-President Ali says while stressing the importance of community-led governance
PRESIDENT Dr Irfaan Ali has underscored the importance of government policies being clearly translated and directly experienced by citizens, stressing that effective governance must influence everyday decision-making at the household and business levels.
Speaking during a recent interview, the Head of State said, when people are aware of the policy direction, they are better positioned to make informed choices that align with national development goals.
“It is very important that government policies are understood by the population so that private sector decisions, even family decisions are closely related to the direction in which the policy agenda is going,” he said adding:
“For example, a business might now decide, given the incentives in the agriculture sector, that they want to diversify their portfolio into agriculture. A family may decide, given the incentives now on your second job the tax incentive on your second job that they are now going to restructure their family time to benefit from that tax incentive.”
The President explained that recent incentives, particularly in agriculture and employment, are already shaping private sector and family decisions.
Businesses, he noted, may choose to diversify into agriculture in response to targeted incentives, while families may restructure their time and work arrangements to benefit from tax concessions on second jobs. These measures, he said, are designed to increase household income, improve savings and strengthen financial security.
“So, they will start positioning themselves towards building their home, expanding their home, or developing their home, which will add to their asset value and give them an opportunity to create new wealth within their family framework,” he explained.
Dr Ali also pointed to expanded access to financing that is expected to come on stream through the soon-to-be established Guyana Development Bank, noting that families are being encouraged to invest in small businesses while simultaneously taking advantage of low-interest housing loans and direct government subsidies.
In highlighting the government’s community-led governance model, the President said Cabinet’s regular engagement in different administrative regions remains a central strategy.
“We have resuscitated an approach of having the Cabinet in a different administrative region for two days every month. This will continue throughout the next five years so that there is a direct relationship between policymakers and the population in every administrative region, because I want people in every region to feel the seat of government within every region. That is part of building One Guyana; so that the seat of government is rotated across all our administrative regions.”
