Civil society should be allowed to lend a helping hand : Kaieteur News

The industrial dispute at the Psychiatric Hospital was reportedly over a pump. This dispute could have been avoided if those concerned had simply called in the ?pump man.?
Last year it was revealed that the government was spending, in some instances, hundreds of millions of dollars on drainage pumps.? All the Psychiatric Hospital needed was a bigger pump to propel the water to a higher level.
This was something that should have been easily resolved. Yet, workers at the Psychiatric Hospital had to threaten industrial action if the water woes were not solved. The dispute has reportedly been addressed by procuring a bigger pump.
But it was a sad sight indeed to see patients, and staff alike, having to fetch buckets of water while at the institution.?? One can well imagine if inmates had to fetch water to bathe, just what the conditions of the toilets at that facility were like.
The government must learn from this issue. When it comes to important institutions such as hospitals, hospices and old-age homes, priority must be given to sanitation.
Indeed, given the frailty of the health of persons at these institutions, sanitation must assume a higher priority, because unless these places are clean and well ventilated, persons are going to get sick, and this can lead to all manner of problems.
There is no way that an inmate at any of the above places should have to be fetching water in buckets. Guyana is supposed to move beyond those days and something as simple as a bigger pump should not have led to the inconvenience of persons having to fetch water in buckets in order to bathe or for whatever other purpose it was used.
These things should not be happening and it speaks to the weaknesses within the system of administration that these incidents are occurring.
Greater financial autonomy needs to be devolved to some of these institutions, so as to ensure that they do not have to suffer bureaucratic or other delays in accessing funds that can help them to more quickly to address their immediate needs.
The government also needs an inspectorate division for entities such as hospitals, hospices, homes for the elderly and prisons. This would be a good way for the government to involve civil society in the work of government.
An inspection team should be appointed and given the authority to undertake surprise inspections, so as to ensure that the conditions at the institutions mentioned above are consistent with human standards. The team should also be free to offer recommendations on how to improve things.
There are many minor issues to be resolved in the country and citizens should be co-opted in helping to resolve these issues. Yesterday, somebody wrote about the need to bring greater order to the traffic situation in the country.
A special committee can be established to hold consultations and make recommendations. This would be a good opportunity to involve professionals and civil society in the work of government.
The lockups at the police stations have in the past been the subject of criticism. The criticism has led to some improvements, but it is more than likely that since then there have been slippages in the conditions under which persons are detained.
Here again, an inspectional team can confirm what is the existing state of play as regards these lockups and can make recommendations to remedy the situation. They can even be part of the monitoring and management of the lockups.
The government should not believe that it has the capacity to do everything that needs to be done.
There are many well-intentioned citizens out there who would love to be part of the solution to the country?s many problems at the Psychiatric Hospital, the prisons, the lockups, clearing up the garbage in communities, keeping our public thoroughfares free of stray animals or simply maintaining our the homes for the elderly.

Source: http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2012/10/10/civil-society-should-be-allowed-to-lend-a-helping-hand/

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