More action… less talk on girls

Do Guyanese have to be reminded about the neglect girl children face in the world – even in the 21st century? Yes we do!! It’s been 14 years since the UN had to declare “A Day of the Girl Child” to remind us of the barriers prevent girls from realizing their potential. This year, the theme is “The Girl I Am, The Change I Lead: Girls on the Frontlines of Crisis” – meaning girls are aking charge of their destinies!
And what’s that potential? At a minimum, it’d be whatever the men in their society can achieve – and perchance more!! So the test of where we stand on this subject is quite simple – just ask whether girls are doing as well as boys. Right off the bat I can hear you, dear reader, murmur that in Guyana, girls are actually OUTPERFORMING boys in school!
And that’s come about by just simply insisting that ALL children have to attend school and thus giving girls the SAME opportunities as boys! But if the truth be told, those girls’ performances are even more extraordinary when you remember that overall, the girl-child still have more chores around the house than their brothers! However, Girls can take a bow!! But there’s still a long way to go in doing justice by our now qualified girl children. The pay disparity between them and men gotta go!!
Another barrier in the way of girls was the tendency of most “traditional” societies to marry off them at a very tender age. This was to protect “paternity” to ensure estate succession by ensuring they were virgins. But fortunately, there are other avenues to address that concern nowadays. DNA tests?? A big part of what constitutes “modernity” was to have achieved this change without too much struggle. Thank goodness!! As more and more women enter the workforce and become professionals etc…they shouldn’t have the pressure to sacrifice their potential to make babies and be “homemakers” if they don’t want to!!
One type of oppression inflicted on Girl Children from the dawn of time, which from the newspaper reports actually is growing – is sexual and other violence against girls. The world and Guyana need to get serious about this. While it’s clear there are a lot of paedophiles out there – and boys are also affected – the authorities have not doing as much or moving as swiftly as they ought to. For instance, how long have we been hearing about chemical castration as the most apt punishment for these monsters? Has anyone been so neutered as yet? A “sex offender” register was touted after a horrendous sex-murder on a boy-child in Berbice.
When will this be actually put into place?

…on sugar
Your Eyewitness was quite pleased at the announcement that the government’s moving ahead with sugar production at Skeldon! Ok…OK…he knows about the very expensive – US$200 million? – white elephant the factory – which was gonna be the flagship of the Booker Tate-led sugar modernization – turned out to be!! But we shouldn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater!!
The strategic plan was always on the ball! Skeldon has the greatest amount of arable land to grow the cane and the longest period of sunshine to ripen it with the most sucrose. With the government placing the cultivation, harvesting and transportation of the cane to the factory in the hands of private farmers – and the said factory also privately owned – that’s the recipe for success!! There’s reportedly been an expression of interest in setting up the factory by an Indian Business group with experience in sugar.
This is the ideal fit since India has the most experience in sugar production under these conditions. Maybe also electricity co-generation??

…on airport road
It shouldn’t have taken an intervention by Pres Ali for the traffic dept and contractors of the East Bank Public Road rehabilitation project to get their act together to allow traffic to traverse to our international airport!!