Digital central registry needed for all Government policies and amendments

Dear Editor,

The move by the Ministry of Business and Tourism to create a strategic plan is quite heartening and is an initiative that should be applauded and copied by other sectors/ministries of government. I am an expat who hold the homeland close to heart and thank goodness for social media and the New Media age, friends and past colleagues help to make staying informed easy. I became aware of this strategic plan from a friend’s Facebook post of a GINA article on the minister’s consultation forum on August 3.

Having read the article, I expected at least to find a link to the document; well I was not so lucky, but fortunate enough the article did culminate by informing that the document can be found on the ministry’s website. So sure enough I waded through and then came my real disappointment. The document was in ISSUU reader. ISSUU reader is an excellent platform that provides exceptional digital reading experience. So why am I being so petty?

Leading up to, and transitioning into government this new regime purports a number of themes that resonates well. Themes such as consultative management, transparency, fairness, and the list goes on, I would like to dwell on consultation.

The Guyanese public, in residence and abroad can make valued contributions in setting the direction on important aspects of the economy such as trade and doing business. But, they must be given the opportunity to do so in a manner that is simple, straightforward, and accessible and allows for input with ease. ISSUU reader will not allow download, print and have paper in hand; not all of us are keen on being glued to our digital devices all the time.

To my bigger point, I am peeved that there is still not a central registry where all government policies, change in laws and regulations, strategic and development strategies are posted digitally that allows the public to peruse and respond.

The ability to have a say in national policies and contribute in setting the direction of any aspect or factor that will influence nation building is not a privilege, it is a right. It does not take much to get this done properly, why the lagging?

Regards,

Andre Dukhia