See below full statement issued by the Indian Action Committee (IAC):
The Indian Action Committee (IAC) wishes all Guyanese a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
The IAC, in light of the most difficult and mentally strenuous year of 2020 that has just been completed, given the unwelcome presence of COVID-19 throughout the entire period and the highly destabilizing and distasteful events that preceded, accompanied and post-dated the 2020 General and Regional Elections, recognizes the stressful time suffered by all the citizens of Guyana who had wishes for a better year.
The IAC also recognizes the havoc and destruction wreaked by COVID-19 on all the nations of the world especially those in the Americas and the Caribbean which lost many of their citizens and which saw their economies severely curtailed.
The IAC, while wishing for a better year in 2021, wishes to remind Guyanese that COVID-19 has mutated and the citizens need to practice extreme caution and maintain all safety protocols with great discipline even when vaccines arrive in the country.
The IAC calls upon the Government of Guyana to rapidly resuscitate the economy and continue to encourage investments so that the citizens, especially those of the poor and underprivileged class as well as those who became unemployed as a result of COVID-19, can experience better living conditions.
The IAC looks forward to a number of important pieces of legislation being passed in 2021, especially those regarding the oil and gas industry and the environment.
The IAC, in 2021, wishes to see greatly improved sea defenses along the most vulnerable areas of the coastline of Guyana that are under constant threat by the rising Atlantic Ocean; enforcement of the Traffic Laws by the Guyana Police Force to ensure safer road use and reduction of vehicular accidents and road fatalities; immediate reform of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission which continues to suffer from numerous complaints especially by small miners who are allegedly being constantly victimized; to witness the allocations of commercial space for small vendors; to view drastic reductions in incidents of spousal abuse, substance abuse, and suicide; to establish refugee housing with sanitation for the continued influx of Venezuelans; to take a strong stance against continued and continuous human trafficking along the borders; to have increased youth employment both on the coast and the hinterland; and to see improved living conditions for the less fortunate elderly citizens.
The IAC will continue to pursue vigorously its three foci: cultural, educational and social work.
The IAC encourages all citizens and leaders to make 2021 a peaceful and progressive year in which the economy experiences growth and development.
