Youth are still waiting for APNU/AFC promised change – TUF leader

Leader of the The United Force (TUF) Marissa Nadir said the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) administration has so far failed the electorate, particularly youths, whose vote in the last General and Regional Elections were driven by a hope for change.

In an interview with Guyana Times on Thursday, Nadir, an attorney said the loud talk of providing job opportunities were simply used to attract the attention and interest of the masses, since up until now, there is no clear view of the promised jobs for young people.
She said the TUF which has been off the political grid following the May 11, 2015 General and Regional Elections, has been very active at the grassroots level, listening and offering counsel to those she said are the “frustrated”.
“Having had the political exposure that I have had from a young age, I believe and I still believe that there were many persons who played on young people’s thirst and quest for change”, Nadir told Guyana Times.
She said while the party would admit that the country has progressed from the situation of the 1980s and early 1990s, it has found that young persons, although they are educated and are professionals, still cannot find jobs. This she said casts them into a state of depression.
“They are very frustrated and many persons fell into a trap of wanting a change, they were promised a change and they were promised betterment and now they are saying that they were better off in the previous regime. Many persons are now saying that we don’t care, we are not going to vote in the next election because both of them are the same and at the end of the day we still have to work, still have to find jobs , still have to figure out how we are going to survive”, the party leader told Guyana Times.
She said all this was garnered from the party’s one-on-one connection with communities.
“I can tell you, again, because of our interaction, our people are getting very frustrated and are getting in a state of depression and from that, you get a lot of other social ills”, she posited.
Reflecting on the National Elections, Nadir recalled that she was the youngest and only female candidate at the forefront of the polls. She said that the persons who really held the deciding votes were basically the youths of Guyana, but yet there is no fulfilment to the promises made to them by the current administration.

UG Loans
She also zoned in on the issue of loans repayment at the University of Guyana, noting that the absence of jobs should be considered before government even move in this direction.
“It’s not like we don’t want to pay, we do want to pay, but where are we going to get the jobs from and even when we get the jobs we have to help out at home, or help my younger brother or sister has to go to school”, Nadir said, speaking on behalf of students

Reversal of promises
Meanwhile, speaking about government’s performance so far, Nadir said her party is still waiting to see the 100 days plan implemented.
“We are seeing things that were promised being done in the reverse, like the increase of certain taxes, and it is more difficult for some businesses to get taken off and we get an entire Ministry of Business up and running. We see a waste of public funds”.
According to her, it is time for government to stop focusing on an agenda of what seems to be a “witch-hunt” with the establishment of several inquiries into agencies, and begin taking care of the country.
“Our economy is suffering and our people are suffering and that is of utmost importance. They have over a year, suck it up and move on. We need to move on as a nation and the economic development of the Country”, she said.