Norton focused on retaining skilled personnel

The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is banking on a human resource plan that seeks to upskill and reskill local workers, while rewarding them appropriately to encourage retention in the country and their field of work.

The partnership’s leader and presidential candidate, Aubrey Norton, during a recent interview on the Context podcast, divulged several initiatives to improve the country should they win the upcoming 2025 polls.

His comments come even as he grapples with several high profile resignations from the PNCR, a party he heads.

Nevertheless, Norton stressed the need for more to be done regarding citizen empowerment and improvement. He said that Guyana’s citizens are important resources and their contributions to the country’s success should not be ignored or understated.

“Guyana’s most important resources are the human resource and therefore we believe that for Guyana to succeed there has to be a proper human resource plan. We have developed a human resource plan in which we intend to train people to have the level of competency to manage an oil economy. It is a totally different economy and it needs more professional skills,” Norton explained.

Additionally, the nation’s health and education systems, for example, are in need of quality personnel, he pointed out. He added that adequate and sincere measures must therefore be put in place to ensure the qualification of the necessary persons as well as the means to improve their desire to remain in-country and on the job.

“And so our approach will be to develop the human resources, train the human resources but also use wages and salaries and other incentive to ensure we retain them, because you can train people and lose them.”

Norton said that retaining the people developed is very important and his party will be heavily focused in that area.

Norton does not believe that infrastructure should be occurring in isolation. He said that the massive construction projects currently taking place are necessary, but should occur alongside the development of citizens from all walks of life.

Norton will enter the election race with Juretha Fernandes as his Prime Ministerial candidate.