Being finger-printed doesn’t mean you are a criminal – Minister Teixeira
Georgetown, GINA, October 30, 2005
“You don’t have to be a criminal to be finger-printed or photographed,” pointed out Minister of Home Affairs, Gail Teixeira when asked about the persons who were screened by the Police as part of Operation ‘Stiletto’ in Buxton, East Coast Demerara.
On October 24, the Joint Services carried out an exercise in the village to ‘weed out’ criminal elements and in the process some 140-odd persons were screened, photographed and fingerprinted by the Police.
“We have the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) calling for bio-metric identification, that all of us must be fingerprinted for election purposes. This is a modern world of technology. In the United States you do not have to be a criminal to be photographed and identified by bio-metric identification, and once you do that you can be identified in say for example a car accident, if the body is beyond recognition,” noted the Home Affairs Minister.
Adding that as the Home Affairs Minister she requested the Police take photographs of persons who were found not only in Buxton, but in other parts of the country and this would apply even if it is a trafficking offence.
“There will be a database as in other societies, this is nothing unusual. It is done in every part of the developed world.”
The Bio-metric electoral process has been implemented worldwide to prevent fraudulent elections. It is a system which supports a database with images for every registered voter and validated for the purpose of eliminating duplicate registrations within the voter registration database.
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Relate Diwali lessons to today’s reality – President Jagdeo urges
Georgetown, GINA, October 30, 2005
On November 1, Hindus in Guyana and around the world will be celebrating Diwali – the festival of lights commemorating ‘good over evil’ and the Head of State, President Bharrat Jagdeo is urging Hindus that the most important diya to be lit is for the future of their children.
He was speaking at the Cornelia Ida Mandir,West Coast Demerara, where he joined hundreds of Hindus in Diwali celebrations.
“In them lies the hope for this country. In them lies the dream for a better society and if we can light up their lives with the basic values we are ultimately going to prevail over negative forces,” noted the President.
He encouraged parents to inculcate in their children values that are important for the future.
Stating that Hindus see time in an external sense, President Jagdeo said in celebrating the significance of Diwali, one must never lose the opportunity to relate that event to today’s reality.
“The lesson of Diwali which we all know is ultimately that the forces of good will triumph over evil.”
Parents are encouraged to ensure that they are fearless in their day-to-day lives. “Hindus come from a proud tradition about standing up for their rights.”
“What I am worried about when I travel across our society, it is that sometimes we allow some elements or fear to come over us. Confidence is infectious, but so is fear. And if we allow fear of crime, drug to control us it allows us to remain silent and retire back into our shells.”
President of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud told the gathering to be proud of their heritage and religious beliefs.
“It is a sense of dignity. We are living in a multi-cultural and multi-religious country and we all have to love, share and build a better country,” stated Pandit Persaud.
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