ensure efficient delivery of public services, continue to increase staffing of critical and expanding ministries and departments.

A National Project Delivery Unit will be established and monitoring and evaluation officers will be assigned to every government agency to ensure that all government projects and programmes are properly implemented.

Trainee nurses and teachers, police and all students on public scholarships can also look forward to increased and standardised stipends.