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Transformative leadership is lacking

May 10, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
Almost every sensible Guyanese at home and in the Diaspora have made written and verbal suggestions to the government as to how to manage the economy, create jobs, improve the lives of the poor and reduce crime, among others. Then there are those who believe that unless their suggestions are taken seriously by the government, nothing will happen. They believe that the government has done an excellent job in cleaning up the city and restoring Merriman’s Mall. However, some are asking what else has the government done? People, especially the elderly are still scared to walk the streets at nights, the economy is struggling and there are more murders and crimes being committed in the country today, albeit the criminals are caught faster now than before by the police.
These are tangible issues and their effectiveness can be measured by their success. However, both vision and transformative leadership which are currently lacking are needed in order to have real change in the country. They are needed to reduce crime, especially murders and armed robberies to an acceptable level. Most people believe that there should be absolutely no tolerance for criminals who commit murders, armed robberies and other heinous crimes against innocent and law abiding citizens. They felt that the way to fight crime is to first reform the police force, provide the police with the appropriate training, adequate resources and transportation and a proper detection unit. Also, structured community patrols and dedication to duty are required to fight crime. These strategies will help the police to be steps ahead of the criminals.
Restructuring of the Police force, getting rid of rogue and corrupt cops and discipline those police officers who abuse the public and discriminate against their colleagues are key to good policing, and hence crime fighting. Vision is needed to establish a proactive crime fighting plan to prevent criminals from acting with impunity, improve police relations with the public and restore the public’s confidence and trust. These are important issues that must be dealt with swiftly in order to make the communities safer. Any delay will lead to more armed robberies and possible more deaths.
Transformative leadership and vision are needed not only to create jobs, improve the lives of the poor and develop the economy, but also to diversify the economy in order to ensure that income is not reliant solely on one sector of the economy to such an extent that any disruptions by natural or man-made disasters or by price or production fluctuations in the international system should not lead to economic failure. Diversification of the agricultural sector is needed for both foreign and local investments and increased production. This can be achieved through joint ventures between the government and the private sector with the former providing the land and infrastructure and the latter providing the management and marketing skills as well as finance.
Transformative leadership is also needed for the government to establish a joint venture with the private sector to develop the tourist industry to attract tourists from around the world. Tourism has not been successful in Guyana because of a lack of beaches, shortage of infrastructure and poor publicity. For tourists to flock to Guyana, additional infrastructure such as bathroom facilities, hotels/motels in the rural areas, hiking trails, bird sanctuaries, mountains, caves and the restoration of No. 63 Beach on the Corentyne are needed. A long-term strategy, advertisements and the placing of tourism brochures in the country’s thirteen embassies and thirty one consulates around the world as well as appointing an international tourist czar are required.
Most importantly, the lack of vision and transformative leadership has led to the mismanagement of the communities, inadequate water supply; poor fire and ambulance services; substandard health care, education and other social services. It will take vision and transformative leadership to improve these services. Nothing, however, is possible without a vision of what is to be achieved. But being on the wrong path will not achieve anything.
Observer (name supplied)

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